SWARTHMORE College Bulletin Gilmore Stott An Appreciation March 1998 Gamelan premieres The inaugural concert of the College’s new gamelan—an Indonesian percussion orchestra—was held in December, featuring guest dancer I Wayan Dedik Rahman in a program of music and dance from Bali. See page 6 for more on the gamelan. SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN MARCH 1998 Editor: Jeffrey Lott Associate Editor: Nancy Lehman ’87 News Editor: Kate Downing Class Notes Editor: Andrea Hammer Desktop Publishing: Audree Penner Intern: Jim Harker ’99 Designer: Bob Wood Editor Emerita: Maralyn Orbison Gillespie ’49 Associate Vice President for External Affairs: Barbara Haddad Ryan ’59 Cover: Associate Provost Emeritus and Associate Dean of the College Gilmore Stott still comes to work in Parrish Hall. Photograph by George Widman. Story on page 16. Changes of Address: Send address label along with new address to: Alumni Records, Swarthmore College, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore PA 19081-1397. Phone: (610) 328-8435. Or e-mail alumnirecords@swarthmore.edu. Contacting Swarthmore College: College Operator: (610) 328-8000 http://www.swarthmore.edu Admissions: (610) 328-8300 admissions@swarthmore.edu Alumni Relations: (610) 328-8402 alumni@swarthmore.edu Publications: (610) 328-8568 bulletin@swarthmore.edu http://www.swarthmore.edu/ Admin/publications/bulletin/ Registrar: (610) 328-8297 registrar@swarthmore.edu ©1998 Swarthmore College Printed in U.S.A. on recycled paper The Swarthmore College Bulletin (ISSN 0888-2126), of which this is volume XCV, number 4, is published in August, September, December, March, and June by Swarthmore College, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081-1397. Periodical postage paid at Swarthmore PA and additional mailing offices. Permit No. 0530-620. Postmaster: Send address changes to Swarthmore College Bulletin, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore PA 190811397. 10 Off the Grid During January, when many New Englanders found themselves without power following massive ice storms, Raymond ’70 and Madelon Toll Kelly ’72 were able to offer neighbors hot showers. Their salvation? A self-reliant, photovoltaic solar power system. By Tom Krattenmaker 16 His Feet Are in the Real World Gil Stott gave the phrase “in loco parentis” a new meaning, says David Wright ’69. In talking with other alumni, he found that their stories of Stott’s fundamental decency and quiet spirit all lead back to his caring home, with its bread, concertos, and conversation. By David Wright ’69 20 Network News Learning the ropes at Women Work! Sending out electronic news. Studying migrant workers’ rights at the U.N. In January 75 students took advantage of the College’s externship program, with alumni in a variety of professions serving as mentors. By Barbara Haddad Ryan ’59 and Jeffrey Lott 64 I Can Do It In the 1950s as well as today, Swarthmore was a place where women could get an extraordinary start in science. Maxine Frank Singer ’52 talks about the atmosphere of freedom and optimism that nurtured her development as a young scientist. By Maxine Frank Singer ’52 2 4 28 32 37 58 Letters Collection Alumni Digest Class Notes Deaths Recent Books by Alumni L ast fall when we asked the College’s records office for the names of alumni who count Gilmore Stott as a “Swarthmore influence,” we got a long list. Despite the fact that his 48-year career here has been spent largely as an administrator, the list confirmed that for generations of Swarthmore students, Stott has been a teacher and mentor of the first order. Most of us have encountered a teacher who transcended the ordinary business of schooling. Some taught invaluable skills or showed us new ways to think. Others took a contrary approach, challenging us to define ourselves in opposition. Still others— and these, I think, are the most influential—saw and affirmed in us qualities we had not yet seen in ourselves. I’ve been lucky enough to have encountered all three. More than any other person, Richard Gregory taught me how to write. In his 10th-grade English class, we diagrammed sentences as though they were astrophysical equations. We took daily quizzes (made up of poor writing culled from our own sophomoric papers) in Our most influential mentors see which we not only had to corand affirm in us qualities rect the grammar but improve we have not yet seen in ourselves. the style as well. “How could you say this more clearly?” he would ask, waving The Elements of Style by Strunk and White and making us rewrite again and again. On the contrary side, there was Hal Lewis, creative director of the magazine where I worked before coming to Swarthmore. Hal was a design genius, a brilliant polymath who was also capricious beyond all reason. He yelled a lot, driving the staff to do its best work; in a perverse way, he brought us together as a creative team. I was a much better editor (and, I hope, person) after those two hellish years with Hal. Finally there was my printmaking teacher, David Bumbeck of Middlebury College. As a senior art major, I applied to some of the best graduate schools of the fine arts—and was rejected at every one. In truth my portfolio was weak. I had good technical skills but struggled with drawing. But Dave Bumbeck, a great draughtsman himself, never discouraged me. Instead, he gently steered me into a master’s in teaching program at the Rhode Island School of Design, his alma mater. He saw something in me that I had not yet seen in myself—that I might make a better art teacher than artist. He was right, and I went on to spend 12 happy years in the classroom. What about your mentors? Because of his wide following and his longevity at the College, Gil Stott is a shining example of the mentoring that happens to almost every student here. I know that our article about him will prompt Bulletin readers to think of many other “Swarthmore influences,” and I’d be interested to hear about them. —J.L. PARLOR TALK 2 ✍ L E T College promotes “mental apartheid” with support groups To the Editor: In a day when most Americans want to end barriers based on race and ethnicity, Swarthmore seems to be going in the opposite direction. That’s the message I get from the piece “Faces Like Mine” (December 1997) and subsequent e-mail correspondence with certain administrators and students. It makes me sad. One of the wonderful aspects of Swarthmore I remember was that race, place of origin, and the like didn’t constitute an “identity” giving rise to specific expectations or entitlements. It would have been outrageous to suggest they did. The atmosphere encouraged students to develop their own identities, based not only on skin color and antecedents but, more significantly, on interests, skills, values, aspirations, and indefinable qualities such as personality. By contrast today the College seems preoccupied with putting labels on students according to their “cultures.” The largest division is between “whites” (essentially students with European forebears) and “people of color” (everyone else). Beyond that the gross cultural subcategories into which Swarthmore seems to divide its students include “Asians” (whose culture comprises more than a thousand languages, religions, and sects); “Hispanics” (virtually anyone from a family that speaks or has at some time spoken Spanish); and “blacks” (who include not only descendants of American slaves but also Ethiopian Jews, Haitian voodoo practitioners, and West African farmers). In turn the College sponsors “exclusive” organizations, also called “support groups,” for members of the various cultures. These groups are permitted to bar participation by students who don’t belong to their race, ethnicity, or culture. For example, if my daughter who sings well and speaks fluent Spanish had chosen to attend Swarthmore, she would have been prohibited from singing in the gospel choir or participating in the Hispanic student group for a single SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN T E R reason—her grandparents came from Eastern Europe. In short, enlightened Swarthmore is participating in that most unenlightened of activities: racial and ethnic segregation. I realize that Swarthmore’s impulse is benign. Its administrators understand, as do most of us, that despite all of the good will and progress, there remains in our country much racial and ethnic prejudice as well as the residue of past racism and prejudice. But the question is: What do we as Americans of different backgrounds do about it? Specifically, what should a small, elite, historically Quaker liberal arts college do about it? Should the College promote a mental apartheid in which people of color are seen as having racially and linguistically determined identities inherently different from the rest of us? Moreover, should the College sponsor clubs that discriminate merely because their members or their ancestors have been (in some cases, not all) objects of discrimination in the past? Is a new style of racism and discrimination the proper answer to the old-style racism and discrimination? I think the answer is no. On a moral level, officially sanctioned racial or ethnic segregation is simply wrong. On a practical level, the dubious lesson of such practices is that, for some reason, “minority students” are privileged to engage in exclusionary, bigoted behavior barred to everyone else. Others will disagree with me. Obviously the Swarthmore administration disagrees. But so far in the alumni publications and e-mail correspondence, I’ve read nothing that approaches even a minimally acceptable level of moral reasoning concerning the College’s attitudes. Without a rational, good-faith discussion, the College, the students, and the rest of us are doomed to be prisoners of our own inflated senses of grievance or guilt or both. PETE BECK ’57 Greenwich, Conn. More letters on page 30 MARCH 1998 P O S T I N G S S I n January I decided to stop playing varsity basketball. I love the game, but I just felt it was time to make a choice. Perhaps I should explain. With all of the academic rigors of Swarthmore, it might seem unlikely that many would have time to participate in intercollegiate sports. But this is not the case. Athletics is a major part of life at Swarthmore College. Last year more than a third of all students participated in varsity sports ranging from field hockey and lacrosse to basketball and baseball. The College’s intramural and club sports attract even more students. The pleasure of competition is what drives many of these student athletes. I’ve always enjoyed athletic competition, and, over the years, I have had the good fortune to excel in basketball. For me basketball is not just a sport but a passion. When I step on the court, I feel like I’m at home. The game is mine, and you are playing my game. I love the atmosphere in the gym—the crowd right up near me yelling in anticipation of a great play. My high school team was 59-6 during my junior and senior years, and I thrived on the pressure that went along with playing for a nationally ranked school. For a while I had dreams of playing in the NBA, and I was recruited by Division I schools, such as Davidson College, Ohio University, and Manhattan College. But I turned down their scholarship offers because, although it has no athletic scholarships, Swarthmore offered me the chance to receive the best education in the country—and ultimately the option of not playing basketball. Basketball is still a passion of mine, but playing on Swarthmore’s varsity took two or three hours a day, hours that I knew I needed for study. My future does not lie on the basketball court but rather in business or politics. I’ve become fascinated by the courses I am taking in political science, especially those dealing with how America interacts with other countries on a global scale. If I did not have that extra time to study every day, I know that I would not be successful in my political science and economic courses. I just had to choose. Although academics played a substantial role in my decision, I suppose that another factor was also involved. It’s clear that the level of competition in Division III basketball is not as high as what I had become used to in high school, and even though I am a highly motivated athlete, I could not maintain the same level of intensity—and therefore the desire to play— that I once felt. Don’t get me wrong. Division III athletics are perfect for a school like Swarthmore, where sports are viewed primarily as a release from the stresses of studying. If Swarthmore aspired to Division I–style athletics, it would not enjoy the broad participation in sports that it has today. The commitment necessary to be successful in Division I requires an enormous amount of time that Swarthmore students do not have because of the College’s high academic standards. I don’t blame anyone else for my decision to stop playing varsity basketball. I had no problem with the coaching staff or any of my teammates. Head coach Brad Hofmann ’93 [longtime coach Lee Wimberly is on sabbatical this season] brought energy to practice every day. He relates very well to , and is respected by, all of the players. I hope that athletics will continue to be a major part of life at Swarthmore. There will always be students who think that they will be better off if they don’t participate in sports, and there will also be students who enjoy and excel in athletics. Regardless of whether or not we choose to participate in sports, all of us came to Swarthmore to get an education that will make our lives successful. —J.T. Haskins ’00 “In January I decided to stop playing varsity basketball.” Here’s why. Haskins, a sophomore from Beaver Falls, Pa., was the leading scorer on the men’s basketball team when he made his decision. 3 COLLECTION S WA RT H M O R E TODAY Whither the Ville? T he College is actively working toward a consensus with the borough of Swarthmore “to identify ways to sustain or enhance the vitality of the business district and the quality of life for all of us as residents, and for the College as an institution,” according to President Alfred H. Bloom In remarks to the faculty in February, he spoke of a process that began several years ago when then-member of the Board of Managers Christopher Leinberger ’72 warned his fellow Managers of the pattern of urban decay in Philadelphia’s inner suburbs that would affect the area between Swarthmore and the airport and Chester over the next several decades. At about the same time, President Bloom said, he and other College officials began a series of meetings with the Swarthmore mayor and Borough Council to discuss topics including parking, traffic, public safety, zoning regulations, and taxation. “But often,” he said, “we returned to their concern over the economic viability of the business district.” Motivated by the recognition of a mutual interest on the part of the College and the borough of Swarthmore, the Borough Council created a Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) in January to explore means of sustaining or enhancing the vitality of the business district. One of the first acts of the SPC was to invite Leinberger, a nationally recognized expert on urban planning issues, to speak at an open meeting on Jan. 8. Leinberger told the audience that “we in this country have been reinventing our metropolitan areas. We have been increasing their size geometrically, and we have been engaging in what I call the strategy of the disposable city, and now the disposable inner suburb. We basi- cally feel we can run from our problems and strike out for a new place out on the fringe.” “Chris outlined his model and his view of its implications for this area,” President Bloom said, “but he also offered some specific examples of the kinds of improvements that would not only sustain but revitalize the business district. These examples included opening an inn as well as one or more restaurants, with the assumption that the sale of alcohol be permitted; moving the College bookstore to the Ville; and extending the cover over the [railroad] underpass to create a pedestrian mall.” At the January meeting, Board of Managers Chairman J. Lawrence Shane ’56 told the audience that the College is “very dependent on the health of this borough. It’s one of the things that’s going to influence a student’s decision and be a part of our competitive advantage.” The SPC prepared a request for a marketing survey to learn what kinds of development would or would not be economically sustainable. Unfortunately, said Bloom, the request incorporated several of Leinberger’s specific suggestions and “gave rise to the perception that the planning committee was acting with an agenda already in mind—and worse, that the College had an agenda that the planning committee had adopted wholesale. Neither of these was the case.” Currently the SPC is clarifying its request and moving ahead with broad consultation with its various constituencies as to what would and would not enhance the quality of life of the Ville. President Bloom stressed that the College has only yet to begin considering possibilities and has a “very long way to go, including a good deal of work together on campus, before arriving at consensus on any one of them.” BARBARA SEYMOUR ʼ63 The College and the borough of Swarthmore look to reach consensus on revitalizing the business district. 