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{\it Catherine Caracciolo -- Reflection Paper}
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Catherine, one of the features of the Montserrat program is 
that it tries to create a learning community by engaging 
students both inside and outside the classroom.  This means
that a few required common events outside of class time are
a ``part of the deal.''  After all, the idea of 
having all of the students in each cluster live together in 
one residence is to encourage them to continue 
the discussion of experiences they have shared 
beyond the classroom.  

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Within each cluster (like the {\it Natural World} cluster
our seminar is a part of) there are admittedly a pretty broad 
range of different courses, and some common events are inevitably 
going to be much more directly connected to some courses than 
others.  Since you say that you were interested by the 
Zetterstrom talk and that you learned some things you 
had not known about your native county, is there really a 
problem that the topic was not directly related to the 
mathematics we are studying in our particular seminar at the moment?  
You might also be interested to know that we will be directly 
addressing one aspect of the relation of mathematics to 
the study of nature (not trees specifically, but the
physical world and its contents more generally) later in 
the semester when we discuss geometry ``after Euclid.''

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But the main point is that, even if you have not discovered
this yet, I think you will find that some of the more
interesting and important experiences in life can come from 
unplanned encounters that don't fit into preconceived 
ideas you might have for how things ``should work.''  I'm 
not claiming that this talk was necessarily one of those
important experiences, by the way!  
I'm just saying that a little more openness to different 
things might lead to surprisingly valuable results on occasion.

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The main issue I have with this essay is that
your writing here seems overly hasty and careless. I 
don't have any problem (as I hope you have seen so
far) if students express viewpoints that are opposed to 
the opinions I happen to hold myself.  By part of my job is to get you
to express the opinions you want to get across in the clearest
and most convincing way.  This essay does not do that
very well because of the many small slips and unclear 
spots.  Look over the corrections and see me if you have
any questions.
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{\it Grade:}  Content: 9/10; Writing:  7/10.
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{\it Xuan Ha Nghiem -- Reflection Paper}
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{\it Some comments}
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\item{1.}  I think that the fearlessness of the Galapagos 
animals is mainly due to the fact that there {\it are no} large
land predators in that limited ecosystem.  When humans 
arrived, the native animals literally did not know that
they might need to be afraid of and flee from humans.
\item{2.}  The points on your second page are pretty much a 
repetition of things you have said before in almost the same
way.  So I think the essay could have been cut down somewhat
in length.  
\item{3.}  I have marked some corrections and suggestions
for rewordings.  Please see me if you have any questions about
those.
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{\it Grade:}  Content: 9/10; Writing: 8/10.
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{\it Kaitlin O'Hagan--Reflection Paper}
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Apart from the fact that the last few sentences are repetitive
of things you have said before, this is a good essay on John Hess's
talk on ``Darwin's Tapestry'' and the animals of the Galapagos
Islands.  

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I have a comment for you to think about, though.
In saying animals have ``personalities'' (which is, I agree,
something that Dr. Hess said himself in the talk), are we maybe
reading too much of our own human attitudes into the activities
of creatures that are maybe not so much like us after all?
This is a serious concern in scientific research about
animal behavior, by the way.  ``Anthropomorphism'' is the 
attribution of human qualities, or human thought patterns, or
human motivations to animals, and it is
something most scientists try to {\it avoid} as much
as possible.  If you think about it, that might make
sense since we might be drawing incorrect conclusions if
we fall back on that too much.  

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Of course it is probably true that Dr. Hess was trying to 
do something different in his talk.  One way to motivate 
people to care about the environment is to make them feel 
sympathetic toward the animals and plants.  And giving the 
animals endearing
``personalities'' is certainly one way to do that.
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{\it Grade: } Content: 10/10; Writing 9/10.
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{\it Peter Zona -- Reflection Paper}
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Your essay on Tom Zetterstrom's talk is well-written and 
shows some thought about what he was trying to say.  

