ACADEMIC NEWS
CLIMBE: Long Name, Simple Idea
Elizabeth Hamilton
' How are mere thoughts turned
into actions? Just ask Dr. Dome
Shuman: Her idea of getting 8-12
grade students to experience science
in nature was turned into the pro
gram CLIMBE.
CLIMBE stands for Center
for Learning and Investigation in
Mountain Backcountry Ecosystems.
The idea for CLIMBE was started
in 2004, but it wasn’t until early 2005
that CLIMBE really took off As
Dr. Shuman said, ‘It was aU God,”
and she was able to find Burroughs
Wellcome Fund, which finances the
development of biological sciences.
The grant that she applied for was
the Smdent Science Enrichment
Program (SSEP), which has three
objectives: interest (knowledge),
enthusiasm, and orienting environ
mental science. The three year grant
provides CLIMBE with $60,000 ev
ery summer for the program, which
hosts ten smdents every week.
CLIMBE is operated by Mon
treat CoEege’s Outdoor Education
department, and wouldn’t be pos
sible without the work of Brackin
Kirkland. Brackin is a Montreat Col
lege alumnus and former OE major.
He worked with Dr. Shuman on the
logo for CLIMBE (which is a lizard),
and works on the lesson plans for the
smdents that attend the camp during
the summer. Brackin also serves as
the program director. Another im
portant person on the team is Dr.
Brian Joyce, the science coordinator.
Smdents who attend COMBE
in the summer go through a com
petitive process. While the program
attendance is free, smdents have to
apply for the program online, and
must have recommendations from
their teachers. An interest in envi
ronmental science is key, and the
smdents must be gifted, as well. This
also means that those who attend
the program have to want to pursue
a career in environmental science or
some other field of science.
Smdents come for one week,
arriving on Sunday. The first three
years that Dr. Shuman and her team
received the grant, CLIMBE focused
on marine life and water quality in
area creeks—so smdents, after ar
riving were given a package of in
formation to read about the aquatic
subjects. Time would then be spent
listening to lectures, and Monday
through Friday the smdents back-
packed on trails around Mt. Mitchell,
identifying different marine life and
checking the quality of the water.
Computer Club to Hold Raffle
Laura Hein
Maybe you have seen the fly
ers around campus advertising
the computer raffle on Wednes
day, December 12—or maybe
you will notice them now that
I have mentioned it. This raffle
is hosted by Montreat College’s
new computer club, which is
made up of Computer Informa
tion Systems majors who want to
gain more experience with com
puter work. I recently sat down
to have a talk with-the club pres
ident and vice president, Brian
Greene and Aaron Hughes, who
are both sophomores and mem
bers of the baseball team.
The mission of the comput
er club is to “serve our commu
nity by providing computer trou
bleshooting, repairs, upgrades,
and training assistance.” Brian
and Aaron expounded on this
by explaining that the purpose
of the club is to help CIS majors
gain practical experience and be
available to assist students with
problems. They are not trying to
replace the technology depart
ment, but work with our existing
technology department to gain
experience in their major. They
are helping Montreat College as
well as the community, and run
their club based on donations;
no service fees are required for
anyone. This is a great oppor
tunity for CIS majors to expand
their knowledge and for com
munity members to receive good
computer service.
The upcoming raffle is the
kickoff for the club, and they
are custom building a desktop
computer valued around $2,500.
Tickets are available in the book
store and around the community
for only $10. Once all the
parts are collected, the
computer can be built by
the club in just two days.
There is no limit to the
number of tickets pur
chased, which makes this
a good deal and a great
way to support our col
lege smdents’ professional
endeavors.
This April, CLIMBE’s grant
ran out, and the program had to re
apply. The focus for the next three
years will be weather and climate,
and those who attend the program
during the next few summers will
experience some interesting things.
Smdents will even get to spend a day
at the National Climatic Data Center
right here in Asheville. This is a won
derful new program for CLIMBE,
which addresses global warming, an
important issue in today’s society.
Dr. Shuman and her staff hope
that in the future they wiU be able to
make the program self-sustaining,
and no longer rely on the grant. They
are also always looking for smdents,
especially OE majors, to get involved
with the program; tliey need leaders
for each week of the summer to
guide the smdents.
For more information about
the raffle, find a flyer or a club
member, or contact faculty advi-
Because this program is funded
by an organization that is not Chris
tian-based, the staff members of
CLIMBE are not allowed to make
it Christ-centered. It is, however, a
chance for the OE department to
build its name and reputation as a
representation of Montreat CoEege.
This program started with just
an idea and now it has become a re-
aEty. Dr. Shuman’s biggest fhriE truly
captures the essence of the program:
“I get so excited to see the smdents
leam so much and then leave with
a great knowledge of science,” she
says.
CLIMBE’s fiiE name may be
long, but it has a simple goal in
mind: urging chEdren to foEow their
dreams, and pursue their passions.
sor Dr. Jeff Teo. The e-mail ad
dress for service information is
cismontreat@montreat.edu.
New Courses Approved by English Department
Laura Cook
The Montreat CoEege Eng-
Esh department has announced
that six new courses wEl be intro
duced into the curriculum in the
future—pending final approval by
Academic Affairs—including three
300-level Eteramre and writing
classes, as weE as a practicum for
Page 8; December 7, 2007
the Communications major. The
courses wEl center on contempo
rary (1970-present) and Renais
sance Eteramre, writing children’s
novels, and coEege essay writing.
In addition to these offerings and
the Communications internship,
a 100-level Interdisciplinary Smd-
ies course wiE focus on training
smdents to become Writing Cen
ter consultants, a class that
aEows mtors to personal
ize their course develop
ment and curriculum. The
department says that once
these courses receive final
approval, most of them wEl
be phased into the curricu
lum within the next two aca
demic years.
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