4 SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN Hans Wallach is dead at 93 H ans Wallach, Centennial Professor Emeritus of Psychology, died Feb. 5. He was 93. A major contributor to the field of visual and auditory perception and learning, Wallach was elected to the National Academy of Science in 1986. His research on perceptual adaptation advanced the field’s understanding of the role of learning in the perceptual process. In addition he was credited with discovering the basic psychological principle that makes stereophonic reproduction possible. President Alfred H. Bloom, who taught with Wallach in the Psychology Department in the mid-1970s said: “The excitement of his intellect and the promise of his warm support figured prominently in why I and many young faculty were drawn to Swarthmore. His combined dedication to fine teaching and significant research exemplify the mission of this community, and his achievements in uncovering the dynamics of the human perceptual systems stand among Swarthmore’s most distinguished contributions to science.” Wallach came to the College as a research associate in 1936, a position he held until 1942, when he became an instructor. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1944, to associate professor in 1948, and to full professor in 1953. He chaired the Psychology Department from 1957 to 1966. Wallach retired from the active faculty in 1975 but continued his work as a research associate until 1987. A member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton from 1954 to 1955, Wallach won numerous awards and fellowships during his career. He was a Guggenheim Fellow, a visiting professor at the New School for Social Research, and the 1987 winner of the Howard Cosby Warren Medal of the Society of Experimental Psychologists. A memorial gathering will be held on campus Sunday, May 24, at 3 p.m. in the Whittier Room of the Swarthmore Friends Meeting. A reception at President Bloom’s house will follow. Those interested in attending should contact the Psychology Department by e-mail at psychology@swarthmore.edu or by phone at (610) 328-8431. A memorial fund has been established in Wallach’s name to support a variety of scholarly pursuits in psychology. Former Board member Widing dies T heodore Widing ’28, a longtime insurance agent and a member of the College’s Board of Managers, died Jan. 16. He was 92. Mr. Widing began writing insurance policies shortly after graduating from Swarthmore. As an agent specializing in life policies, he was a member and past president of the Million Dollar Round Table, the industry’s top producers. He was still working at the Delaware Valley Financial Group Inc. a month before his death. Mr. Widing served on the board from 1940 to 1941 and again from 1950 to 1958. He also served as gift co-chair for his class’s 50th reunion. His wife, Esther Wilson Widing ’28, predeceased him; he is survived by four sons, including Theodore Widing Jr. ’58. MARCH 1998 Theodore Widing ’28 was a top-producing insurance agent and member of the College’s Board of Managers. Still searchin g ... The search continues for three key administrators at the College: a vice president for alumni, development, and public relations; dean of the College; and College librarian. In the vice presidential search, the executive search firm of Isaacson, Miller is conducting a nationwide canvass and working toward an early April presentation of candidates. The targeted date for interviews with finalists is June. The dean’s search committee spent last month interviewing six semifinalists (one of whom is Robert Gross ’62, currently acting dean). This month three or four final candidates will return for twoday visits. The committee hopes to make its recommendation to the president in mid-April. The librarian’s search became a little more difficult when two of the four final candidates withdrew in January. The committee then brought two new candidates to campus in February and expected to make a selection by midMarch. New veeps ... Maurice Eldridge ’61 and Larry Schall ’75 have been named to two new vice presidential posts. Eldridge, a member of the administration since 1989, is now vice president for college and community relations. He had been associate vice president and executive assistant to the president and he retains the latter part of that title. Schall is vice president for facilities and services. He had served as associate vice president for facilities and services since joining the staff in 1990. Up the ladder ... Full professorship has been awarded to Ann McNamee, music; Marjorie Murphy, history; Stephen O’Connell, economics; K. Ann Renninger, education; and Eva Travers, education. Appointments with continuous tenure and promotion to associate professorships were granted to John Alston, music; Elizabeth Bolton, English literature; Sibelan Forrester, modern languages and literatures; Carl Grossman, physics; Allen Kuharski, theatre studies; and Tamsin Lorraine, philosophy. Reappointed and promoted to associate professor was William Marshall, theatre studies. 5 COLLECTION DENG-JENG LEE Gamelan inaugural ... Swarthmore students, faculty and staff members, and friends joined in presenting the first concert featuring the College’s newly commissioned Gamelan Semara Santi. Gamelan, derived from a Javanese term for striking a percussion instrument, refers collectively to a set of musical instruments and to the people who play them. About 45 instruments make up the College’s col- lection, and rehearsals are conducted the way it is done in Indonesia: players listen to one another and play by ear and by touch, without musical notation. There is little room for improvisation in Balinese music. The gamelan was the of idea Thomas Whitman ’82, assistant professor of music, who became interested in Indonesian music while on a Luce grant in the mid-1980s. Last year he traveled to Bali, where he commissioned the gamelan on behalf of the College from I Wayan Beratha, a composer and a distinguished instrument maker. Semara Santi takes its named from Semar, the god of love, and Santi, derived from the Sanskrit word for peace, to honor peace-loving Quaker traditions. Here (left to right) Sonja Downing ’98, Michelle Park ’98, and George Gibbard ’01 play the reyong. Tuned in ... Michael Jones, director of the Language Resource Center, checks out the low-noise block converter on the College’s latest high-tech piece of equipment—a satellite dish being used to pick up broadcasts from countries all over the world. Installed on the roof of Kohlberg Hall in mid-October, the dish is a steerable unit capable of addressing more than one satellite. Jones said most programming picked up will be video, including news and variety shows. “We’re working on determining what kind of programs faculty members will want for their classes as well as what they and their students might want to watch live.” The dish is part of a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation given jointly to the Modern Languages departments of Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford to integrate new approaches to teaching foreign languages. Facilities are being upgraded at each of the three campuses to reach a common level of technical capability. ELEFTHERIOS KOSTANS 6 SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN Faculty view: Does equality mean treating everyone the same? T ELEFTHERIOS KOSTANS to the same things, even if they could not possibly ever be he civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and the same. This ethic has been a basic social code in the the related black power, American Indian, women’s, United States, leading even the well intentioned to conand gay and lesbian movements, challenged the clude that difference should not be acknowledged. assumption that assimilation at any cost should continue Most Americans have been weaned on the syllogistic to be an American ideal. Moreover, each movement made package that difference implies hierarchy; hierarchy explicit that in the United States, a person’s race, sex, reliimplies exploitation; and exploitation implies oppression; gion, ethnicity, financial standing, sexual orientation, and therefore, to avoid oppression, difference should not be physical ability have always been crucial indicators of edurecognized. The leap in logic occurs early when difference cational and occupational opportunities and of quality and itself is understood as the locus of the problem rather than length of life. the various hierarchies of privilege and penalty that have It was as a direct result of these movements that the shaped the nation. branches of our federal government were encouraged to America’s colleges and universities in general—and codify into law the country’s best ideals of participatory Swarthmore College in particular—have never been exempt democracy. As Columbia University historian Manning from participation in affirming the various hierarchies of Marable observed when he spoke at Swarthmore in Februprivilege and penalty. Thus, as the free ary, the pressure exerted from the marexpression of bigotry and harassment gins of the society brought about tremenrise on American campuses, it is imperadous change at the center. tive that we avoid retreating into the selfMaking race and sex discrimination illecongratulatory delusion that colleges are gal—and the explicit expression of bigotry intellectual safe havens unsullied by conunpopular—were wonderful beginnings of cerns of difference. College campuses are the long and difficult process of eradicatcontexts, and, like all contexts, they are ing oppression in America. Yet many places where race, sex, and class relaAmericans treated the Civil Rights Act of tions get worked out over a range of 1965 as an apotheosis, erroneously assumissues from student and faculty composiing that formal equality instantly created tion to curriculum content. informal equality as well. The goals of the The project of inclusion that Swarthmovement, therefore, remained incommore has undertaken, despite its someplete: Hatred, intolerance, stereotypical times confused rhetoric of providing culthinking, and discrimination—rather than tural groups for minority students withbeing interrogated, exposed, and chalout the acknowledgment of how much lenged—were recoded and moved underthese groups and their constituents make ground, becoming implicit and convoluted. Sarah Susannah Willie is assistant the place intellectually stronger and Thus we find ourselves in a strange hisprofessor of sociology and will torical moment in which there are as many become director of the Black Studies socially healthier, is the challenging projAmericans who embrace multiculturalism Program in the fall. Her book, When ect of pursuing what Martin Luther King Jr. called “the double victory.” The Colas there are those uneasy about any celeWe Were Black: College, Race, and lege’s decision to be color and culture bration of difference that transcends an the Performance of Identity, is due conscious is evidence of maturity, interest in food and music. out from Routledge Press next year. courage, and wisdom. Opposition to multiculturalism and the Part of the college experience is learning how to transpolicies that promote it runs the gamut from the blatantly late: faculty members translate knowledge and the passion self-serving to the idealistically principled. for pursuing it; administrators translate leadership on camIn the case of the former, embracing this country’s pus and enthusiasm about the institution to the wider diverse present, and acknowledging a national history of world; students translate their experiences and interpretasystematic oppression and imperialism, exposes the hierartions of what they learn to each other, their professors, and chies of the past and their continued influence on the presadministrators. And members of the staff, often unsung, ent. Such exposure means that the privileges that accompatranslate their skills and knowledge, making the College a ny old hierarchies will be challenged and most likely upset. hospitable place. In the case of the latter, opposition on principle to Swarthmore’s goal must be to encourage in each of its group-specific programs and consciousness evolves from participants the drive to become translators and offer them the belief that attention to difference goes against the core the tools to do so. For as we become better translators of beliefs of this society where justice is understood as equaliexperience, of culture, of ideas about justice and compasty, and equality is thought to mean same treatment. sion, we step outside of our first and most comfortable This notion of social justice needs to be challenged and “language.” This is not just a skill of mastery but one of reinterpreted. It reflects an ethic of assimilation drawn humility, for as translators we must acknowledge that even selectively from ideas about equality that dominated the after listening carefully, we do not always get it right. It is country from the Civil War through the McCarthy era. It exhausting work from which we each need occasional wasn’t just that everyone was supposed to be treated the respite. But it is the most crucial work of democratic living. same under the law, but everyone was supposed to aspire MARCH 1998 7 COLLECTION Freeman Palmer ’79 joins Board of Managers F reeman Palmer ’79, controller of the New York Theological Seminary and former vice president of the Swarthmore Alumni Association, has been elected to the Board of Managers. Palmer began his professional career as a financial analyst at CBS Radio. After holding a series of other finance positions in televi- member of the Black Alumni Weekend planning committee and is the administrative coordinator of the Swarthmore College Alumni Gospel Choir. Palmer earned an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania before enrolling as a master of divinity student at New York Theological Seminary. sion and radio, he was a partner at New Life Event Productions from 1996 to 1997 before moving to his current position in the seminary. Since graduation Palmer has remained an active alumnus. He served as a member of the Alumni Council, chairing its nominating committee. He has also served as a College works to make the campus more friendly for the disabled S KEY TO BUILDINGS 3. Beardsley Hall 4. Bond and Lodges 5. Clothier Memorial 7. Cornell Science Library 9. Cunningham House 10. Dana Hall 11. DuPont Science Building 12. Hallowell Hall 14. Hicks Hall 15. Kohlberg Hall 8 17. Lang Music Building 18. Eugene M. and Theresa Lang Performing Arts Center 19. Martin Building 21. McCabe Library 22. Mertz Hall 23. Old Tarble 25. Papazian Hall 26. Parrish Hall 27. Pearson Hall 31. Scott Map Building 33. 34. 38. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 47. 48. Sharples Dining Hall Sproul Observatory Trotter Hall Benjamin West House Wharton Hall Whittier House Willets Hall Wister Greenhouse Women’s Resource Center Worth Hall Worth Health Center ince 1993 College officials have been working to improve access to campus facilities for those with various physical disabilities and to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Of the 45 public facilities, access has been improved to 15. This map of upper campus indicates generally accessible buildings (green), partially accessible buildings (blue), and nonaccessible buildings (red). During the current year, improvements included Trotter renovations, which created a fully accessible building; new accessible Parrish Hall paths (orange); new entrance and ramp at the Benjamin West Visitor Center; a new chair lift for the Lang Music Building, improving accessibility to the Underhill Music Library, lobby, and Lang Concert Hall; new accessible paths, sidewalks, and handicap parking throughout North Campus, especially around Trotter, Pearson, and Beardsley halls and the rose garden. “Our goal in the years to come,” said Mark Evans, director of planning and construction, “is to create full ADA-compliant accessible facilities for three residence halls, all academic programs, all public support facilities, all athletic programs, and public administrative programs.” SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN Women’s indoor track repeats as Centennial Conference champions T he women’s indoor track and field squad captured its second consecutive Centennial Conference championship, compiling a conference-record 123 points. The Garnet outdistanced second-place Haverford by 30 points. Seniors Danielle Duffy and Catherine Laine and Desiree Peterkin ’00 led the charge for the Garnet. Duffy captured the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter run, whereas Peterkin tied the school and conference record in the triple jump with a leap of 38' 8.25", qualifying her for the NCAA Championships, and she placed second in the long jump. Laine compiled 59 points and placed second in the 200-meter dash, the triple jump, the long jump, the 55meter dash, and the 55-meter hurdles. The trio also ran legs on the winning 4 x 200 relay with Wonda Joseph ’00 and the 4 x 400 relay with Stephanie Herring ’99. In her first meet, Anne Baumgartner ’01 shattered the school record in the shot put with a toss of 36' 3". Laine broke the school record in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.55 seconds. The men’s indoor track and field team posted a 7-2 mark for the season and placed fourth at the Centennial Conference championships. Steve Dawson ’00 was a double winner at the conference meet, capturing the high jump and the long jump. Dawson out-jumped his closest competitor by 7", clearing a conference record height of 6' 9". Dawson also captured the long jump with a leap of 21' and took second in the triple jump with a distance of 42' 10.75". Mason Tootell ’99 placed second in the 55-meter hurdles. The men’s swimming team posted a 9-3 overall mark and went 5-1 in conference duals while swimming to their third consecutive second-place finish at the Centennial championships. Fred Gerson ’99 was a double winner, capturing the 100 and 200 breaststroke, eclipsing the school Swimmer Fred Gerson ’99 set College and Centennial Conference records in both the 100- and 200-meter breast stroke. and conference records in both events. Gerson set the 100 mark of :58.56 in trials and the 200 time of 2:09.42 in the final. Andy Robbins ’98 won the 200 backstroke for the third consecutive year in a provisional qualifying time of 1:55.89 and was a member of the winning 800-yard freestyle relay team that included Mark Friedberg ’98, Ryan Fruh ’99, and Carl Sanders ’98. The women’s swimming team posted an 8-5 mark overall and went 5-2 in conference duals. The Garnet women placed second at the Centennial championship meet for the fourth consecutive season. Kris Robertson ’98 captured the MARCH 1998 P New head football coach named eter Alvanos, defensive coordinator at the University of Chicago, has been named head coach of Swarthmore’s football program. He replaces Karl Miran, who was asked to resign in December. A 1988 graduate of Drexel University, Alvanos has held the positions of lineback and defensive line coach at the University of Redlands for two seasons and was outside lineback coach at Lehigh University, also for two seasons. In an interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer, Alvanos said, “I felt that everyone I talked to at Swarthmore—the athletic director, the president, the provost—is committed to getting football back on track, to be a positive experience within the academic framework.” Alvanos will assume his duties at the end of this month. 