Elizabethtown College News 
Back to top 6/25/2007 Erin Fisher '08 named CoSIDA Academic All-American Elizabethtown College junior Erin Fisher of McEwensville, Pa., has been named to the  ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America College Division Third Team in cross country/track & field for the 2006-07 academic year by the members of the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). She is only the second person in the history of Elizabethtown's women's cross country and track & field programs to be named an Academic All-American by CoSIDA. She was also named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District 2 College Division First Team earlier this month.Over the course of the 2006-07 academic year, Fisher has been named to the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation All-Academic Team three times, and she was named to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Team. She also received the same awards in the 2005-06 academic year. Fisher is double majoring in biology and mathematics. Read more ... Back to top 6/22/2007 Solar boat team returns from world intercollegiate competition Having claimed the award for “Most Commercially Viable Hull,” Elizabethtown College’s solar boat team recently  returned from the 2007 World Intercollegiate Solar Electric Boat Competition.Five members of the student club FEAST (Future Energies and Sustainable Technologies) (www.etown.edu/FEAST) traveled with club advisor and Assistant Professor of Physics and Engineering Troy McBride to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the five-day competition titled Solar Splash (www.solarsplash.com). Teams compete in six areas, two of which -- visual display of the project and a technical report -- deal with the engineering design. In addition, there are four on-the-water events: qualifying (maneuverability and sprint), slalom, sprint and endurance. Competing against larger universities, Elizabethtown’s team finished 12th out of 19 registered teams, scoring a total of 488 points -- 140 points more than their first performance in 2005, during which they earned an award for “Notable Performance by a Rookie Team.” The team finished 11th in the endurance competition, 7th in the maneuvering qualifying event, tied for 4th for visual display and tied for 9th for their technical report. The team’s boat can cruise at 5 mph all day in sunny weather while carrying up to six people. Fourteen Elizabethtown students from several academic disciplines have been involved with the solar boat project. Team members who traveled to Solar Splash are John Artieda Romero of Ecuador (pictured), a senior physics major; FEAST president Garry Brock of Millersville, Md., a 2007 engineering physics graduate; Doug Eroh of Sunbury, a sophomore criminal justice graduate; Mike Patrick of King of Prussia, a sophomore computer engineering major; and Liz Prettner of Mechanicsburg, a 2007 physics education graduate. Back to top 6/21/2007 Alum bikes 1,900 miles for Habitat for Humanity Tim Dellett '93 is biking 1,900 miles -- from New York City to Minnesota -- to raise money for Habitat for Humanity.  This is his 11th annual bike ride for Habitat, an organization he has been involved with since his Elizabethtown College days, and he hopes to raise $75,000 this year.“It combines two things that I am passionate about – cycling and the work of Habitat for Humanity in providing decent, affordable housing for families,” he said. Back to top 6/20/2007 Alum named chair of Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation Paul E. Weaver ‘68 has been named chairman of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation’s Board of Directors. He has served on the  Foundation's board since 2001 and becomes the organization's fourth chairman, following its founding chairman Lee Iacocca and its chairman emeritus William F. May.The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. is a nonprofit organization founded in 1982 to raise funds for and oversee the historic restorations of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, working in partnership with the National Park Service/U.S. Department of the Interior. Its endowment has funded over 200 projects at the islands. Weaver was a former vice chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP and chairman of the firm's Global Technology/Infocom/Entertainment and Media group. In addition to years of experience in leadership and governance roles within PricewaterhouseCoopers, Weaver has more than 30 years of experience in providing accounting, audit and business advisory services to many of the world's largest multinational companies. Weaver currently serves on the boards of Gateway, Inc., AMN Healthcare Services, Inc., and Idearc Media, Inc., as well as on the corporate advisory board of the University of Michigan Business School. He is licensed as a CPA and received a BS from Elizabethtown College and an MBA from the University of Michigan. Back to top 6/19/2007 Student troupe to offer free outdoor performances of “As You Like It" Just when you thought you weren’t going to get your fill of free outdoor Shakespeare this summer,  a new nonprofit organization will present three July performances of “As You Like It” – complete with a loquacious clown, lovers, disguises, rifts and reconciliations – on the Elizabethtown College campus.The productions will begin at 7 p.m., July 27 – 29, on the lawn next to Leffler Chapel and Performance Center. Audience members are encouraged to bring a picnic basket, blankets or lawn chairs, and a car full of good friends and family to enjoy the show. Admission is free, but donations — or “pay as you like it” — will be happily and gratefully received. The July performances mark the inaugural season for The People’s Shakespeare Project, recently founded by local Shakespearean expert and Equity actress Laura Korach Howell, who serves as an adjunct professor at Elizabethtown. Her organization is devoted to both educating people and sharing the joys of Shakespeare. The company is comprised of local (and not-so-local) college students who are coming together for a challenging theatrical summer modeled along the lines of a traditional summer stock company. “Our particular form of acting company is a first in the area,” Howell said. “No where else is there a summer college company performing outdoor Shakespeare -- and a college company drawing from many different schools. The closest this area can come to anything similar was in the 1970s with The Fulton Summer Repertory Company, which used Franklin and Marshall College students under the direction of Hugh Evans.” “As You Like It” is a unique play containing a wealth of keen observations about humanity in general, the age-old tension between so-called civilized society (the court), the state of nature from which it evolved (the country) and love. It is a play in which everyone (eventually) gets their way, where sinners are redeemed and where love holds sway over all. For more information on The People’s Shakespeare Project or the performances of “As You Like It,” contact Howell at 717-399-9385 or visit www.peoplesshakespeareproject.org. Written by Julie Strickland '07 Back to top 6/13/2007 Archaeological dig turns up 'extraordinary items' Associate Professor of Anthropology Bob Wheelersburg and six students found some "extraordinary items" during a three-week  archaeological dig in nearby Washington Boro in May.
