Synaptic

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Welcome to another edition of The Writing Anthology. As usual we sorted through reams of paper in search of the dozen papers we thought best captured the spirit of liberal arts at this college. Accordingly this publication runs the creative gamut by including such items as personal travel experiences, in-depth research papers, imaginative personal papers, and even an irrepressible Puck.

This year’s John Allen Award goes to Nick Richtsmeier for “The Fairy Trail of Hobin Goodfellow: Puck’s Defense”. Taking a story line from Shakespeare himself is not a task for the faint of heart, but Richtsmeier handles the character of Puck with wit, style, and grace – and in poetry no less! The Maureen Danks Award for science and math writing goes to Andrew Menz and Liz Wallace for their collaborative paper entitled “Encryption Techniques”. Being somewhat mathematically challenged ourselves, we were pleased to discover that Menz and Wallace could teach even us a thing or two.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Keith Ratzlaff and Glenn Barnett, faculty advisors, for their help in culling the field of entries; Walter Cannon who, even on sabbatical, was there to offer advice; Randa Van Dyk and everyone in College Relations for perfecting the typing and layout; all the professors who submitted papers; and to all the photographers who supplied us with the means for making this publication more than mere words.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you for supporting your colleagues and pupils in their literary and artistic endeavors. We hope you enjoy perusing your copy of The Writing Anthology.

Cordially,

Danita J. Browne & Betsy T. Loomans, Co-editors