200 backstroke for the second straight year while Molly Marino ’98 had 49 points, placing second in the 200 backstroke and third in the 200- and 500-yard freestyle. The women’s basketball team capped its 8-16 season with a 58-38 rout of archrival Haverford. Guard Heather Marandola ’01 led the Garnet in scoring, averaging 13.4 points per game. Junior captain Jean Quinn led the team in rebounds, pulling down 10.3 per game to finish second in the conference. Freshman guard Kristen English averaged 10.5 points a game and set a school record, connecting on 36 three pointers this season, and now ranks second in career three pointers. Senior captain Michelle Walsh completed her career by playing in all 95 games, which ranks second on the career list. The men’s basketball team capped a rebuilding year with a 66-49 victory over Haverford to snap a 24-game losing streak. Junior captain Tim Schofield led the squad with a 16.5-points-per-game average and was named to the AllCentennial Conference Second Team. Junior captain J.J. Purdy was second in scoring, averaging 7.3 points per game, and led the team in rebounds, pulling down 4.9 per game. The Garnet finished the season at 1-22. The wrestling team posted a 9-15-1 mark and placed fifth at the Centennial Conference championships. Senior 190pound Alec Stall placed sixth at the NCAA East Regionals. At the Centennial Conference championships, hosted by Swarthmore, Stall placed second, while classmate Pete Balvanz placed second at 150 pounds, and junior Adrian Wilson finished third at 134 pounds. The badminton team posted a 4-2 mark and placed second in the PAIAW standings. The team finished in third place at the Northeast Collegiate Badminton Championships, held at Swarthmore. The team of Tam Doan ’98 and Wendy Kemp ’99 placed second in the women’s doubles final, whereas Doan finished third in singles play. At the PAIAW Tournament, the team of juniors Erika Johansen and Jen Chen were victorious in the doubles championship, leading the Garnet to a third-place finish. In Hood Trophy action, the Garnet narrowed the Fords lead to 6-5 after capturing three points this winter. 9 OFF THE GRID Power lines don’t come near Ray and Madelon Kelly’s home in the Maine woods—and they like it that way. By Tom Krattenmaker W RAY & MADELON KELLY hen a historic ice storm assaulted the Northeast in January, knocking out electrical power for more than half a million people, Raymond ’70 and Madelon Toll Kelly ’72 were a beacon of light. Since relocating to the Maine woods eight years ago, the Kellys have lived without a connection to the power grid, relying instead on solar power to run their computer, television, refrigerator, and the rest of the usual array of electrical gadgetry. A solar-powered home in sunshine-challenged Maine? The Kellys’ devotion to alternative power struck many people as odd—until the aftermath of the January 8 storm. A week later, while most people in their region struggled without heat and electricity, the Kellys January’s ice storms left many Maine homes without power for days—but not Ray and Madelon Kelly’s solar-powered house on 80 acres in the deep woods. 10 were helping out their neighbors with offers of hot showers and a chance to watch the pro football play-offs. “The storm proved to be a great advertisement for solar-powered systems, which are self-reliant in even the most trying of conditions,” Ray says. “As we offered assistance to our neighbors, I thought we were a bit like Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. Our solar-powered lives are usually thought to be eccentric, but on an icy, foggy night....” Despite their concern for the environment, Madelon and Raymond Kelly didn’t think a house off the electricity grid was a practical idea when they got ready to relocate from Pennsylvania to the woods outside of Washington, Maine. But the news from Central Maine Power Company got them to give solar power a second look: Their dream property was so far off the beaten track it would have cost the Kellys an estimated $20,000 to get hooked up. “At that point,” Raymond recalls, “we realized we could develop a pretty good solar-energy system for the same amount of money. A lot of people doubted that the technology would be sufficient, but we decided to take a gamble.” As the Kellys are happily demonstrating, life off the grid doesn’t have to be an exercise in deprivation. Ninety feet long and more than 3,000 square feet in area, their home is surrounded by 80 mostly wooded acres, a large pond with beaver lodges, and a corral that is home to two horses and six goats. (In addition, they have four dogs, 11 cats, and three egg-laying ducks. Then there’s the local SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN At right, sunlight pours through doubleglazed windows onto the solar-friendly tile floors on the south side of their 3,000-square-foot home. A network of warm-water tubes running just below the tiles and a wood-burning stove provide additional heat. MARCH 1998 PHOTOS BY MARC GLASS To power their dream house in the Maine woods, Raymond ’70 and Madelon Toll Kelly ’72 rely on a bank of photovoltaic cells attached to the roof of their house. The Kellys, who moved to their isolated property eight years ago, found it less costly to develop a solar-powered system than to be hooked up to the local power company. 11 RAY & MADELON KELLY MARC GLASS An array of 32 solar panels lines the roof of the Kellys’ home. They say that they have become more attuned to the vagaries of the weather. A string of cloudy days, for example, makes doing a load of wash out of the question. “When you know where your electricity is coming from,” says Madelon, “you tend to be less wasteful.” 12 wildlife—geese, blue herons, deer, turkeys, and the occasional bear and moose.) One key to their off-the-grid existence is a bank of 32 photovoltaic cells attached to the roof. Arrayed in four long rows facing south for optimum exposure, the cells capture sunlight and send the resulting electrons through a short path of regulators and converters that transform the energy into usable—and storable—electricity. To get the Kellys through cloudy days, 24 large DC batteries store the excess power generated during periods of abundant sunshine. Their equipment, in 1989 dollars, totaled under $17,000—less than what they would have paid for an umbilical cord to the electric power system. The gadgetry, although crucial, is only part of a larger design for maximum energy efficiency. The north side of the house—the cold side—is protected by trees and an earthen berm. The south side, by contrast, is wide open to the sun. Even in the winter, the sun’s rays pour in through large double-glazed windows and settle on a solar-friendly ceramic tile floor. The floor draws additional warmth from a network of warm-water tubes running just below the tile. To get them through the long winter nights, the Kellys keep a wood stove burning. And to ensure that none of this hardearned heat is squandered, the house is insulated to the hilt, with fiberglass, sheet rock, and a reflective insulating material called “foil ray.” The same efficiency is built into the Kellys’ electricity consumption. They use fluorescent lights, which use less electricity than bulbs, and a miserly refrigerator that runs on DC (rather than the conventional AC) power. Electricity hogs like hair dryers and irons—whose heating coils require lots of energy—are verboten. For peace of mind, the Kellys have a propane generator ready to keep the current flowing in a pinch. “One of the nice things about this is that the power company didn’t have to come in here with poles and wires, knocking out trees,” Raymond says. “Our use of solar power has saved this two-mile stretch from being superdeveloped.” Their reliance on the sun has made the Kellys more subject to the vagaries of nature. For instance, the washing machine strains their electricity supply; after a string of cloudy days, doing the wash is out of the question. “I get an odd look someSWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN times when I remark to someone at work, ‘Great. Finally a sunny day. I can do laundry,’” Raymond says. “When you know where your electricity is coming from, you tend to be less wasteful.” Being dependent on nature has made the Kellys more appreciative of it. The changing of seasons becomes more relevant to day-to-day life; the solstice takes on a new significance. “We have definitely become more aware of the weather,” Madelon says. Even before moving to Maine, the Kellys had no electricity bills. They lived at the Grier School in Tyrone, Pa., where Raymond was headmaster and Madelon headed the Science Department. The Kellys—who met as students on a College-sponsored outing to Assateague Island off the coast of Maryland—had always shared a love of nature. Midway through their second decade at the boarding school, they began to talk more seriously about their longtime dream of living in the Maine woods. By making that dream a reality, and a solar one at that, they still have the remarkable distinction of going through adulthood without once paying a cent to a power company. “We like being independent of electricity and fossil fuels,” Madelon says. “The beauty of solar power is that it’s renewable. It’s not contributing to Energy from water ... Swarthmore’s “E-Team” aims for a fuel-cell breakthrough icks Hall, where a student “ETeam” is working to develop a new, more efficient way to produce and store electrical power, is no ivory tower. Senior engineering majors Jonathan Francis, Graham Lucks, and Carl Mas have practical ends in mind, ends that could even be profitable. The E stands not for “engineering” but “entrepreneur.” “Our goal is not to increase knowledge for its own sake but to develop new technology for the sake of progress,” says engineering Professor Frederick Orthlieb, the faculty adviser to Mas, Lucks, and Francis. “And if money gets made, so much the better.” The three seniors are working under a $14,000 grant from the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance (NCIIA) to develop a prototype design for a hydrogen fuel-cell energy system that people could use in their off-the-grid homes. These fuel cells—5-by-5-inch graphite plates—could eventually make off-the-grid living cleaner, more practical, and more affordable. Unlike power plants, fuel cells produce energy without any environmentally unfriendly byproducts like carbon dioxide, sulfates, or nitrates. They also offer important advantages over batteries as a key component of off-the-grid power systems. (See main story.) Batteries contain lead and acid and can be only partially recycled when they MARCH 1998 wear out; fuel cells’ chief “waste” product is water, which is used again and again in the same power-generating system. Fuel cells, once perfected, also promise greater effiE-Team members (left to right) Jonathan Francis ’98, Carl Mas ’98, ciency than Professor Fred Orthlieb, and Graham Lucks ’98 atop Hicks Hall. batteries, in which energy dissipates on the way design project, which is required of in and the way out. all engineering majors. The Vermont The fuel-cell system being develnative sees cost as the biggest oped by the Swarthmore E-Team obstacle to immediate use of fuel starts with photovoltaic cells that cells. transform the energy of the sun into “Very few manufacturers make electricity. To “store” the power, the small fuel cells in large quantities, so system uses the electricity to split a no economies of scale have been supply of water into hydrogen and achieved to make this technology oxygen. Then, when the user needs affordable,” he says. “Also, there are the power for a load of laundry, for other expensive components to the example, the hydrogen and oxygen system that are manufactured in are recombined, producing water only small quantities. It could all and—voilà—energy. become much more affordable if a The same technology could also fuel-cell automobile industry grows power cars in the near future, a and an infrastructure for a hydroprospect that Mas finds exciting. gen-based economy is created.” “You could use the same fuel-cell Under the terms of the NCIIA system that powers your house to, grant, Francis, Lucks, and Mas in effect, fill up your gas tank,” he would keep 75 percent of any profit; says. the remaining quarter of the proMas, like his partners, is pursuing ceeds would belong to the College. the fuel-cell research as his senior —T.K. ELEFTHERIOS KOSTANS H 13 PHOTOS BY MARC GLASS “It’s a relatively simple but good lifestyle,” says Madelon Kelly. The Kellys produce much of their own food, harvesting milk from their goats, eggs from their ducks, and vegetables from their organic garden. To get them through cloudy days, 24 large DC batteries store the excess power generated during periods of abundant sunshine. 14 global warming and acid rain. It’s a technology that’s here and one that we need to emphasize more in this society. The way we see it, if you can do it in Maine, you can do it anywhere. “As you can see,” she adds, “I like to proselytize about this.” The Kellys, despite their wariness of fossil-fuel consumption, remain dependent on it for their livelihoods; they both commute by car to their jobs. Raymond coordinates programs for gifted and talented students at the high school in Rockland, on the coast. Madelon drives in the other direction to her manager’s position at a bookstore in Augusta. But in most other ways, they have forged a life of their back-to-nature dreams. They produce much of their own food, harvesting milk from their goats, eggs from their ducks, and everything from beets to zucchini from their 2,000-square-foot organic garden. To hike in the woods, they need go no farther than out the front door. And though they were initially isolated on their wooded property, which is accessed only by a gravel lane with the appropriate name Old Country Road, community has followed them. Since the Kellys moved into their home eight years ago, four other families have built solar homes in the vicinity, creating a virtual Solar Row in the north woods. The Kellys have also gotten involved in local politics, and Madelon volunteers as the acquisitions chief at the public library in nearby Washington. The Kellys now have two daughters at Swarthmore—Morgan ’98 and Portia ’01. “Our lifestyle and values come in many ways from spending four years at Swarthmore,” Madelon Kelly explains, leading a visitor down one of the new hiking trails they’ve been forging on their property. “To us, living responsibly has meant living in a way that is as nonpolluting as possible. It’s a relatively simple but good lifestyle.” Raymond adds: “To me, it’s pretty well summed up by the road sign you see when you cross the border into Maine: ‘Life as it should be.’” ■ Tom Krattenmaker, the College’s director of public relations, is hooked to the grid in Yardley, Bucks County, Pa. SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN ... and from the air. he residents of Fort Collins, Colo., are so committed to clean electricity that they’ve agreed to a 25 percent increase in their bills to buy the power that William R. Young ’57 is generating from the steady winds that blow through Medicine Bow, Wyo., about 120 miles away. “Wind power,” Young says, “is completely green. The only pollution is that created in manufacturing the equipment.” An engineering major at Swarthmore, Young began his career in hydropower, another nonpolluting electricity source. Employed by the federal Bureau of Reclamation, he worked on hydropower for nearly 30 years before wind power captured his imagination. “Hydropower was a mature industry; we weren’t blazing any new trails,” he says. “When the Bureau of Reclamation got interested in wind power during the Carter administration, so did I.” Young became site manager of a federal wind project at Medicine Bow, a remote spot on the southern Wyoming plains where wind speeds average around 20 miles per hour. To test the feasibility of wind power, the bureau built and operated the world’s largest wind turbine—a 262foot-high giant with the generating capacity to power 1,600 homes. But during the Reagan administration, federal funding waned, and the turbine broke down just before the money ran out in 1986. The federal government may have been finished with wind power, but Young—who has been described in the local press as the Don Quixote of the sagebrush prairie—was definitely not. When the abandoned federal project was put to bid, Young, by now retired from the bureau, bought it himself for $20,000 and set out to repair the gigantic turbine. He had it back up and running from 1992 to 1994, selling millions of kilowatts of electricity to the local power company, before a more serious breakdown put it out of business for good. Young still was not finished. Now, MARCH 1998 in the long shadow of the towering wreck, he is operating a refurbished, 1980s-era, 75-foot turbine while he installs two additional Danish-built models that will help generate the electricity for Fort Collins. Young remains sold on wind power. “I guess ‘kooky’ environmental people are willing to pay extra for clean power,” Young says ironically. “To pay 25 percent more for your electricity—that’s substantial. Of course, wind power would be more competitive if fossil-fueled utilities had to pay for the externalities—for the pollution they produce. No one is paying for that now.” —T.K. Wind power would be more competitive if fossil-fueled utilities had to pay for the pollution they produce, says Bill Young ’57. “No one is paying for that now.” PHOTOS COURTESY WILLIAM YOUNG T Bill Young ’57 is a wind-power pioneer. Bill Young’s 1928 Ford panel truck, which still runs, stands near two of his turbines. In the background—and now abandoned—is the largest wind-powered electrical generator ever built. But the whirring blades of the 65-kW turbine still supply electricity to Fort Collins, Colo. Some Swarthmore alumni will recognize the truck, says Young. It was the “official” WSRN vehicle from 1947 to 1951. 