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The main comment I have concerns something you said in your
first paragraph.  Namely, isn't it somewhat self-centered
for humans to say that trees have a ``purpose'' in Earth's
ecosystem?  I think that biologists, for instance, would 
shy away from saying that any living thing has a ``purpose.'' 
The fact that plants have evolved to take up 
$CO_2$ and give off $O_2$ while animals do the reverse
is just how it is.  And while the system works well
for both plants and animals as long as the system is
in balance, they would say that neither plants nor animals
were designed with that purpose in mind.  Of course, there
are other ways of looking at things too.  Just be sure
you appreciate the distinction here!
 
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{\it Grade:}  Content: 9/10; Writing: 10/10
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{\it Kylee Sullivan -- Reflection Paper}
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Oops -- most of Tom Zetterstrom's talk dealt with American
{\it elm} trees, not oak trees.  They are a completely 
different species.  Small slips like this might not seem
that important, but they can really sabotage the effect
you want your writing to have(!)  So please be more 
careful.

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{\it Comments}
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\item{1.}  The ``shade'' issue is a very important one
from the point of view of humans who use trees to try to
control their environments.  One of the main features
of elm trees was that they did provide a lot of shade.
That meant that yards and houses shaded by elms stayed
cooler in the summer.  Don't forget that in the time
that elm trees were flourishing in the U.S. there was
virtually no air conditioning around.  So this was actually
a very important reason why elms were so commonly planted
in U.S. cities and towns.  
\item{2.}  I don't remember Zetterstrom criticizing 
the lack of variety of trees on the Holy Cross campus.
As I recall, his main point there was that our trees 
are sort of ``museum pieces'' rather than being
integrated into all facets of the campus (for instance,
the lack of trees in the expanses of the Hogan Campus
Center parking lots).  I think he also made
the point that we don't use the trees we have as
well as we could as a teaching resource (the idea
of a ``teaching arboretum.'')
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{\it Grade:}  Content: 8.5/10 ; Writing: 10/10.
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{\it Tom Santa Maria -- Reflection Paper}
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I'm not sure I follow the final sentence in your
first paragraph.  It seems to be going in two different
directions at the same time.  One possibility is 
that you really should start with ``Though I can absolutely
and honestly say ... ''  That would be the 
way to say unequivocally that the talk did nothing for
you.  Since you're not really saying that, I think
you really meant ``Despite my attitude, {\it and} 
although I can absolutely and honestly say that I did not
emerge from Seelos Theater a changed man, one message ... ''   
The point is that the ``Despite my attitude '' signals
that there was some change from what you thought before, 
and that in some way, contrary to your
expectations, the talk {\it did} change your mind.  So 
this should be clearer.
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{\it Grade:}  Content: 10/10; Writing 9.5/10.
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{\it Andrew Marzo -- Reflection Paper}
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This is a very good essay about the main points that
Tom Zetterstrom was trying to get across in his talk. 
There are just a couple of technical issues in the 
writing.  First,  
when you are referring to the species of tree, {\it elm} is 
not capitalized.  Second, the next to last sentence 
needs some work.  I'm not sure how ``distribute'' fits
with what you are trying to say.  It seemed to me that
``upset'' or ``disrupt'' would be closer to what I think
you mean.  If on the other hand you are referring to the 
power humans have to spread particular plants and animals
(or diseases) around then say something like ``spread
a disease,'' not ``distribute an ecosystem.''
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{\it Grade:}  Content: 10/10; Writing 9/10.
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{\it Max Pettinelli -- Reaction Paper}
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I'm very glad to hear that the photography exhibit caught your 
interest.  I was really struck by the series of photographs of the elm
tree across the yearly cycle (in the four seasons) as well.  They are
a reminder how
tenacious, and at the same time how fragile, life is.  Your
short essay is also very well-written.  Good work!
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{\it Grade: } Content 10/10; Writing: 10/10.
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{\it Lucia Bostrom -- Reaction Paper}
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Your short essay is very well-written and I'm glad the 
talk gave you the opportunity to think about these things.
The one comment I have is that nature is not quite 
as {\it defenceless} against humans as you seem to indicate
toward the end of the essay.  Think of the way disease
