Associate Dean of Admissions Jennifer Hantho has been appointed executive assistant to the president at Carleton College. She will begin the new position Nov. 23. Her responsibilities will include managing the day-to-day operations of the president’s office, and representing President Stephen R. Lewis, Jr., both on- and off-campus. Hantho replaces Joe Hargis, who has been appointed director of College Relations.

By studying the reproductive habits of a mast-seeding high alpine grass, a Carleton College biologist has found that an increase in temperature causes the grass to flower more often, providing more food for its insect predators and threatening its potential for survival. His research may have implications for more common mast-seeding species, such as pine, spruce, birch and beech trees.

Jamaica Kincaid has been praised by The New York Times as a writer who “writes with passion and conviction, and also writes with a musical sense of language, a poet’s understanding of how politics and history, private and public events overlap and blur.” On November 5 and 6, she will visit Carleton College to share her expertise with students as the College’s 1998 Alice Lynch Vincent Fellow. During her stay on campus, Kincaid will present Carleton’s weekly convocation, host small group discussions, visit classes and sign books.

After nearly 40 years of teaching, Dye Family Professor of Music Anne Mayer has been named College Marshal at Carleton. The honor is bestowed on the senior member of the faculty. The Marshal’s responsibility is to lead the faculty procession at Opening Convocation, Honors Convocation and Commencement. This is the first time a female faculty member has served as Carleton’s College Marshal.

Libraries are commonly thought of as silent dwellings strictly for research, study and even sleep. At Carleton College, those stereotypes are about to change.

U.S. News & World Report has again ranked Carleton College among the top ten liberal arts colleges in the nation. Carleton placed ninth this year in the magazine’s annual rankings of the best colleges in the country.

The Carleton College Board of Trustees has promoted 14 professors and elected three faculty members to emeritus status.

The Concert Choir of the Northfield Youth Choirs will join the Carleton College Singers and the Carleton Choir in two performances of David Fanshawe’s “African Sanctus” on Saturday, May 23, at 3 and 8 p.m., in the Carleton Concert Hall. Fanshawe, a composer, explorer and ethnomusicologist, will be in residence at Carleton, May 18-23, as the 35th annual Ward Lucas Lecturer in the Arts.

Clement F. Shearer, one of Carleton College’s most admired and respected administrators, died of a heart attack on Thursday, May 14, 1998, at his home in Northfield. He was 49. A memorial service is planned for Friday, May 15, at 4:30 p.m. in Carleton’s Skinner Memorial Chapel.

Tofu, the often vilified soybean curd, will be tossed, barbequed and dressed up as Carleton College students celebrate its versatility at the second annual Tofu Fest on Saturday, May 9.