15 GEORGE WIDMAN Gilmore Stott, alive and well— and well remembered. His Feet Are in the Real World I By David Wright ’69 Gilmore Stott has served under six Swarthmore presidents, most notably his friend Courtney C. Smith, whose portrait hangs in the Parrish Hall parlor. MARCH 1998 t was a delirious Swarthmore spring, full of daffodils and dogwoods. I was missing most of the scenery because I had a lot to do before the curtain came down on my senior year: fill out my graduate school applications, sit for eight Honors exams, and pursue at least that number of young women. And to complicate things further, I had persuaded Professor James Freeman, conductor of the college orchestra, to feature me in the spring concert as piano soloist in a piece by Schumann. I made it through the performance—and also made progress toward other goals, when the most popular girl in my class gave me a big hug afterward. But still I doubted. Was it all right? Was I a real pianist, or just faking it? The answer came from an unexpected place. A violinist in the orchestra, an administrator at the College whom I had previously known only as the third suit from the left on the stage at Collection, invited me over for dinner with his family. His name was Gilmore Stott. Many teachers and deans at the College had given generously of their time and energy to help me along on my career there. But this dinner chez Stott was something else. Not only had I just had the pleasure of making symphonic music with the stringplaying Stotts-—father Gil, mother Mary Roelofs Stott ’40, and a daughter (Mary Stott Tyler ’71), 17 17 all sawing away in the College orchestra-—but now I was having the full multisensory experience: Dad’s homemade wines, Mom’s fragrant breads and cookery, music on the stereo or played in person, and lively and affectionate conversation. Before pitching into the delicious food, the whole family lifted their voices in fourpart harmony to thank God for the bounty. For a college kid far from home, in the lonely and stressful environment of a high-powered academic program, dinner at the Stotts’ was a glimpse of another world. It gave the phrase “in loco parentis” a whole new meaning. Mr. Stott had been generous with compliments right after the concert. I think he even hugged me, although for some reason I don’t remember that hug as clearly as the one from Ellen. But he said six simple words at dinner that have stuck with me for these nearly 30 years. Maybe I’d just listened to the tape of the concert (which I still have and is surely by now a pile of dust in a box in my closet). To hear yourself on tape, whether playing music or talking, can be a jarring experience. I remember wondering aloud whether all the practicing had been worth it, whether I had anything to say at the piano, whether there was anything there after all. Gilmore Stott said quietly, “Yes, there’s something there, all right.” These few words were not a candidate for anybody’s dictionary of quotations. But Gil Stott spoke with such transparent sincerity and conviction that even self-doubting Thomas had to accept it. Would it be too much to date the beginning of my belief in myself as a pianist from that moment? Well, yes. But darn, I still remember it, and I use it. How many 30year-old things do you still use? In talking with my fellow alumni, I’ve found that many of them had a similar “Stott moment” during their time at Swarthmore. Charles Floto ’68, a supporter of Goldwater for president and founder of the Conservative Club (and, therefore, in that liberal era, possibly the loneliest man on campus), took the course in ethics that Mr. Stott taught in addition to his administrative duties. “I expected that we would disagree all semester,” recalls Floto, who is now a technician at the Library of Congress. “But he showed me that two people can agree on principles, while disagreeing on practical consequences.” Firm in his convictions, Floto faced an unsympathetic panel of examiners at his senior oral comprehensive exams. It was not a pleasant session, and Floto could see his “distinction in course” going down the drain. As he stood outside the room afterward, glumly contemplating his future prospects, a smiling Gil Stott approached him. “You were very confident in there,” said Stott. A few words, perfectly timed. Charles Floto has never forgotten them. Gilmore Stott is not always a man of few words. Several of his former students told me about the two pages of single-spaced typed comments that used to 18 come back with their papers. Nancy Noble Holland ’72, a flutist, former high school English teacher, and now choral conductor, remembers that ethics course as “formative” and its teacher as “the model of a Swarthmore professor—high academic standards and very caring.” Concepts learned in that class, such as “the distinction between prescriptive and descriptive acts,” have stuck with her for life. But even more alumni mention what Mr. Stott did W hen I felt lost ... I remember him as an oasis of Quaker kindness in a desert of intellect. for them when he was not prescribing anything. “When I felt lost, steamrolled by demands, destitute in my psyche,” says Douglas Price ’55, “he would walk with me for 25 minutes or whatever it took to hear me out. I remember him as an oasis of Quaker kindness in a desert of intellect.” Price is now the headmaster of a Quaker school in Silver Spring, Maryland, that specializes in “bright underachievers, like myself.” He too teaches one course at his school; the subject is dreams. Price cites Gil Stott as “one of the reasons I became a Quaker.” He was interested to learn, as was I, that Mr. Stott is a lifelong Episcopalian. Well, you have to take your Quakers where you find them. It’s probably no coincidence that many alumni who were close to Gilmore Stott at Swarthmore have become school and college administrators themselves. The most obvious case is Maurice Eldridge ’61, who until recently held the post at Swarthmore that Stott once did: assistant to the president. (Eldridge was recently promoted to vice president.) As one of only a handful of African American students at the College in the late 1950s, Eldridge contended with even more than the usual share of undergraduate questioning and self-doubt. “Gil was the dean then,” he remembers. “I knew I could go to him when I was troubled, and he’d be straight and direct. His feet were in the real world.” Eldridge recalls wanting to live off campus and being gently but firmly tugged back by Mr. Stott. “He just told me that the contribution went both ways between me and the College. That was enough.” Decades before “diversity” became a buzzword in academia, Gilmore Stott was concerned about it at Swarthmore. That concern was tested during the traumatic events of January 1969, when a group of African American students occupied the College’s Admissions Office, demanding more recognition for their culture and conSWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN cerns. At the height of the crisis, with Gilmore Stott standing by his side, President Courtney Smith collapsed and died of a heart attack. Many people were tempted to blame Smith’s death on the student demonstrators; Mr. Stott just went to work on the problem at hand. It was just like him to think of music as a bridge between groups on campus. Like Nancy Holland, Jackie Edmonds Clark ’74 was a flutist who participated in readings of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos at the Stotts’ home. With support from Gilmore Stott, Clark founded the Swarthmore College Gospel Choir, which still thrives today. Clark is now an administrator for an adult high school program at a community college in North Carolina. For many years Mr. Stott played a role in the Upward Bound program that brings disadvantaged, mostly minority high school students to the College each summer. Twin brothers Keith and Kenneth Reeves attended four summers of Upward Bound and then were admitted to Swarthmore, graduating in 1988. Keith Reeves, now a professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (and a visiting professor at Swarthmore this year), recalls the warm, welcoming atmosphere in the Stott home. “You could tell he enjoyed getting to know us kids,” Reeves says, “and we enjoyed finding out about Plato and Socrates from him.” Reeves also remembers Mr. Stott’s love of travel, which he instilled in others by means of stories and photos; the Stotts’ Christmas cards always included poetry by Mrs. Stott and pictures of them in faraway places. Reeves’ first trip abroad, at age 21, was to Oxford, and he later became a Rhodes Scholarship finalist for the state of Pennsylvania. For Gilmore Stott, a Rhodes Scholar himself and a longtime deputy secretary or board member of Rhodes Scholarships in America, Reeves was one of countless young scholars he had shepherded toward Oxford. Mr. Stott’s nose for young talent has served him well as administrator of the McCabe Scholarships at Swarthmore, a Rhodes-like program to select and nurture students with exceptional leadership potential. Gregory Englund ’69, who lived in the room next to mine in Wharton, was a shy, soft-spoken young man from Delaware and (unbeknownst to us) a McCabe Scholar. Englund, who now practices estate law with his own small firm in Boston, recalls how “unconditional acceptance and encouragement” from the Stott family bolstered his confidence, and how much he learned from the “quiet spirit” and “fundamental decency” of Gil Stott, who “led by deed and example.” Greg Englund did likewise at Swarthmore, and so he has been stuck with the job of class agent for 1969 ever since. All the Stott stories lead back to that home, with its bread and concertos and conversation. Although Gilmore Stott has had all the official positions that involved punching in daily at Parrish Hall, Mary Stott MARCH 1998 was every bit as much of a presence on campus until her death in 1994. One of their children, William Gilmore Stott ’75, is now a member of the College’s Board of Managers, which I guess means that he has become his dad’s boss. After I interviewed him for this article, Bill Stott telephoned me back to emphasize that the unique quality of Gilmore Stott’s relationship to the Swarthmore community had its roots in the love of Gil and Mary Stott for each other, which shaped the lives of their five offspring (in addition to Mary and Bill there are daughters Miriam and Sarah and son John ’78) and radiated through the lives of their “extended family,” the hundreds of Swarthmore students who passed through the Stott home over the decades. That devotion continues to manifest itself in various ways; for example, throughout her adult life Mary Stott had published volumes of poetry and stories, and Gil Stott is now preparing more of her writings for publication. Because this article has been about people’s memories of Gil Stott, there’s one more point we should remember: Mr. Stott is anything but “a memory” on campus in 1998. At age 83 he is seen almost daily in the halls of Parrish, and he devotes much time to the process of interviewing and recommending candidates for fellowships. His knowledge of the history of the College is an invaluable resource. His decades at Swarthmore would certainly qualify him to play the role of the grumpy guy who always says “things were better when So-and-So was presi- A ll the Stott stories lead back to that home, with its bread, concertos, and conversation. dent.” Maurice Eldridge just laughs at the thought. “He has such a Protean mind—in no way is Gil Stott the Old Guard hanging on,” he says. “He’s one of the youngest and most progressive people around here.” Asked to remember something in particular about the Stotts, Jackie Clark says, “I don’t know, it was all so wonderful with them. You know what I remember? Fresh-grated nutmeg. You know how a particular smell can make everything come back? I remember that Mrs. Stott always grated the nutmeg fresh for her bread. The whole house smelled like it. I associate all the good things that we did and said with that smell. And I always grate my nutmeg fresh now.” David Wright is a freelance journalist in New York. He still studies piano and is currently working on Schubert’s “Impromptu in B Flat Major.” 19 NETWORK NEWS Swarthmore’s burgeoning externship program puts students alongside alumni in “real-world” jobs. By Barbara Haddad Ryan ’59 and Jeffrey Lott N obody needs to tell Andrew Wise ’92 how to network. His parents, Phyllis Wang Wise and David Wise, both ’67, are distinguished biologists, but at Swarthmore he was interested in government. So he studied public policy and spent a summer in Washington, D.C., with the General Accounting Office—which taught him that government wasn’t his calling. Then he asked Swarthmore’s Career Planning and Placement Office (CP&P) for a list of alumni lawyers in Washington. “There were about 100,” he recalls, “and I wrote to all of them.” About 60 wrote back, including Mary Kennedy ’80 of the Public Defender Service (PDS) for the District of Columbia, which handles a quarter of the district’s indigent cases, including murder. “She sent me a three-page letter—an amazing letter,” Wise said. “She described the rewards of working in that office and offered me a volunteer internship. ‘These three months will change the way you look at the legal system,’ she wrote. And it did.” During his first week, he said, “I got to see the worst parts of the system.” He found himself on Washington’s mean streets, helping investigators dig up evidence to counter what prosecutors were calling open-and-shut cases. “It made me recognize the need for people like Mary,” he said. “No case was as simple as it appeared. Before that I wasn’t aware of the cor- 20 ruption in police departments and the warehousing in the criminal justice system.” After Wise graduated, Kennedy helped him get a job with two former PDS lawyers. Then he earned a law degree at the University of Michigan, and last fall he became a PDS staff attorney. He praises Kennedy, now the training director, as “an incredible teacher and one of the finest trial lawyers anywhere.” Both Wise and Kennedy sponsored Swarthmore externs during winter break in January, in an ambitious program the Alumni Council organized in cooperation with CP&P. (Externships are brief internships.) Building on a successful Washington pilot project launched last year by Alumni Association President Jack Riggs ’64, workplace opportunities and housing were offered in five cities under the leadership of Riggs and B.J. Matzinger Lash ’87, who chairs the Alumni Council’s working group on student support. Lash’s group saw this as an excellent way to enhance vocational mentoring for students. Alumni Council organizers were Roberta Chicos ’77 in Boston; Jim DiFalco ’82 in New York City; Cynthia Norris Graae ’62 in Washington and Baltimore; and Elizabeth Killackey ’86 in Philadelphia. Working with other Photographs by Sam Erickson ’88 local alumni, they matched students with sponsors and enlisted families for housing. They also organized parties for the participants; Connection chair Kathy Stevens ’89 was able to reserve a room at the Capitol through U.S. Sen. Carl Levin ’56. CP&P Director Tom Francis attended the New York party and got firsthand reports about expanded student horizons. A total of 75 students participated in January, and a similar March program was expected to be even larger. There were a few wrinkles, such as complaints about too much work to do or not enough. But most students were enthusiastic, with extra praise for the host families that shared their meals, pets, and in at least