germs can acquire immunity to the drugs that we use to 
kill them, or the way bedbugs (ick!) seem to be making 
a major comeback in cities across the U.S. right now!
In my opinion, the more we try to live {\it with and in}
the natural world rather than trying to tailor it exclusively 
to our liking, the happier we will be in the long run
as a species.
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{\it Grade:}  Content: 10/10; Writing: 10/10. 
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{\it Astrid Ludwig -- Reaction Paper}
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This is a good essay giving a reaction to Dr. John Hess's
presentation on ``Darwin's Tapestry'' and the animals
of the Galapagos Islands.  I have a couple of comments, 
though.  The first deals with the way you say that
the animals in that ecosystem have to ``work for 
each other.''  It was not entirely clear to me what
you meant by that.  If you mean that they are {\it interdependent},
then I would certainly agree.  But I think it would be a big
``stretch'' to say that they have any conscious collaboration
to make their lives possible. 
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The second comment is that your statements about how
isolated we are from the natural world certainly apply
to how we live in the U.S. at this point in history.
But if you think about it, this is actually a very 
different sort of life from the lives most humans have
lived for most of our time on the earth.  Almost 
everyone lived in close proximity with domesticated animals
like cows, goats, sheep, pigs, etc., for instance, before 
the rise of urban life.  And many people around the world 
still live that way today.  Moreover, people also
had to cope with wild animals much more frequently
and in much more serious ways than we do now.  Consider
the situation of settlers in newly-opened frontier
regions of the U.S. in the 1800's, for instance.
Those settlers probably had to deal with wild predators like wolves
killing their farm animals, or wild birds and deer eating some of their
garden crops, or bears foraging for food around
their homes on a pretty regular basis.  My point is that you
need to understand how different things are now than
they were for most of our (humans') history.
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{\it Grade:} Content: 9.5/10; Writing: 9.5/10.
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{\it Dan Finn -- Reflection Paper}
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Your essay in reaction to Tom Zetterstrom's talk is well-written for
the most part.  I hope you will follow up on your
sense that we should all find ways to participate in the work
of preserving the natural world.  If you are interested in 
pursuing academic work along these lines you might consider
the Environmental Studies concentration.  There are also 
ways to get involved in service activities related to the 
environment if you are inclined that way.
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I also have a couple of technical comments for you.  First, in
the phrase ``Dutch elm disease'' only the first word is capitalized
(since it is the adjective referring to the country).  Second,
most people think that the disease was introduced into the U.S.
in a shipment of wood from the Netherlands (not France as you
said).    
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{\it Grade:}  Content 10/10; Writing: 9.5/10
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{\it Muhammad Juvaid -- Reaction Paper}
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Your essay in reaction to Tom Zetterstrom's talk is well-written for
the most part.  There is one sentence fragment, though, in the first paragraph.
I would say that you should try to avoid these in formal writing (even though
I know that we tend sometimes to add a point without including a subject and a verb
when we are speaking).  It was was also not completely clear to me what
you meant to say in that sentence.  Did you mean to say that elm trees have 
a lot of historical importance in parts of the U.S.  (such as Massachusetts,
where it is our state tree)?  Another smaller point is that the name ``elm'' is 
not capitalized when you are just referring to the species of tree.
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 I hope you will follow up on your
sense that we should all find ways to participate in the work
of preserving the natural world.  If you are interested in
pursuing academic work along these lines you might consider
the Environmental Studies concentration.  There are also
ways to get involved in service activities related to the
environment if you are inclined that way.
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{\it Grade:} Content: 9.5/10; Writing: 9/10.
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{\it John Macomber -- Reaction Paper}
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I agree that the natural world can be a source of calm
and rejuvenation for human beings.  I know that you 
are not exactly saying what I am going to mention next.
Some humans tend to think that because nature can have a 
calming, rejuvenating effect on them, that is somehow its 
purpose or reason for being there.  Of course, it is 
arrogant to think that way.  Humans are part of nature 
and we cannot control everything that happens in nature 