Items found at the dig - located at the site where Captain John Smith first contacted the Susquehannock Indians in the 1600s - include trade beads, an iron ax head, arrowheads and copper, as well as clay objects like pottery. Back to top 6/12/2007 Six named to board of trustees Elizabethtown College recently elected six new members to its board of trustees: Nevin Cooley of Manheim;  Rev. Warren Eshbach of Dover; Janice Longenecker Holsinger of Palmyra; Robert O. Kerr of Austin, Texas; Rev. Wallace Landes Jr. of Palmyra; and Michael Mason of Hagerstown, Md.Cooley is the president and chief executive officer of High Real Estate Group LLC. He also serves as co-chair of the Executive Committee of the High Companies. Cooley began his career with High Associates in 1986 as the vice president of development and acquisitions for High Associates Ltd. and was named to his current position in 2006. Cooley earned a bachelor’s degree in business and management from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Michigan. He is a member of the Elizabethtown College Leadership Council and currently serves on several boards, including the Economic Development Company of Lancaster County, Hospice of Lancaster County, Lancaster General Hospital and The Lancaster Alliance. An ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren, Eshbach is an adjunct faculty member for Congregational Ministries at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg. He recently retired as the dean of Graduate Studies at Susquehanna Valley Ministry Center on the Elizabethtown College campus. He also served as the director of pastoral care at the Brethren Home Community and was executive of the Church of the Brethren’s Southern Pennsylvania District. Eshbach earned a bachelor’s degree from Gettysburg College, master of divinity from Gettysburg Seminary and doctor of ministry from McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago. He is a past trustee of the College, serving as an ex-officio member from the Southern District, and his son, Eric, is a 1988 graduate of Elizabethtown. Holsinger is the founder, owner and CEO of U-GRO Learning Centers, a leading regional provider of high-quality early care and preschool education in southcentral Pennsylvania. U-GRO is a member of Elizabethtown College’s S. Dale High Center for Family Business. A member of Elizabethtown College’s Class of 1964, Holsinger holds a Pennsylvania teaching certificate in early childhood education. Her mother, Helen Heisey Longenecker, husband John and son Gregory are graduates of the College. She has served as a volunteer for a variety of Elizabethtown’s activities, and John is a member of the Leadership Council. Holsinger is a member of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren (COB), where she has taught Sunday School, performed as a soprano soloist in the choir, directed the youth choir and has been involved with the COB Disaster Relief Auction since its beginning. Kerr practices hematology and medical oncology at the Southwest Regional Cancer Center, the largest private cancer treatment center in central Texas. He has served as the chief of medical staff at two Austin hospitals, as the president of the Texas Division of the American Cancer Society, president of the Texas Society of Medical Oncology, and as chairman and member of several state and national committees. Kerr has also been involved in medical research for more than 25 years. He is currently the director of clinical research at Southwest Regional Cancer Center and serves as the principal investigator for studies in hematology and medical oncology. He is the author of numerous publications and has presented his research in both the United States and Europe. Kerr graduated magna cum laude from Elizabethtown College in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh and completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Pittsburgh hospitals. After completing a fellowship at the University of Minnesota, he held faculty positions at the University of Minnesota and the University of Texas at San Antonio. Kerr received an Outstanding Alumnus award from Elizabethtown College. His wife, Mary Ann, is a 1964 graduate of the College. Landes is an ordained minister in the Church of the Brethren and has served as senior pastor of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren since 1985. Prior to his work in Palmyra, he ministered to the Bush Creek Church of the Brethren in Monrovia, Md. He currently serves the denomination as chair of the Association of Brethren Caregivers; he has worked with the denomination’s General Board as a retreat leader; and he has functioned in many leadership roles, including ministry commissions in the Atlantic Northeast and Mid-Atlantic districts. Landes received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religion from Bridgewater College in Virginia, his master of divinity from Bethany Theological Seminary, and his doctor of ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has been an adjunct instructor in the religious studies department at both Lebanon Valley and Elizabethtown colleges. A native of Elizabethtown and 1972 graduate of the College, Mason is the deputy quality assurance manager for Bechtel National, Inc., the fourth largest global engineering, construction and project management company in the world. He was previously the Bechtel-SAIC quality assurance manager for the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada. Yucca Mountain is the United States’ identified central repository for disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. \ Mason also serves in leadership roles on two national committees: the American National Standard Institute – American Society Mechanical Engineers, Nuclear Quality Assurance, a committee responsible for establishing the standards for the management of commercial nuclear waste; and a Department of Energy (DOE)-sponsored committee that works with the DOE to define the quality assurance standards to be invoked on DOE projects and sites. |
Sociology-Anthropology. Two of the six are anthropology majors; the others are majoring in biology, history and professional writing.
such as art history or linguistics.Back to News Index