one instance, “a room that looks better than the one I have at home.” Andy Wise’s extern, Rohan Hoole ’00, is from Australia, with roots in Sri Lanka; he’ll major in political science and Asian studies, with a focus on race relations. Kennedy’s extern was Reena Vaidya ’00, who grew up in Bryn Mawr, Pa., and will major in religion or psychology. Both are considering law school, and now Vaidya is thinking about a PDS internship. Her experience there, she said, “proved to be enlightening. Mary and Andrew are really dedicated, and being in the public defender’s office changed my perspective on the legal system. It’s important to see the defense attorney not as the enemy of justice in league with criminals but as SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN R ohan Hoole ’00 (left) and Reena Vaidya ’00 (right) saw the District of Columbia’s criminal justice system from the inside during their weeklong externship with public defenders Andy Wise ’92 (center) and Mary Kennedy ’80 (not pictured). The externship program is organized by the Alumni Council in cooperation with the College’s Office of Career Planning and Placement (CP&P). To offer an externship opportunity, contact CP&P at (610) 328-8352. MARCH 1998 21 a person who makes the legal system a little more humane by allowing the accused to have a chance at establishing his or her innocence.” Hoole, who has volunteered in Chester, said it was “an incredible week. At Swarthmore we spend so much time talking about race and public policy—here you see the reality. It was very hands-on; we really got a feel for it. We went investigating with Andy and met a juvenile who’s messed up his life, and he’s only 14.” In between visits to the Supreme Court and District Court, they also absorbed the atmosphere where Wise puts in 12-hour days. He and a colleague share a shabby office straight out of prime-time TV, with a Malcolm X poster the only relief from peeling paint. A suit for court appearances hangs in the corner. “We have 50 or 60 lawyers here,” he said, “and there’s a lot of collegiality. I guess we have an ‘us against them’ mentality. We commiserate a lot when we lose.” He clearly loves his work, even though— unlike his externs—he’s still never been to the Supreme Court. —B.H.R. S Examining the nation’s health I jeoma (“rhymes with iguana”) Azonobi ’99 and Shirin (“rhymes with chagrin”) Ali ’00 have a lot in common, including a sense of humor and an interest in biology. But they’d never met—“we didn’t even know if the other was a boy or a girl”—until they were paired as externs with Dr. Richard Levine at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Levine is acting chief of NIH’s epidemiology branch at its organizational hub in Rockville, Md. He’s also one of the parents who responded to an Alumni Council mailing soliciting January externships. (Daughter Nicole ’95 is a lab technician at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif.) Levine, who lives in Washington, D.C., served as mentor to the students and had Azonobi as a houseguest; Ali stayed with her family in nearby Silver Spring. Azonobi, whose parents are from Nigeria, is a Philadelphia native and a psychobiology major. Ali’s parents are from Calcutta; she’s considering a hirin Ali ’00 (left) and Ijeoma Azonobi ’99 (right) talk with Dr. Richard Levine, acting chief of the epidemiology branch of the National Institutes of Health. Levine, father of Nicole ’95, was one of several Swarthmore parents who offered externships. “This experience has had a major impact on my career ideas,” said Azonobi. 22 biology major with a concentration in Francophone studies. “This experience has had a major impact on my career ideas,” Azonobi said. “I was able to talk to a woman with an M.D. and Ph.D., which I’m thinking about doing, and she encouraged me. Also it was a reality check over and over about how hard it is to get jobs, administrative burdens, having private time. Everyone we met was very candid with us.” Ali said she appreciated the opportunity to talk to outstanding women researchers, especially those who are successfully balancing families and challenging careers. Levine organized a full and carefully structured schedule for the students; their first day included seven information sessions. Through the week NIH professionals discussed research projects with them, showed them the paperwork required for government contracts, explained the difference between a contract and a grant, and clarified scientific and technical issues. Statisticians explained to them the purpose of the data center and the importance of clinical trials—“the closest thing to an experiment,” Levine said, “that you can do on people.” They met experts on adolescent obesity and inheritable disorders. They listened in on a phone conference about political and financial concerns among researchers in Memphis, at the University of Pennsylvania, and at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science in North Carolina. And Azonobi joined the Levines at an evening lecture by Dr. Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and best-selling author of Awakenings. When the women toured the National Library of Medicine, a vital center for SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN P eople who pay for the Bloomberg Service don’t want to wait until tomorrow to read The New York Times,” says Bloomberg News energy editor George Stein ’67. Aspiring journalist Jennifer Barager ’99 isn’t so sure that’s for her: “I’m probably more of a feature writer myself.” JEFFREY LOTT computerizing medical information, they were amused to learn that two software programs for searches are called “Lonesome Doc” and “Grateful Med.” Although Levine went to Princeton, he’s had a Swarthmore-like career path. A music major, he served with the Peace Corps in Iran, and at St. Louis University medical school he won a grant for research on nutrition in Thailand and a fellowship to study tropical medicine in Costa Rica. In the 1970s he worked in impoverished rural areas of Alabama with the federal Epidemic Intelligence Service, and—while Nicole was an infant—at a cholera research lab in Bangladesh. He earned a master’s in public health at Harvard and is board certified in occupational health and preventive medicine. “Both of the students seem very capable,” Levine said of Azonobi and Ali. As for his own Swarthmorean, he said she “never liked the sight of blood,” but added with a smile that “she’s applying to schools of public health.” —B.H.R. MARCH 1998 News at the speed of light I t’s a little overwhelming at times,” says Jennifer Barager ’99 of her week in the information trenches with George Stein ’67. We’re wolfing lunch in Stein’s 6-by-6-foot cubicle in the vast newsroom of the Bloomberg News Service near Princeton, N.J. Meals from the 24-hour cafeteria are free, but there are no dining tables. Most of the 1,375 workers eat lunch— and often dinner—at their desks. Stein grips his sandwich and chats amiably, his attention darting between his guests and the three computer screens to his left. As energy news editor for the world’s fastest-growing financial and business information source, he can’t afford to miss the next e-mail. “There’s a continued urgency here,” says Barager, “but George can balance a couple of things at once.” She balances a plate of cheese ravioli while Stein gives us the nut on his job. “Getting a story three minutes before another service is what we want,” he says. The energy news Stein edits is sent electronically—along with a flood of other news and financial data—to nearly 90,000 Bloomberg subscribers worldwide, each of whom pays up to $20,000 a year for the privilege of having a two-screen Bloomberg terminal on their desks. In addition to feeding the relentless demands of the news wire, Stein edits Bloomberg’s Oil Buyers Guide and Natural Gas Report, two weekly newsletters marketed to the energy industry; runs the energy news Web site; and organizes Bloomberg energy conferences. In October he ran a New York conference on developing technology to convert natural gas to diesel, drawing a standing-room crowd of Wall Streeters and energy executives. As part of her externship, Barager helped Stein prepare the conference presentations for publication in a forthcoming book. English major Barager wants a job 23 in publishing or journalism. She says the externship has given her a sense of “what the different agendas are in different kinds of journalism.” But after a week with George Stein, she’s not sure she wants to work quite so close to the speed of light: “No one here cares about yesterday. It’s all happening right now. I picture myself in something a little slower paced. I’m probably more of a feature writer myself.” Math major Stein completed all but his dissertation in pursuit of a Ph.D. at Columbia, but academic mathematics ultimately failed to satisfy him. “I needed to be more at the center of things,” he says. He veered into journalism in the 1970s, starting at a small paper in North Carolina, reporting at The Miami Herald and the Los Angeles Times, then serving as a correspondent for Radio Free Europe in Munich. He joined Bloomberg in late 1996. “This really suits my personality,” he says of his electronic energy beat. “It touches on finance, commerce, science, logistics, geopolitics—so much of our lives that it’s fascinating. “The idea is to provide instant analysis and perspective. People who pay for the Bloomberg Service don’t want to wait until tomorrow to read The New York Times. They have to make decisions in real time.” I’m curious about “real time.” It seems the news is becoming less something that has happened and more something that is happening. How does Stein keep up? “You learn to write very quickly what you know,” he says, tossing his empty plate into the wastebasket. “Then you update it with perspective, knowledge, and depth. You have to do your homework and have the background.” He says Swarthmore taught him “how to bring all of my efforts and intelligence and judgment to bear on a problem. That’s been very important to me.” Jennifer Barager nods when she hears this. She says Swarthmore is a place with extremely high standards that has also allowed her to experiment and take risks—like her week with George Stein. —J.L. 24 SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN Peace through Friendly dialogue B orn in Colombia, South America, Rafael Luna ’00 came to the United States at age 10, settling with his family in Brooklyn. Ten years after first seeing the United Nations across the East River, he got a chance to work there as a Swarthmore extern in the Quaker U.N. Office. Luna says that the externship taught him about the United Nations—and about the values of the Society of Friends. He listed a few: “Human rights, peace, understanding, and meaningful discussion among people who make decisions that affect people around the world.” The Quaker U.N. Office is a veritable nest of Swarthmoreans. In addition to Luna’s externship sponsor, administrative assistant Judith Leeds Inskeep ’60, two members of the Class of 1997—Nazima Kadir and Anna Rich—are in the midst of one-year internships there. Quakers at the United Nations do what Friends are known for everywhere, says Rich. “We are committed to the use of dialogue and understanding in resolving conflict.” The office arranges informal, off-the-record conversations among diplomats, eschewing the issue-oriented advocacy of many nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in favor of direct, person-toperson contact away from press and political pressure. “What we do really reflects our belief that there is God in every person,” says Inskeep, a birthright Quaker who joined the office in 1994. “Soci- J udith Leeds Inskeep ’60 (right) has enjoyed the company of three young Swarthmoreans at the Quaker U.N. Office. Yearlong interns Anna Rich ’97 (left) and Nazima Kadir ’97 (next to Inskeep), welcomed Rafael Luna ’00, who investigated U.N. conventions on the rights of migrant workers. MARCH 1998 ety is into quick fixes, but we see the U.N. as a long-term effort to build peace through mutual respect and understanding.” U.N. conventions, treaties that have the force of international law when ratified by enough member states, are a particular focus of the Quaker office. Nazima Kadir has been concentrating on the Convention on the Protection of Migrants and Their Families. Though it was passed by the General Assembly in 1990, it has since been adopted by fewer than the 20 nations needed to bring it into force. As an immigrant himself, Rafael Luna is naturally interested in the issue. He spent a good part of his externship studying international agreements and U.N. resolutions concerning migrant rights. He says it has “made me more aware of what has already been done in international forums concerning the rights of migrants. It has also given me a chance to see what NGOs are about and how they work.” Kadir and Rich will be ready to move on after their year at the United Nations. Kadir would like to stay in international relations, mixing “grassroots and U.N.-type work—something more practical.” Rich says she has focused a lot on theory and policy, both at Swarthmore and at the United Nations, and is seeking “a more direct experience,” perhaps in community organizing or conflict resolution. Rafael Luna returned to the College to continue his sophomore year, intending to major in sociology/ anthropology, with a minor in Latin American Studies. After a week at the United Nations, he is concerned about the lack of support for its work—especially financial support from the United States. He says he’d like to do something about that someday, and perhaps he will. —J.L. 25 Magic in the air— and hard work below T here’s a scene in the Broadway version of Disney’s The Lion King when the entire theater fills with birds. Members of the audience lean back in their seats, mouths agape and smiling at the flock of winged kites that spirals on high—colorful creatures tethered to poles and flown by members of the show’s chorus, who stand in every aisle, balcony, and box of the majestic New Amsterdam Theater. The birds swoop and soar, driven into flight by the rhythm of African drums and held there by a harmonic updraft from the orchestra pit, where Joseph Church ’78 stands and waves his arms at the air show. Church isn’t shooing away the birds. He’s actually conducting the music, and with him in the crowded orchestra pit is extern Sarah Archer ’00, adding to the meter of the moment by playing a “lemon shaker.” “Now I can say I played in a Broadway orchestra,” she jokes later. Church replies that the musicians’ union will be dunning her for dues after her short stint in the pit: “Cough it up, lady,” he intones. “We know you played those lemons.” There’s an easy camaraderie between Church and Archer. Both are born New Yorkers, and both are Swarthmoreans. And if Archer is a little wide-eyed in the New Amsterdam, rubbing elbows with the cast and crew of the year’s biggest hit show, it’s not as if Joe Church hasn’t been there too. Being music director for a hit like The Lion King is “a plum,” says Church, because it offers job security—a rarity in musical theater. He says he became hooked on conducting during a student production of West Side Story in Clothier Hall, and he has worked since then on shows ranging from The Little Shop of Horrors, to The Who’s Tommy, to a production of Faust by rock star Randy Newman. Though classically trained (music 26 major at Swarthmore, master’s in choral conducting from the University of Illinois, and a doctorate in music from NYU, where he now teaches composition and co-directs the music theater program), he struck out on his own as a pianist, composer, and conductor who “just enjoys making all kinds of music.” He feels that he got the Lion King job because of the wide range of styles and genres of music in the show—everything from African chants to rock anthems, from Broadway ballads to rhythmic, almost cinematic, underscoring. “The producers wanted a liberally educated generalist—and a Swarthmore grad was perfect.” Sarah Archer is trying to get just such an education herself, not just at the College, where she plans a special major in English and film studies, but through a variety of opportunities off campus. She’s worked on documentary film projects at ABC News and has interned at the International Center for Photography. The week with Church has been an “eye-opener,” says Archer. “It’s incredible to see what is involved—how busy, hectic, and complicated it is to put on a show like this. It’s an all-consuming project. “I’m trying to see what feels right for me, what kinds of interests I can combine into a paying job in the real world.” On the stage as we talk, members of the Lion King cast work with a physical therapist, trying to loosen some of the kinks that come from wearing the show’s heavy costumes and operating its many animal puppets. It seems like play—athletic young performers moving and stretching and massaging each other’s necks—but as Joe Church (and now Sarah Archer) knows, the world, even the Disney world, is full of hard work. —J.L. I t’s incredible to see what is involved—how busy, hectic, and complicated it is to put on a show like this,” says Sarah Archer ’00. She worked with Joseph Church ’78, music director of the Broadway hit The Lion King. “I wanted work that reflected my values.” W M ichaela De Soucey ’00 (right) had worked in small jobs at big companies. She found the atmosphere completely different at Women Work!, a national network for women’s employment in Washington, where there are just 10 people on the staff. Extern sponsor Carol