to make it into a perfect parkland for our own enjoyment 
and refreshment.  
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On the technical side, there is a sentence fragment in the first paragraph.
I would say that you should try to avoid these in formal writing (even though
I know that we tend sometimes to add a point like this without including a subject 
and a verb when we are speaking).  There are also a few 
smaller slips that I have marked with corrections.  If
you have any questions about these, please see me.
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{\it Grade:}  Content: 10/10 ; Writing: 8.5/10.
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{\it Kyle Kadlick -- Reaction Paper}
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The main comment I have concerns something you said toward the 
beginning of the essay.  Isn't it somewhat self-centered
for humans to say that trees have a purpose in Earth's
ecosystem?  I think that biologists, for instance, would
shy away from saying that any living thing has a ``purpose.''
The fact that plants have evolved to take up $CO_2$
and give off $O_2$, while animals do the reverse is just how
it is.  While the system works well for both plants and
animals while it is in balance, biologists would deny
that either plants or animals were {\it designed} with
that purpose in mind, or only designed in the most 
general, impersonal way by the forces of evolution.
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The sentence I marked on the paper could use some
polishing too.  Your phrase ``proclaim about'' is
not correct since ``proclaim'' always takes a direct
object.  You can proclaim a holiday or proclaim
a new constitution, but you cannot ``proclaim about
trees.''
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If you want to follow up on your
sense that we should all find ways to participate in the work
of preserving the natural world, there are
several ways to do that at Holy Cross.  If you are interested in
pursuing academic work along these lines you might consider
the Environmental Studies concentration.  There are also
ways to get involved in service activities related to the
environment if you are inclined that way.
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{\it Grade:}  Content: 9/10; Writing: 9/10.
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{\it Sarah Cahn -- Reaction Paper}
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An arboretum is a collection of trees maintained together
by an organization of people.
Tom Zetterstrom's discussion of the fact that Holy Cross's
campus arboretum is not being used as fully as it could be
was a good point to include here.  He
suggested that the campus arboretum could be used for
teaching in many ways that are not happening now (at least
not in any organized way).  He 
meant by this that all of our students
could be educated more about the trees on campus as a 
way of introducing them to aspects of the natural world.
At the same time, the trees might be used more fully as a 
resource for projects in biology and other courses
so that they would become a resource for educational
activities on campus.  It would have been good to 
expand this point more fully in your essay, since 
just saying ``teaching arboretums'' does not really 
get across all the interesting ways the College's collection
of trees might be used.   
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{\it Grade: }  Content:  9/10; Writing: 10/10.
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{\it Matt Kasuba -- Reaction Paper}
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If you want to follow up on your
sense that we should all find ways to participate in the work
of preserving the natural world, there are
several ways to do that at Holy Cross.  If you are interested in
pursuing academic work along these lines you might consider
the Environmental Studies concentration.  There are also
ways to get involved in service activities related to the
environment if you are inclined that way.
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{\it Grade:} Content 10/10; Writing: 9.5/10.
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{\it Kevin Sutman -- Reaction Paper}
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One interesting aspect of 
Tom Zetterstrom's talk was his idea 
that Holy Cross's campus arboretum is not being used as fully as it could be
suggested that the campus arboretum could be used for
teaching.  He meant by this that all of our students
could be educated more about the trees on campus as a 
way of introducing them to aspects of the natural world.
At the same time, the trees might be used more fully as a 
resource for projects in biology and other courses
so that they would become a resource for educational
activities on campus. 

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If you want to follow up on your
sense that we should all find ways to participate in the work
of preserving the natural world, there are
several ways to do that at Holy Cross.  If you are interested in
pursuing academic work along these lines you might consider
the Environmental Studies concentration.  There are also
ways to get involved in service activities related to the
environment if you are inclined that way.
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{\it Grade:} Content 10/10; Writing 10/10.
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