Unique scholarship inaugurated

Ten Reed students competed in the first annual Douglas Williams fencing tournament in early November. The tournament was founded by Doug Williams '63, who recently established a need-based scholarship that is given to the top three fencing tournament placers who are currently receiving a Reed grant from the college.

Williams learned to fence at Reed, and his fondest memories of his student days center around fencing. He wanted to fund a scholarship at Reed and decided to do that while at the same time supporting fencing at the college. Williams came up with the idea of a tournament that awards scholarships to the winners who have financial need. He feels that this will stimulate interest in fencing while also filling a critical need for financial aid at the college.

The final standings were Elan Ho '01, first place; Iven Hauptman '02, second place; Dante Nakazawa '01, third place; and Stephanie Knapp '02, fourth place. The top three finishers won gold, silver, and bronze hand-crafted foils. Scholarship awards, based on financial need, were presented to Hauptman, $5,000; Nakazawa, $3,500; and Knapp, $1,500. The tournament was officiated by the president and jury from the Studio of American Fencing. Williams and his wife, Carol Simpson, attended the tournament and handed out the prizes.

Iven Hauptman '02 (left) and Stephanie Knapp '02 both placed in the final standings at the first annual Douglas Williams fencing tournament.

100-year-old ginkgo celebrates second birthday at Reed

Two years ago this month, the stump of an old ginkgo tree was delivered via tractor trailer to the Reed campus. The tree began its life in the 1890s at the Portland home of circuit court Judge Charles B. Bellinger. In 1996 it had lost a battle with development in the Lloyd Center area and was cut to the ground. Maryanne Caruthers, a concerned Portland resident and employee of Walsh Construction, salvaged the stump, and for almost a year she watered and cared for the ginkgo at Walsh's equipment yard. Phyllis Reynolds, co-author of Trees of Greater Portland, learned of Caruthers's efforts to save the tree and called Townsend Angell, Reed's director of facilities operations, about replanting the stump on the campus. As construction began on the new Steele Street residence halls, heavy equipment on site carefully lowered the stump and roots of the tree into place.

While few trees could survive this treatment, ginkgos are very hardy, extremely resist-ant to insects and diseases, and live up to 1,000 years. Fossilized remains of ginkgos from the Mesozoic Era are found all over the world, including the Columbia Gorge, and they may be the oldest living genus of seed plants.

Says Angell, "The ginkgo at Reed must know she's famous. She looks robust, with about 24 emerging multistemmed branches coming from that ancient old stump. Some of the leaves are as big as the palm of my hand and there is five to six feet of growth in the new shoots. No fruit as yet, maybe next year. I'd say she was happy."