Middlebury goes 3-D with presidential portrait
Nudged by the art museum's director, Middlebury College's president emeritus, John McCardell, agreed to try something different for his official portrait. McCardell, who retired last year, went 3-D, and his likeness is believed to be the first official college presidential hologram portrait. The artist, Vermont-based John Perry, also helped do a holographic portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, which was displayed in Buckingham Palace last year. Richard Saunders, who directs Middlebury's art museum and teaches a class on portraiture in American society, said the genesis of the idea came from a discussion with his students. He asked them, ''Should we be commissioning a portrait of a different kind, something more reflective of our own era?" He said it wasn't hard to convince McCardell, who presided over significant technological expansion on campus. The college also commissioned a second, more traditional portrait.
TRANSSEXUAL WANTS JOB BACK: A computer programmer, who told college officials he planned to start living as a woman and then lost the job, is suing a small Catholic school, claiming discrimination based on sex. Sarah Blanchette, who went by Robert during seven years of employment at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., is seeking restoration of her job, lost wages, and damages. In a statement, Saint Anselm said it complies fully with antidiscrimination laws and could not comment further out of respect for Blanchette's privacy. In March 2004, Blanchette, then known as Robert, wrote a letter to two college officials saying he was a male-to-female transsexual and intended to live as a woman. ''My job here at Saint Anselm is based on my mental skills and not on physical ones," Blanchette wrote. ''If anything, I could possibly be more productive since a major cause of inner turmoil and unhappiness has been removed." Six weeks later, Blanchette got a letter from one of the officials, saying he had been immediately relieved of his duties. ''As you know, you recently disclosed to senior college administration your transsexual status," the letter said.
UMASS LICENSE TAGS TO DEBUT: University of Massachusetts at Amherst alumni soon will have a new way to show their Minuteman pride: A UMass license plate with the flagship's logo. Two years in the planning, the $40 plates will be produced by the Registry of Motor Vehicles once the university has 1,500 applications for them in hand. (The campus has 100,000 instate alumni.) Cristina Geso, director of the alumni association, said desirable license plate numbers, 1 to 100 and 1940 to 2010, will be auctioned off in the fall to raise money for the new Drive to Succeed scholarship fund for needy students. Half of each $40 license fee will also go to the fund, as will all renewal fees for UMass plates. Applications are available at www.umassalumni.com/licenseplate.
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