Williams Recycles A Professor

Most American colleges have gotten pretty good at recycling the standard stuff, like paper and printer cartridges. But this fall, Williams College managed to recycle a professor.

Thomas C. Jorling first taught at the college from 1972 to 1977, as director of its environmental studies program. Now, after working in government (New York state's Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) and the private sector, Jorling returned to Williams this fall as a visiting distinguished professor of environmental studies. According to Williams, it is the second time Jorling has circled back through the college.

Jorling has banned laptops and PDAs from his classrooms, but not informed debate: One of his classroom exercises encourages students to weigh why someone might want to go slow on tackling climate change.

Williams' interdisciplinary Center for Environmental Studies will be the hub for Jorling's work. The college also has a 2,500-acre nature preserve, the Hopkins Memorial Forest, where field work is carried out.