Hamilton ’87 (left) was “so impressed that she’s doing this as a sophomore.” hat a difference a decade can make. Carol Hamilton ’87 recalls that at Swarthmore she was blissfully unfocused about her professional future—“I didn’t even know where the career counseling office was.” Fast-forward to 1998: Michaela De Soucey ’00 of Massapequa Park on Long Island, N.Y., spent part of winter break in Washington, D.C., as an extern in Carol’s office. “I’m so impressed that she’s doing this as a sophomore,” Hamilton said. “I didn’t start thinking about career goals until it was almost too late.” Hamilton is manager of membership and affiliate services at Women Work! The National Network for Women’s Employment (formerly the National Displaced Homemakers Network). It helps women gain economic self-sufficiency through 1,300 education, training, and employment programs across the nation. The organization reports that in Pennsylvania alone, those programs save taxpayers $2.3 million annually in welfare and other government aid. Women Work! (www.womenwork.org) has headquarters on K Street, near the turf of big-time lobbyists, but there are no Gucci loafers in sight. The offices suggest frugal efficiency—although a grace note is provided by a framed letter from President Clinton, thanking Women Work! for honoring his mother. De Soucey said she’s “had small summer jobs in big companies. It’s very different in a small office, and it’s interesting to follow the head people around—there are only 10 people on the whole staff.” An intern from Duke was already there when De Soucey arrived, so some tasks were spoken for. But she was able to work on such projects as writing a newsletter article and helping to update data on earned income tax credit for service providers. She attended a program for college students on federal agencies and nonprofits at the State Department and a forum on the minimum wage law at the Dirksen Building. De Soucey, who plans to major in sociology/anthropology and women’s studies, described Washington as “a very fast-paced city. Everyone seems so very serious and intent on what they’re doing.” That sounds like the Swarthmore that Hamilton knew. The daughter of a foreign service officer who grew up mostly in Europe, she was always an intense student, even in kindergarten. Hamilton chose Swarthmore “because I was attracted to its left-leaning reputation, and I wanted a city nearby.” Hamilton found Swarthmore “so focused on academics—and everyone there is so good at working in that system. I was surprised at my class reunion at all the professors. Professors and lawyers!” She took a different path. When she moved to Washington, “I wanted work that reflected my values. I have a knack for marketing and promotion, and I’m interested in politics and advocacy work.” This led her to the Coalition on Human Needs, which includes such influential groups as the Children’s Defense Fund. After two years she moved to Women Work! and its focus on single parents, economic equity, and displaced homemakers. When weather permits, Hamilton commutes 10 miles by bike from the Maryland suburbs. Until recently she hadn’t been active in Swarthmore’s busy Metro DC/Baltimore Connection. Now, in addition to sponsoring an extern, she signed up for the popular new Connection book groups that are meeting this spring. The intensity continues. ■ —B.H.R. 27 A L U M N I Recent Events House Counsel Chuck Ruff ’60, Michigan Senator Carl Levin ’56, and Heidi Hartmann ’67, director of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research as well as a tour of the Sackler-Freer galleries, led by Associate Curator Jenny So ’71. Gretchen Gayle Ellsworth ’61 and Dan Singer ’51 will address the group. Boston: New Connection chairs Sanda Balaban ’94, David Hochschild ’93, and Jeremy Weinstein ’97 kicked off their threeway leadership with a Jazz Potluck Brunch, then headed to Boston Common for ice-skating and hot chocolate. Chapel Hill, N.C.: Timothy Riggs ’64, assistant director of the Ackland Art Museum, led a tour of an exhibit of works by early 20thcentury painter Marsden Hartley, followed by a reception, all coordinated by Priscilla Coit Murphy ’67. Ann Arbor, Mich.: The Michigan League will be the site for a gathering hosted by President and Mrs. Bloom on Tuesday, April 14. Rebeccah Bennett ’96 will help coordinate this event. Things are looking up ... Admiring every nook and cranny of 30th Street Station in Philadelphia—one of the city’s largest landmarks—Swarthmore alumni and their families took the grand tour in January. JAMES KU / SAN GABRIEL VALLEY NEWSPAPER GROUP Chicago: Marilee Roberg ’73 hosted an evening of browsing and book talk at Something Wicked, a mystery bookstore. Mystery writer Mary Alzina Stone Dale ’52 signed copies of her books. Los Angeles: President and Mrs. Alfred H. Bloom saluted new Caltech President David Baltimore ’60 at a reception in Pasadena. The gathering was organized by John Crowley ’41, George Bond ’42, and Walt Cochran-Bond ’70. Boston: President and Mrs. Bloom will visit with area alumni and parents at a reception on Thursday, April 16. Chicago: David Porter ’58, president of Skidmore College, will present a lecture piano recital in honor of Charles Miller ’59, retiring professor of politics and American studies at Lake Forest College on Wednesday, April 8. Philadelphia: The next young alumni happy hour will be at Cutters on Wednesday, April 15. New York City: President and Mrs. Bloom met area alumni, San Francisco: Board of ManThree presidents ... Nancy Bekavac ’69, president of parents, and friends for hors agers member Sameer Ashar ’91 Scripps College, Swarthmore President Alfred H. Bloom, and Associate Dean of Admisd’oeuvres and conversation at and David Baltimore ’60, president of Caltech, met at a the Players Club in Gramercy sions Jenny Rickard ’86 will team Park, thanks to Stephen Lang ’73. reception in Baltimore’s honor in Pasadena, Calif. up to welcome accepted stuAlso this spring, Ike Schambelan dents at a gathering with alumni ’61 invited Swarthmoreans to accommodate all who signed up. in April. press night at Theater by the Blind, Washington, D.C.: Kathy Stevens ’89, Seattle: The Connection will present a and David Wright ’69 hosted the 12th the new Metro DC/Baltimore Connecprogram in May featuring a panel disannual wine symposium. tion chair, welcomed President and cussion on the Seattle educational Mrs. Alfred Bloom, alumni, and parPhiladelphia: Chris Edley Jr. ’73 dissystem. ents at a reception at the Cosmos cussed his book Not All Black and Club, with the assistance of Gretchen White: Affirmative Action and AmeriWashington, D.C.: Alumni Association Mann Handwerger ’56. can Values in February at a book-signPresident Jack Riggs ’64 and Ralph ing arranged by Scheryl Williams GlanTryon ’71 have invited alumni to parUpcoming Events ton ’74 and The Links, Inc. Many famiticipate in the annual Christmas in You can get the latest information on lies attended a tour of 30th Street StaApril project Saturday, April 25. In tion, coordinated by Martha Salzmann upcoming alumni events and activities May, book group coordinator Sue around the country on the alumni home Willis Ruff ’60 will bring the six groups Gay ’79 and Colette Collins Mull ’84, and an Indian dinner at Palace of Asia. page: www.swarthmore.edu/Home/ together for a lecture by Philip WeinAlumni. stein, the Alexander Griswold CumSeattle: A tour of the University of mins Professor of English Literature, Garnet Sages: The Sages’ visit to Washington seismology lab was so who designed the curriculum. Washington, D.C., April 21–22, will popular that Connection Chair Deb Read ’87 scheduled a second visit to 28 include stops at the offices of White SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN D I G E S T First since 1989 New alumni directory coming this fall T he long-awaited new Swarthmore alumni directory will be published later this year, with the same convenient sections as in the past: alphabetical listings and listings by class and geographical area. The directory will be free to all alumni whose current mailing addresses are on file at the College. It also will be offered on CD, formatted for Macintosh or Windows systems, at a nominal cost. The publication also will be available on the College’s secure Web site within a few months after publication of the printed version. The online edition will be available to only Swarthmore alumni, and it will be designed for individual use. Both the online and the CD versions of the directory will include career information that can be searched, helping alumni make con- nections within areas of interest. Alumni will receive surveys in the mail this spring with the information about them that is currently on file in Alumni Records. They will be asked to approve or correct the data, which will be the basis for the directory listings. Those who choose not to be included may indicate this on the survey. Alumni News Briefs Class presidents are a shoo-in as only incumbents are nominated Pop culture authority Leo Braudy ’63 will be Collection speaker L eo Braudy ’63, a widely acclaimed authority on film, fame, and American popular culture, will be the Collection speaker on Saturday, June 6, at Alumni Weekend. Braudy, who graduated from Swarthmore with highest honors in English literature, is the Bing Professor of English at the University of Southern California. He earned a master’s and a doctorate at Yale, and he has taught at Yale, Johns Hopkins, and Columbia, where he was one of the youngest scholars to be named a full professor. Among his books are The Frenzy of Renown: Fame and Its History, The World in a Frame: What We See in Film, and Native Informant: Essays on Film, Fiction, and Popular Culture. His next book will explore masculinity and war. MARCH 1998 In response to a request last year for guidance on electing new class presidents, a nominating form appeared in December issues of the Bulletin that were mailed to members of classes with reunions this June. Ballots were to be included in the March issues going to those alumni. There are no ballots in this issue because all the nominations sent to the College were of incumbent presidents. The Alumni Association bylaws state that class presidents “shall serve until their next reunion, or until their successors shall have been elected and qualified.” The Alumni Council’s Executive Committee and the College’s associate vice president for external affairs are responsible for helping the classes with the process when needed. They will decide this spring whether reunion classes should continue to receive nomination forms. Sager Symposium to examine gay, lesbian, and bisexual experience “Future Shock,” the 10th annual Sager Symposium in Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Studies, will be presented on campus April 3–4. This anniversary program will be interdisciplinary, featuring Swarthmore alumni as speakers and performers. The first part will look back at the experiences of les- bian, gay, and bisexual students at Swarthmore since the 1940s. The other part will look forward, celebrating the contributions that those alumni have made in politics, community building, education, business, and the arts. Penn Club opens to Swarthmoreans The University of Pennsylvania’s Penn Club of New York City welcomes Swarthmore alumni as affiliate members. Located on “clubhouse row” at 30 West 44th Street in Manhattan, the handsomely restored 1901 clubhouse has guest rooms, formal dining rooms, a grill room, meeting and conference rooms, a library, and a two-story banquet room. A reciprocal program gives all Penn Club members access to more than 40 other clubs in this country and abroad. The club schedules a variety of activities for members and their guests, some with other university clubs in New York. Initiation fees and annual dues are determined by age. Members may reserve overnight accommodations for their guests; a surcharge is added to the nightly rate. Privileges in the club’s Palestra Fitness Center are available for an additional fee. Details are available from Joy Dargent, director of membership, by phone (212) 403-6627, or by e-mail at joy@penn.-club.com. 29 ✍ Letters Support groups strengthen ability of minorities to engage wider world To the Editor: My wife, Linda, and I enjoyed the article “Faces Like Mine.” It pleases us that Swarthmore is working on an issue that much of society seems to want to ignore, wish away, deny, or call resolved. America has come a long way in the last 30 years in the way it deals with discrimination relating to race and sex. It still has a long way to go in these areas, particularly as increasingly sophisticated language and theory is being used to reverse some of the protections for those who could not benefit from our long (350-plus years) of affirmative action for white men, particularly those of Western European origin. One of the most exciting qualities about our country is that Americans, as a people, come from every continent and every tribe around the world. This is our past, present, and future reality— it is our strength. We are all typical Americans, just as we are all typical human inhabitants of this planet. The task before all of us, which requires constant work, is to build on and give full meaning to this reality so that those who want to “divide and conquer,” and risk the Balkanization of our society for political gain, cannot do so. From what you describe, Swarthmore College and its students understand the necessity for the development of support and service groups that provide a safe environment for those who have faced a lifetime of various degrees and types of prejudice and discrimination—an environment where they can share and strengthen their own senses of value and pride so they can function better in our larger society. Some say such groups reinforce discrimination, isolation, and prejudice and do little if anything to bring people from diverse backgrounds together. I believe we all require a safe place of support, where we can share our concerns and hopes, refresh ourselves, and gain strength so we can venture forth with others from similar support systems to work together for better, more inclusive communities. Groups that recognize that their members are part and parcel of the greater society, and that share responsibility for helping develop a greater inclusive community, are very different conceptually, morally, ethical30 Continued from page 3 ly, and religiously than groups that have developed to claim superiority, denigrate others, and deny the real diversity of Americans as a people— and America as a nation. Thanks for reporting the good work being done at Swarthmore. EUGENE S. FARLEY JR. ’50 Madison, Wis. efarley@fammed.wisc.edu large to collectively strive toward a more diverse, understanding, and safe campus. STUDENT COUNCIL Swarthmore College The above statement was submitted as a letter to the editor by the Student Council. It was adopted by a vote of the Student Council. Quakers empowered women through separation from men Support groups “justified,” says Student Council To the Editor: Swarthmore College is a community devoted to excellence through diversity. As a result of the rapid rate at which we are becoming more diverse, it is necessary to provide a support system in which minority students can feel comfortable. The climate that a Swarthmore education demands is one in which every community member feels safe and secure. Support groups foster an understanding that allows minorities to participate in the larger arena of campus life. Although at times support groups can create an exclusive atmosphere in that they are affiliated with specific ethnicities, religions, or sexual orientations, they are more than justified through their various outreach activities and the opportunities for dialogue that they create. Student Council fully reaffirms its commitment to support groups and diversity on campus. In addition Student Council will work with support groups and the student body at To the Editor: Although the idea of support groups for minority students can feel uncomfortably exclusive and reminiscent of segregation, it may be helpful to think of the formation of support groups as one step in an evolutionary process. A good example of such evolution comes from the early history of the Religious Society of Friends. In some of the older Quaker meetinghouses in the Philadelphia area, one can still find large wooden partitions hanging from the ceiling, which, when pulled down, divide the worship room neatly in half. In earlier days, Meeting for Worship was held with shutters up, but when time came for Meeting for Business, the divider was pulled down so that men could have their business discussion on one side and women on the other. Each sex had its own clerk and its own proceedings, and there was a door through which notes could be passed to keep one group informed of the progress of the other. This practice of separation by gender was established as a way of empowering women to speak their minds and develop their own leadership. It was the Friends’ way of responding to the fact that no group—even one with the highest of ideals—is exempt from the influence of the surrounding culture. The cultural reality at that time was that women had no legal rights, whereas men exerted power and control in secular matters. Although from its inception the Religious Society of Friends believed that spiritual authority was given in like manner to women and men (there have always been both men and women who ministered in worship), the practice of separate Meetings for Business helped women extend this spiritual authority to other