Upcoming Events
ANNUAL BOOK AND MEDIA EXCHANGE
March 23 (Tuesday) 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Campus Center 103
Earn points for your “gently used” media. Points can be
redeemed on the day of the swap. You may bring books,
videos, CDs, or VHS tapes. No textbooks, please! Drop-off
days are March 18, 19 and 22, from noon to 2:00 p.m. in
CC 103. Volunteers are needed for accepting items on drop
-off days. Contact Emily Wheeler at egwheele@smith.edu
with questions.
COMICAL MYSTERY THEATER DINNER
April 9 (Friday) 6:00 p.m.
Smith College Club
The comical Mystery Tour presents “Popped Star”. Tickets
are $30 and include a three-course dinner as well as the
interactive show. Contact Pat Wheeler at extension 2172 to
purchase tickets. Tickets are limited.
Focus on Facilities
Photo by Chuck Dougherty
In 1946, the Smith College Power Plant was built to provide steam for
heating most of the buildings on campus. The steam, also used to create
hot water, is distributed through an extensive network of underground tunnels. Over the past 60 years there have been many upgrades to the power
plant, but in 2007 construction began on the Cogen Project. Cogeneration
means producing steam and electrical energy at the same time.
A highly efficient gas turbine spins the generator to produce about 95%
of the electricity used on campus. The hot exhaust from the turbine is directed across a boiler to produce the steam for heat and hot water. During
the 2007 project, the three original 1946 boilers were replaced with a single
brand-new efficiency boiler.
The Facilities Management team is currently installing steam absorption
chillers. This will allow the plant to provide steam for air conditioning for the
college during the summer. All of the extra generated electricity is sold to
power companies.
Chuck Dougherty is the newly installed chief engineer of the plant.
Chuck replaced Fran Raymond, who retired last July after 19 years of service. The plant is attended 24/7 by a staff of eight licensed operators with
combined Smith experience of over 130 years.
The 2010 Creative Gallery
This month the theme of the Creative Gallery is A Hint of
Spring. Bill Wisnieski’s (ITS) four photographs depict Valley
life in warmer weather—a hot air balloon lifting off, a child
eating ice cream, a rustic barn door, and a quiet shaded
spot along the Deerfield River.
Photo by Bill Wisnieski, “Balloon”
Tom Riddell (Class Deans Office) has contributed a colorful
photo of Bluebells on Gallants Bower (Dartmouth, Devon).
For more information and to view all of the work in the
Creative Gallery, visit: www.smith.edu/staffcouncil/10.
All staff are invited to submit images of art, photos, or other
examples of creative activities. Did you take an interesting
photo on vacation or a cool picture of your pet? Add it to
the gallery! Guidelines are on the Web site.
Profile of a Colleague—Jayne Mercier
Family: My husband, Mitchell. Time at Smith: Since 1998.
Job at Smith: Administrative assistant for several academic programs,
under the umbrella of Interdisciplinary Studies (Archaeology, Ancient
Studies, Jewish Studies, Public Policy, Urban Studies and the Study of
Women and Gender), as well as the Smith College Faculty Council. I'm
also an Ada Comstock Scholar, graduating this year (yay, class of 2010!),
with a major in Sociology and a minor in Public Policy.
Favorite part of job: Variety: the people, tasks, other departments I get
to interact with. It really is a truly 'interdisciplinary' position . . . always
something new. Love it.
Favorite place at Smith: The trails along the river, Olin Fitness Center,
and the Botanic Gardens.
Work before Smith? 25 years in the hospitality industry. If you're from
the Valley, there's good chance I waited on you at least once.
Favorite TV Show: History Channel, Big Bang Theory (that's DR Sheldon Cooper to you); and I have an absurd amount of crime dramas on
the DVR right now—Law and Order, Criminal Minds, etc.—just waiting for
the time to watch them .
Favorite Music: Eclectic, not much I don't like. On my Shuffle right now?:
Nanci Griffith, the Stooges, Detroit Cobras, the Dead, Train, Sugar, MIA,
Colin Hay, Al Green.
Favorite Food: Everyone thinks it's chocolate, but it's really salad.
Really. Okay, FINE—it's chocolate.
Favorite Book: I'll read anything you put in front of me, and audiobooks.
While it doesn't fit neatly into the categories here, I'm a HUGE fan of radio drama/audio theatre—I used to love to listen to CBS Radio Mystery
Theater as a kid (E.G. Marshall's narration was always creepy perfection)
—so I'm grateful for the resurgence of sonic storytelling in the last decade
or so, programs like This American Life, WNYC's RadioLab, The Moth,
so many others. I could listen for hours.
Movie: Anything with Hepburn, Tracy, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart (I think
it's the clothes) and their peers; but I'll also confess to sitting through That
Thing You Do every time it comes on—I like Lenny.
Three little known facts about yourself: I used to play the glockenspiel. I can still do a round-off back handspring. I make a mean chicken
saltimbocca.
Life outside Smith: Studying, hiking
the Valley, biking, running with the
dogs (no, we don't have one anymore,
but we always seem to be in custody
of someone else's . . . like this one,
his name is Bogi.)
The Chronicle Monthly is funded by the Smith College Staff Council and is published by and for Smith
College staff. To join the 14% of your co-workers
who have opted out of receiving a printed version of
this newsletter, see the panel at right. An electronic
version of the Chronicle is available at
www.smith.edu/staffcouncil/chronicle.
Staff Council encourages submission of announcements, photos, and
event listings for publication in this newsletter and/or online. Staff
Council and the editorial staff reserve the right to edit submitted material for purposes of clarity or length. All rights reserved.
Editors:
Chris Gentes
cgentes@smith.edu ext. 2600
Angela Tosca
atosca@smith.edu ext. 2683
Contributing Writer: Chuck Dougherty
Creative Advisor: Ken Molnar
Proofreaders: Carla Cooke, Marti Hobbes, Mimi Lempart
Sage Hall illustration by Chris Gentes
Mystery Photo
Do you know where on campus this photo of a
real Oscar statue was taken? If so, go to
www.smith.edu/staffcouncil by March 20
and submit your guess in the comment box.
One lucky winner (selected at random from all
the correct entries) will receive a complimentary specialty beverage from the coffee bar at
the Campus Center Café. Specialty beverages
available include lattes, mochas, cappuccinos,
chai, smoothies, and milkshakes. Meet you at
the coffee bar! Hint: Helen Keller in Her Story,
Congratulations to Kathryn Messier (Admission)
who correctly identified the February Mystery
Photo. The figures are part of the facade of
Stoddard Hall. Look under the hooded statue on
the right. Kathryn wins a specialty beverage
courtesy of the Campus Center Café.
Meetings
Personnel Policy Committee: March 3 (Wednesday)
Full Staff Council: March 4 (Thursday)
Communications Committee: March 11 (Thursday)
Steering Committee: March 23 (Tuesday)
Diversity Committee: March 26 (Friday)
All staff are welcome to attend meetings or serve as a non-voting
member on a committee. Check the Staff Council Web site for
information on meeting times, locations, and minutes from past
Council meetings at www.smith.edu/staffcouncil.
Call for Nominations!
Each year Staff Council elects approximately one-half of its 25 members for a two-year term. Elections will be held in April. The term of
office is from June 1, 2010, to May 31, 2012. Please be sure to ask
if the nominee is willing to serve if elected. Submit nominations with
the card distributed in February, or use the comment box on the
Staff Council Web site.
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