Carleton College announces the publication of “Plain Songs II,” a collection of prose, poetry and essays written by 13 members of the Carleton faculty. A book launching celebration is planned for Saturday, Oct. 21, at 11 a.m. in Carleton’s Laurence McKinley Gould Library Athenæum. The writers will read from their works and the book will be available for purchase.

The two-story gingerbread-style porch over the front entrance of Nutting House, Carleton College’s historical presidential residence, will be restored to its original state, thanks to an anonymous gift to the College for that purpose. The porch over the service entrance on the northeast corner of the home also will be restored.

Actor and National Rifle Association president Charlton Heston will speak at Carleton College on Tuesday, Sept. 19, at 6 p.m. in West Gymnasium, located on Minnesota Highway 19. His talk is titled “Vote Freedom First” and is free and open to the public.

For the fifth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report has ranked Carleton College among the top 10 liberal arts colleges in the nation. Carleton placed sixth this year in the magazine’s annual rankings of the best colleges in
the country, up from an eighth-place ranking last year.

In addition to the excitement of moving into residence halls and meeting roommates, new Carleton students participate in New Student Week, a crash course in all things Carleton.

Unlike their earlier predecessors, this year’s first-year Carleton College students won’t be thrown into Lyman Lakes, paddled for walking on the grass, or “bounced” for offending a group of sophomores. Their first week at Carleton, however, still brings its share of sweat, mosquito bites and physical labor. During New Student Week, the incoming students participate in “Into the Streets,” a program designed to give them a taste of community service at Carleton.

Two Carleton College graduates on the path to professional acting careers cringe when theater veterans advise them, “You should only do theater if there’s absolutely nothing else you could see yourself doing.” For Sharon Polli and Maesie Speer, that old theater saying doesn’t do justice to the breadth of the liberal arts education they’ve just completed at Carleton, where they each earned a B.A. degree with a special major in theater studies this past June.

James Nelson Jr., professor emeritus of physical education, athletics and recreation, and former wrestling coach at Carleton College, died Tuesday, July 11, at his home in Sun City, Ariz. He was 79.

Frank Louis Wolf, 76, professor emeritus of mathematics at Carleton College for 37 years, died Saturday, July 1, at his summer home in Bay Lake, Minn. He was a longtime resident of Northfield. A memorial service is planned for Saturday, Sept. 16 in Carleton’s Skinner Memorial Chapel.

Carleton College has received a $900,000 four-year grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to strengthen undergraduate education in biology and other natural sciences. With this grant, Carleton becomes one of 12 colleges nationally to have received four consecutive HHMI grants since the first awards were made in 1988. Carleton will use the grant to broaden access to science through student research projects, to support pre-college and outreach programs, and to provide curriculum, equipment and laboratory development.