areas of shared life. As a happy consequence, Friends doubled their leadership, perhaps SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN resulting in the likes of Lucretia Mott, who became a powerful influence in the founding of Swarthmore College. We no longer pull down the wooden dividers in our historic meetinghouses, but they served an important purpose in the evolution of the Religious Society of Friends and in the rights of women. They might serve yet today as symbolic reminders that fostering group identity can still help the powerless find their voice. PAULINE ALLEN Wallingford, Pa. Pauline Allen is a member of the Religious Society of Friends and serves as the Protestant religious adviser at the College. America’s diversity is a pleasure after visiting Japan To the Editor: Regarding “Faces Like Mine,” some time ago, my wife, Merrillan Murray ’53, and I spent nine weeks in Japan shooting our film, A Journey in Japan. We were, naturally, struck by what seemed to us as the remarkable uniformity of the faces in Japan. But the real surprise was the pleasure we experienced on returning to the great and wonderful diversity of our American population. We had not been aware how much we had missed the variety of our citizens. WOODY THOMAS ’51 Spencerport, N.Y. merriwood@aol.com Western culture is not “white” To the Editor: As an alumnus and a member of the College faculty, I feel obliged to respond to the claim in the introduction to “Faces Like Mine” that “the faculty is recognizing that to educate leaders for the next century, Swarthmore needs to help its students redefine and renegotiate the relationship of white, Western culture to the new international ... landscape.” “White” Western culture? With all due respect to the author of the phrase, and to anyone else who thinks so, Western culture is not white. Somewhere in his vast oeuvre, W.E.B. Du Bois pointed out that though white people might shun him, neither Shakespeare nor Tennyson did when he curled up next to them late at night. Equally important, Du Bois’ masterpiece, Black Reconstruction in America, is not white, nor his commissioned study, The Philadelphia Negro, the first true empirical community study in MARCH 1998 American social science. Negro spirituals and American jazz are not white. Many of the most fundamental and best-known opinions of the Supreme Court, for good or for ill, were brought, won, or lost by black and Asian American plaintiffs and lawyers. The literature of Gabriel Garcia Marquez is not white. On the other side of the Atlantic, the art of Paul Gauguin is not white. Saint Augustine was not white, and neither was his theology. And so on. Western culture—its appreciation and production—aren’t defined by skin color and genes. There is more to this matter than getting facts straight. There was a time when it was widely believed—among whites—that Western culture is fundamentally white and defined by skin color and genes. Here in the United States, that meant a belief in the biological natural superiority of white people. When the Alabama Constitutional Convention of 1901 disenfranchised black Alabamians, the delegates spent days proclaiming the racial purity of Western civilization. During World War II, American black citizens were placed in one set of railroad cars, and Nazi military prisoners were placed in another, nicer set of cars when they were traveling through the South. In short, it would be profoundly illiberal of this College if it were to be in the business of recycling a concept that is as barbaric as it is false. I was struck, as well, by what the cover story did not say as well as by what it did say. Does the phrase “race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation” quite exhaust the subject of identity and diversity? Income inequality in the United States has grown sharply and rapidly since the 1980s. For many Americans real wages have grown only slightly since 1973, despite two of the most vigorous and prolonged economic booms of the post–World War II period. Perhaps, then, some future issue of the Swarthmore College Bulletin will treat how “the faculty is recognizing that to educate leaders for the next century, Swarthmore needs to help its students” understand class divisions and their connections to the new national and global political economies. RICK VALELLY ’75 Swarthmore, Pa. rvalell1@swarthmore.edu Valelly is associate professor of political science. For another faculty member’s perspective, see p. 7. Thanks for Ehrhart To the Editor: Profound thanks to author W.D. Ehrhart ’73 and the Swarthmore College Bulletin for the admirable article “Military Intelligence” (December 1997). May Ehrhart’s words continue to travel far. With that in mind, please send me a copy of his 1971 poem “To Swarthmore,” which you mentioned in your editor’s note. VIRGINIA STERN BROWN ’49 San Francisco More copies of “To Swarthmore” are available by writing to the editor. United States was ignorant of Vietnam in 1940s To the Editor: I read with interest and empathy W.D. Ehrhart’s excellent piece, “Military Intelligence” (December 1997). Ehrhart writes that the United States had “only one choice,” which was to recognize Ho Chi Minh’s government when it proclaimed Vietnam’s independence in September 1945. To me this expectation is not reasonable. The United States had been unable to visualize quarantining aggressors in the late 1930s, nor an attack on Pearl Harbor, nor the presence of a Japanese fighter plane superior to any American aircraft. If this was so, what did the United States know about Ho, or even Vietnam? In 1946 the United States had just two academicians (both historians) who had written dissertations dealing with French Indochina. If Ehrhart is willing to move his date up a bit, may I suggest 1955, after the Geneva Accords had been signed and “free elections” had been called for in both North and South Vietnam? PAUL W. VAN DER VEUR ’49 Toccoa, Ga. Letters to the Bulletin The Bulletin welcomes letters concerning the contents of the magazine or issues relating to the College. All letters must be signed and may be edited for clarity and space. Address your letters to: Editor, Swarthmore College Bulletin, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081-1397, or send by e-mail to bulletin@swarthmore.edu. 31 Class Notes Jammin’ ... Sing-alongs were part of every Swarthmore Folk Festival from the 1940s to the 1960s. Folk music fans are invited to to campus in June for a Folk Fest reunion during Alumni Weekend 1998. KARL IHRIG ʼ51 & WOODY THOMAS ʼ51 32 SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN Guilty by reason of ... A former lawyer and psychiatric adminstrator disputes the insanity defense. T he murder trial of John E. du Pont, according to Jim Ottenberg ’39, “deals a crippling blow to the insanity defense.” Decided in February 1997 in Media, Pa., the case concerned the heavily publicized murder of Olympic wrestler David Schultz by eccentric millionaire du Pont. du Pont’s lawyers argued that he was mentally ill and brought in two high-profile psychiatrists to testify; the defense countered with four psychiatrists to say that du Pont was sane. After seven days of deliberation, the jury returned with a “compromise” verdict of guilty of third-degree murder but mentally ill. For Ottenberg, the verdict was a step in the right direction and an indication of change in public opinion about the insanity defense. A harsh critic of the insanity defense, Ottenberg sees the consistent guilty verdicts in highly publicized 1996 cases, such as the Menendez brothers (parent murderers in California), John Salvi (abortion clinic murderer), and Edward Leary (New York City subway bomber), as “a welcome and long-overdue revolt of ordinary people against two groups of ‘experts’— defense lawyers and forensic psychiatrists who testify for defendants.” Ottenberg’s unusual career history gives him insight into the intersection of law and psychiatry. After graduating from Swarthmore and Harvard Law School, he married Margaret Davies Ottenberg ’42 and returned to his native New York to practice law. In 1953 he became involved with the Lexington Democratic Club, which started his transition from law to politics. The group supported Democratic candidates for local positions in a time when 38 At age 79 James Ottenberg ’39 is beginning his fourth “minicareer”—writing about law, psychiatry, and ethics. campaigning meant ringing doorbells in the apartment buildings of uptown Manhattan. “I became the best doorbell ringer in the club,” recalls Ottenberg, “and I found out I could supervise other doorbell ringers.” Interest in politics and administration led Ottenberg to an unpaid managerial position in the 1956 Stevenson presidential campaign and then a paid position in 1960 with John F. Kennedy’s campaign. Ottenberg’s help with Robert Wagner’s successful New York City mayoral campaign two years later landed him a new job as deputy commissioner of mental health. The field of mental health was completely foreign to Ottenberg, but he learned on the job. “Half of my friends were psychiatrists—I don’t know why,” says Ottenberg, “but I felt comfortable in the milieu.” The 1965 New York City mayoral election of Republican John Lindsay meant the loss of his job in the Mental Health Department and the end of Ottenberg’s career as a political appointee. Starting a third career in the private sector, Ottenberg moved to administration of nonprofit organizations. Eventually, he returned to the administrative end of mental health, this time as administrator for psychiatry and medical administration at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital. The attempted murder of President Reagan in 1981—and the subsequent ruling that found John Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity—disturbed Ottenberg and interested him in what he saw as the uses and abuses of the insanity defense. The recent round of sensational cases involving the insanity defense and the prompting of colleagues inspired Ottenberg to begin writing about his longtime interest in the use of the insanity defense—from his perspective as both a former lawyer and a psychiatric administrator. Only weeks before the du Pont verdict, Ottenberg spoke at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital about the insanity defense in its waning believability. Ottenberg retired from BronxLebanon in September. But, at 79, he is looking forward to a long “fourth minicareer” writing about the intersection of law, psychiatry, and ethics. —Jim Harker ’99 SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN Island Magic Nell Lee Kruger ’64 finds a home and happiness between heather and hard work. W hen Nell Lee Kruger ’64 and her husband, Chuck, first saw Clear Island on a ferryboat ride in 1986, they felt themselves pulled there emotionally by a powerful and invisible force. Although the Krugers had not come to the island searching for a final resting place, here—both thought simultaneously—they could lay down their bones and die. Yet the idea went unspoken between them for months; the island had overwhelmed them with its beauty and serenity. Clear Island, in County Cork, is the southernmost inhabited land off the Irish coast, an eight-mile ferry ride from the mainland. Now 60 acres of its three square miles is home to the Krugers, who moved there permanently in 1992. “It sounds like a small place, but with all the cliffs, canyons, and fingers into the ocean, it feels much bigger,” Nell says. The Krugers’ home is an The Krugers’ home on Cape Clear (circled) peeks out from the edge approximately 300-year-old fisherof the pastures. Nell and Chuck Kruger (inset) also operate a rental man’s cottage. There is also a forproperty for vacationers on their 60 acres. mer ruin of a barn on the land that bush. It’s so Nell says she can go three or four now serves as a holiday home that they incredibly sweet, months without leaving the island. rent to vacationers. Since purchasing and the thorns prick like hell.” For a population of about 130, there the property, they have made many renThe thorns refer to the toll nature are three pubs (there were five), two ovations, including the addition of can take on the land and people. Galesmall grocery stores, a nurse who can indoor plumbing and electricity. make house calls, and a weekend priest. force or even hurricane winds are comThe island’s history and the Krugers’ mon and can destroy property. Self“The island used to have its own priest. life there have been published in Chuck reliance and handyperson know-how But there’s a shortage of priests in the Kruger’s book, Cape Clear: Island Magic are important character traits for those country,” Nell says. (The Collins Press, 1994). The Krugers who choose to live there. Island life does have its drawbacks. also have a homepage at http://indigo. “Living on the Cape is like an old ie/~ckstory/ with photographs and infor- On a personal level, Nell misses her chilcomfortable sock that keeps you warm dren, two of whom live in the United mation on their land and Clear Island. but has a hole in the toe,” she says. “It States and one of whom is in SwitzerClear Island, Nell says, “is a place reminds you that comfort requires work.” where going to get eggs from a neighbor land, and the rest of her family. But she Nell says the island is a good destinasays, “I can’t live my life for them, nor may take six hours during the slow seation for people who enjoy nature—takthey for us.” She also mentions learning son. You stop for the eggs and are inviting long walks; watching for whales, dolhow politicized a small island communied in for a cup of tea. Then you’re asked phins, and seals in the sea; or visiting ty can become but is quick to point out to stay for sandwiches that just seem to historic sites, including a burial rites the community spirit that thrives here. appear, and all the time you’re talking.” passage tomb dating from 3,000 B.C. “If somebody needs help right away, After 26 years working as teachers in and 13th- and 14th-century castle ruins. Switzerland (Nell spent her last 10 years people will drop what they’re doing and “It’s a great place to work on a dissertago to that person,” she says. there teaching at the Zurich School of tion,” she adds. Nell says she likes the pace of the Translation and Interpretation), the “I fell in love with the land,” Nell island. It’s also a place where she can be Krugers moved to Clear Island. Chuck says. “The sea is wide open. The proxherself. Kruger describes the island in his book imity to nature is quite amazing. We had “Here I can get on with being me or as a place where a half-dozen rainbows always rented property before. Even in learning more about who I am,” says can appear on an April afternoon. Nell Switzerland for a quarter century we Nell, who makes papier-mâché crafts speaks of the heather, blackberries, and were renters. Now we are owners, and pressed-flower pictures and sells gorse that grow wild on the property. though I suspect it’s the land that owns them in a craft store she rents on the They farm a small portion of their land us. We feel we belong here.” island. “I’m not distracted by trying to for vegetables and lend another section —Audree Penner fit into molds. Cape is like a blackberry to friends who raise cattle and ponies. MARCH 1998 49 A tale of three cities Swarthmore’s orchestra in residence tours Russia and Denmark. W hen you go to a ers and audience was concert, it’s for clearly evident. That the music, but when spiritual union—joyful you go on an internaand sublime—uniting tional tour with an the musicians and the orchestra, a world of audience, reigned in associations opens. As the Glinka Hall througha member of its board out the evening.” of directors, I had the David Finko was born opportunity to spend and raised in what was the Thanksgiving seathen Leningrad. Fearson in Russia and Dening for their safety in mark with Swarththe former Soviet Union, more’s ensemble-in-resiDavid, his wife, and son dence, Orchestra 2001. emigrated to the UnitTraveling with James ed States in 1979. DurFreeman, artistic direcing this emotional tor and Professor of return to St. Petersburg Music, and 13 musi18 years later, the cians were composers Finkos invited some of George Crumb, Hon. ’89, us to join them on a and David Finko, their visit to the family plot wives, stage manager in the city’s one Ali Momeni ’97, board ancient Jewish cememembers Kenneth Hiebtery. I was walking by ert and Kendall Landis myself among the ’48 and their wives, and grave sites’ overgrown a three-person camera trees and lurching crew. The entire trip fences when a woman was funded by the Four stopped me. “Bist a Professor of Music James Freeman conducts Orchestra 2001 in Oaks Foundation of yid?” (“Are you JewLeningrad. The orchestra also visited Moscow and Denmark during Walter Scheuer ’44, who the November 1997 international tour. The soloist is Barbara Ann Martin. ish?”) she asked in Yidis producing a docudish. Her family lived in mentary film about it St. Petersburg; it was and distinguished composers was for PBS. difficult, she said, sometimes, “nit tu palpable, not from the profundity of The first concert, at beautiful kain shtihkl broit” (“not even a piece what he said—Crumb has no such Glinka Hall in St. Petersburg (said to of bread”). Now she’s the only one be Russia’s most prestigious venue), pretentions—but simply by his left—the rest are “here.” She turned presence. was the final event of “Sound away with, “a solchen vei” (“such a Michael Byalyk, Russia’s foreWaves,” the weeklong International sorrow”). I understood; I had heard most music critic, covered the perNew Music Festival of