Media Coverage

Associate Professor of Psychology Christopher Soto, an expert on personality psychology, was quoted in an April 30 article in Forbes to help explain the counterintuitive notion that extroverts are less affected by the quarantine than are introverts. "Compared with introverts, extroverts tend to experience more frequent and intense positive emotions,” Soto told Forbes. “This makes it easier for them to maintain a positive mood in everyday life. It also helps them stay optimistic in the face of difficult circumstances, like the current crisis.”

In an April 28 Maine Public story titled "Maine Colleges Wrestle With How To Reopen In The Fall As Coronavirus Ravages Budgets," President David Greene shares his thoughts on reopening campus this fall, expressing his preference for a delayed opening. "We’re really trying to focus on those two things, on how we have that great classroom environment, but how we have that full experience that enriches that environment and allows our students to really thrive. And we would rather wait to allow that to happen than to be in a position where we’re offering online courses for an extended period of time,” he told Maine Public. This story was also picked up and run by Bangor Daily News.

The Morning Sentinel provided a roundup of the postponement of in-person graduation ceremonies for Central Maine colleges. President David Greene was quoted from his note to seniors telling them commencement ceremonies would not be held as scheduled: “I want you to know that I am not going to let your commencement be anything but the celebration you have earned,” President David Greene told seniors. “I can’t do as much as I would like about the state of the world right now or the need to postpone your graduation exercises, but I can make sure that we’ll find an exciting way forward and that when we reconvene we’ll make the most of it.”

The Colby Museum of Art's new online program Museum @ Home was the lead item in a Portland Press Herald article titled "From puzzles to podcasts, Maine museums are finding ways to engage online." The article highlighted activities the Colby Museum has made available online, including a digital puzzle of famous paintings from the collection and the Artful Movement video yoga series. "Creating online content allows us to reach audiences around the world, around the country, and around Maine," Director Sharon Corwin told the Press Herald. "Art matters more than ever now."

Professor of Government Dan Shea was tapped to comment on the potential for COVID-19 to be a political issue in an April 26 Portland Press Herald article titled "As coronavirus upends political campaigns, it also emerges as an issue." As the pandemic stretches on, many see it as an issue that will affect the November election. “The appropriate response to the pandemic will be on voters’ minds,” s Shea told the Press Herald. “For some voters it will be, ‘The government is not doing enough,’ while for others it might be, ‘It’s doing too much.'”

Colby's Maine general election poll, conducted in February, continues to generate some attention, including being referenced in the Washington Post story "Which Senate seats are most likely to flip in November?"

Playwright Bess Welden, a teaching artist and visiting assistant professor of theater and dance at Colby, was featured in a Q&A on the website Jewish Boston regarding her play Refuge Malja ملجأ, which is one of seven finalists in the Jewish Play Project playwriting contest. The play contains Arabic, and when asked to talk about her decision to use it, Welden replied: "There is Arabic in the title. From the start, people will understand that there will be something a bit different about how language will work in this play. Language is a huge barrier for these characters. They have to find a way to empathize without words. They don’t have a direct line to language in order to be clear with one other."

Ski Racing magazine covered Colby's news that Eric Harlow has been named alpine ski coach. “I am extremely excited to lead the Colby alpine ski programs to become the most sought after Division I program in the country,” Harlow said.

Snow Industry News also covered the announcement.

An April 15 article in the Morning Sentinel reports that despite the coronavirus, the Lockwood Hotel in downtown Waterville is on schedule to open this fall. Onsite workers are "now using new safety protocols that have been implemented by the Associated General Contractors of Maine in response to the outbreak of COVID-19," Paul Ureneck, director of commercial real estate for Elm City LLC, told the Sentinel.  

James Fleming, the Charles A. Dana Professor of Science, Technology, and Society, contributed an item to Smithsonian Magazine's article "50 Things We've Learned About The Earth Since the First Earth Day." Fleming's contribution: That the Air Has Gotten Better."Since 1970 smoking (at least of tobacco) is way down, sick building syndrome is far less common, acid deposition from sulfur dioxide is lower, lead additives have been removed from gasoline, and stratospheric ozone levels are on the mend. Let’s work to see these trends continue and accelerate in years to come," wrote Fleming, who is also a research associate at the National Museum of American History.