St. Petersthe same words, said the same way, formance. His review glowed with burg. Alexander Radvilovich, the from my grandparents who left Rusartistic director, founded the festival praise for the orchestra and vividly sia a century ago. reflected the passionate enthusiasm in 1989 to provide a venue for the of the Glinka Hall’s capacity crowd: ecause there had been “inciperformance of new music. dents” on the six-hour night Orchestra 2001 played two pieces “It was an evening of contemporary American classical music performed train from St. Petersburg to by Crumb, “Music for a Summer by the superb ensemble Orchestra Moscow, we took an earlier evening Evening” and “Ancient Voices of 2001 under the direction of James run, arriving safely at the dark Children,” and one by Finko, Freeman.... An extraordinary sense Moscow station by 10 o’clock. At “Fromm Septet.” Crumb has an of serenity was expressed both in our hotel the desk clerk shook her almost reverential following in St. head and shrugged her shoulders. Petersburg. On the afternoon before the music and by the performers’ Something was improper. She wantthe orchestra’s performance, he was playing of that music, and a feeling ed to keep our passports, visas, and given two hours for a seminar at the of spiritual union between performcredit cards overnight. It wasn’t a Composers Society. The admiration By Arnold Gessel ’54 welcome proposition, but after a of the room full of Russian students B 50 SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN half-hour of shuffling and whispering, back came our documents, room keys, and a big smile. We had heard it was like that in Russia. The Moscow concerts, at Rachmaninoff Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, were arranged by Conservatory Professor Svetlana Sigida and solo clarinetist of the Bolshoi Rafael Bagdasarian, who two years ago had played at Swarthmore and would be our clarinetist on this tour. Joining us, too, were the Bolshoi’s principal bass and principal second violin. The performance in Moscow was excellent, though we were surprised the crowd was only half the size of our St. Petersburg audience. Only later did we learn that three other concerts were taking place in different halls of the Conservatory at the same time as ours. tries for the education and appreciation of the student body and their families. The schools’ 1,000-seat auditoriums had a nightclub atmosphere, with round tables and elegant meals and snacks in the breaks between performances that, in addition to Orchestra 2001, included an a capella choir from Minsk, a Polish symphony orchestra, solo percussionist Gert Mortensen, the blind sitar virtuoso Baluji Shrivastav guiding the audience through a musical meditation, and Barbara Ann Martin accompanied by Orchestra 2001 pianist Marcantonio Barone in a Laena and I were hosts for an orchestra from the USA called 2001. They were nice and enormously friendly. They played new and very good music, which certainly made an impression on me, and in one way or another, on the whole audience. “Their music was the kind that if you heard it without seeing them and their instruments, you’d think that a group of nonmusical people were tuning instruments. Seeing them perform made a world of difference and gave sense to the chaos. The more we heard their music, the I n Denmark we had no “incidents” or bothersome desk clerks. Sleek modern trains and buses whisper precisely through their schedules, and the hospitality was warm. The orchestra was to perform at the Teacher Training Colleges at Tvind and Nebbegaard, which are part of a Danish private school system that takes pride in its un-orthodox curriculum, including sixmonth stints of “solidarity work” in places like Mozambique, and the annual Yule concerts. During a festival of George Crumb’s music in Ljubljana, Slovenia, last summer, James Freeman and Orchestra 2001 soprano Barbara Ann Martin met June Jørgensen and Grete Andersen, two Danish teachers. They talked about doing Crumb’s music, and the decision was made to include Orchestra 2001 and “Ancient Voices of Children” in the Yule concerts for this year. The all-day (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) concerts are designed to provide a variety of music from different counMARCH 1998 Composer George Crumb, Hon. ’89, and members of Orchestra 2001 pose with a bust of Rachmaninoff in the Rachmaninoff Hall of the Moscow Conservatory. series of operatic numbers and show tunes. Between performances we were housed, fed, and pampered by our own private caretakers, one of whom was 16-year-old second-year student Penelope Hansen, who later wrote her impressions in the Nebbegaard News under the title: “Were They Crazy or Musically Gifted?” “This year’s Christmas concerts were very special because there were loads of new music and artists. more we liked it. “We were sad to say good-bye when they left, but they said we must come over and visit them. They’d arrange accommodation and everything. So next year, we’ll definitely go over and visit our new friends.” We shall greet them with open arms! Arnold Gessel ’54 is retired from the practice of psychiatry. He lives in Rose Valley, Pa. 51 Recent Books by Alumni We welcome review copies of books by alumni. The books are donated to the Swarthmoreana section of McCabe Library after they have been noted for this column. ■ Jean (Seiler) Baldwin ’44, George, Audenreed Press, 1997. When Benji and his family adopt a little brown dog they name George, little do they know what he would do for them, from leading them to safety when the house catches fire to helping thwart the abduction of a neighbor’s dalmation. ■ John A. Byers ’70, American Pronghorn: Social Adaptations & the Ghosts of Predators Past, The University of Chicago Press, 1997. Based on 14 years of research, this book is an account of the social behavior and life history of North America’s only antelope, which continue to behave as though their long-extinct predators are still present. ■ Bruce Cratsley ’66, White Light, Silent Shadows, Arena Editions, 1998. This retrospective of photographer Cratsley’s work, from 1972 through 1997, includes images from every genre he has pursued. Included are 143 duotone prints exploring the mysteries of light and shadow. ■ Randy J. Holland ’69 (ed.), The Delaware Constitution of 58 1897: The First One Hundred Years, The Delaware State Bar Association, 1997. Written by a group of legal writers, historians, editors, and leaders of the bench and bar, this book explores the evolution of complex legal issues in the state of Delaware’s constitution while honoring its strengths and balance. ■ Patricia Clark Kenschaft ’61, Math Power: How to Help Your Child Love Math, Even If You Don’t, Addison-Wesley, 1997. Written to inspire children mathematically by giving them tools they need for success, this book—through games, questions, and conversations—presents strategies for helping parents overcome mediocre math teaching in school and parental math anxiety at home. the visitor with information on transportation, Olympic venues, accommodations, dining, entertainment, and other helpful tips. cimer’s origins on the early Appalachian frontier and describes the major design traditions, each centered in its own geographical area. ■ Lewis Pyenson ’69 (ed.), Disciplines and Interdisciplinarity in the New Century, The Center for Louisiana Studies, 1997. This collection addresses the nature of disciplines and interdisciplinarity in higher education: Have we reached a turning point where students will be urged to acquire breadth rather than depth of knowledge? ■ Peggy (Bebié) Thomson ’43, The Nine-Ton Cat: Behind the Scenes at an Art Museum, Houghton Mifflin, 1997. Written for readers of all ages, this book explores the workrooms at the National Gallery of Art, where guards, curators, carpenters, and more than 90,000 works of art await the events of the day. ■ Peter Pyle ’79, Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part I, Slate Creek Press, 1997. This guide contains information on the molts, aging, and sexing of 395 species and 857 currently recognized subspecies that regularly breed or have bred at least once in North America. ■ Richard Martin ’67, Dorothy Gillespie, Radford University Foundation Press, 1998. This monograph of the life and art of Dorothy Gillespie offers more than 50 largescale color plates devoted to her work of the past 20 years, along with 35 text illustrations and seven essays covering all aspects of her long career. ■ Anne Sheldon ’67, Lancastrian Letters, Mica Press, 1997. This book of poetry is a fictional account of 15th-century England’s Henry V, from birth to death, told in the voices of those who knew him. ■ Michael O’Connell ’89 and William Kennedy, Discover Nagano: Japan’s Olympic City & Land of Apples, EC Inc., 1998. Produced to coincide with the 1998 Olympic winter games, this guide provides ■ Ralph Lee Smith ’51, Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions, Scarecrow Press, 1997. After reviewing the dulcimer’s special musical features, this book reveals littleknown facts about the dul- ■ Elizabeth R. Varon ’85, We Mean to Be Counted: White Women and Politics in Antebellum Virginia, University of North Carolina Press, 1998. With this book Varon challenges the historical assumption that women of the antebellum South were largely excluded from public life and demonstrates that white women of the slaveholding class were important actors in the drama of politics. ■ Cécile Whiting ’80, A Taste for Pop: Pop Art, Gender and Consumer Culture, Cambridge University Press, 1997. Focusing on four artists— Tom Wesselmann, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, and Marisol Escobar—Whiting analyzes the gendered overtones of their cultural maneuverings and how they repositioned cultural frontiers and reformulated the relations between sexes. SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN The knights- errant of Chester, Pa. Rob Henderson ’92 seeks to help juveniles on probation earn a sense of self-esteem. s men of honor, we live our lives with integrity. Pride is a justifiable sense of our worth and is instilled through positive accomplishments. Without respect, honor, pride, and loyalty, we are nothing.” Noble words, worthy of a knight of the Round Table—the stuff of medieval courtly literature. But this quote is extracted not from a Middle Ages code of chivalry but from a creed recited daily by a group of juveniles gathered around a rather less splendid table than King Arthur’s at the Chester (Pa.) Regional Probation Office. The creed is a part of the day-to-day routine at an eight-week-long boot camp organized by Chester probation officers as an alternative to placing young felons in more isolated rehabilitation facilities outside their own community. The boot camp is the brainchild of Rob Henderson ’92, a probation officer in the Chester office since 1994. Leaving Swarthmore with a major in sociology/anthropology and a black studies concentration, Henderson entered a managerial program with Acme supermarkets. Despite the chance for quick promotion and its accompanying financial security, Henderson aspired to a more satisfying career. “I came upon probation,” he says, “submitted my resume, and here I am.” Thanks to an innovative supervisor in his first year, Henderson and his colleagues were encouraged to create their own programs for dealing with juvenile delinquents; in particular they wished to find ways of steering young people away from the streets. In 1994 and 1995, the officers offered summer classes on topics like sex education, black history, or conflict resolution to young people on probation; attendance was low, and Henderson thought that the youngsters were not being reached effectively. From his suggestion to combine classroom exercises with a strenuous physical regimen within a structured, almost militaristic framework, the boot camp was born. Ten participants were selected from felons aged 14 to 18 who were not thriving on probation and were on the verge of being placed in correctional facilities; boot camp was their last chance to avoid placement. The camp’s first session in 1996 was not as successful as the officers had hoped; the close relations that they established with the youngsters created problems with authority. “There was no MARCH 1998 DELAWARE COUNTY DAILY TIMES A Rob Henderson (far left) leads the group on their early-morning run. strict line they knew not to cross,” said Henderson. So the 1997 camp was “a much more disciplined, in-your-face kind of thing.” Rules and regulations were drawn up and studied along with the consequences for breaking them; the creed postulating respect, honor, loyalty, and hope had to be memorized within the first week and recited daily. Participants were only allowed out of their homes to attend camp, their whereabouts being monitored around the clock by electronic devices strapped around their ankles. They were awoken daily at 7 a.m. and were expected to be at the probation office 45 minutes later. For 90 minutes they did calisthenics and jogged three to eight miles. The staff of three men and two women accompanied them throughout their drills. Teambuilding exercises followed. Returning to the classroom, they discussed newspaper articles—preferably on topics they could identify with and relate to— read aloud by group members. They were instructed in grammar and writing, black history, sex education, drug and alcohol education, and life skills. Each Friday they performed community service, either at the Senior Community Center in Chester, where they prepared and served meals and cleaned, or out in the streets of the town picking up trash or cleaning the municipal buildings. Points were assigned daily for positive or negative behavior; at the end of each week, the points were added up, and armbands of various colors were dis- tributed. Red, black, and green designated various levels of achievement, and one of each was required to graduate. The campers were serious about earning their armbands; when on one occasion two of them lost their bands because of bad behavior, Henderson says, “It was like the end of the world for them. They had earned something, and we took it away. They saw it as something worthwhile.” At boot camp’s end, eight graduated; two were placed in rehab facilities after repeatedly breaking the rules. Some are in school, others are working, and three of the original group reoffended. As an after-care officer who supervizes the young felons when they come out of placement, Henderson has seen juveniles come out of an intensely structured environment only to be thrown back into a living situation that has very little structure. And as a probation officer seeing the youngsters three times a week for a few minutes at a time, he knows that this is by no means sufficient for him to effect a change or reinforce what has been instilled during the period of placement. He believes that the boot camp gives the juveniles an opportunity to change for the better within their community and so is more likely to have a lasting effect on their behavior. “With placement,” he says, “they feel the only place they can change is outside the community; this [the camp experience] gives them energy when they see that change can occur on their own turf.” —Carol Brévart 61 O U R “I can do it.” By Maxine Frank Singer ’52 I was the first person in my family to go to college. My father went to law school at night at a time when a college degree was not a necessary prerequisite. My mother was a brilliant woman, but she was frustrated all her life because lack of education kept her from doing things she knew she could do. They raised my sister and me in Brooklyn, where I learned a lot from excellent public schools and more on the street. Our high school was one of those legendary huge New York public schools where they computed student averages to the fourth decimal place. I came out pretty well, and though I knew little about the differences between colleges, I did know some fancy names. So, in the spring of 1948, I applied to and was accepted at Radcliffe and Swarthmore. During a reconnaissance trip to Cambridge, I noted the heady atmosphere and saw that Radcliffe was not Harvard and that the Cambridge city streets seemed, after all, just more city streets. Then I came here. I got off the train at the bottom of the hill, and by the time I reached the Parrish steps, I had made up my mind. Before that walk, I had no idea that you could actually live in such a beautiful and peaceful place. That was enough for me. But it wasn’t enough for the principal of my high school. Only a few others from our school had ever gotten into Harvard or Radcliffe. Not too many had gotten into Swarthmore either, but that didn’t seem to worry him. Harvard, even Radcliffe, was a feather in his cap. It wasn’t just that schools like Radcliffe favored private school graduates. They also discriminated against Jews. As the principal explained at length to me and to my bewildered parents, I had no choice— I had to go to Radcliffe. If I was accepted and didn’t go, Harvard or Radcliffe might, in the future, take even fewer Jews or applicants from our school. He seemed quite sure that his admonitions would be accepted. He didn’t know me well—or, more pertinent, my father. When we left the principal’s 64 B A C K P A office, my father said, for the first of many times to come, “Do what you think is best.” My mother, for the first and only time, held her tongue. And so I came. Like Radcliffe and other schools in those days, Swarthmore had its own reservations about Jews. The quota for Jews was, I recall, 10 percent (others remember 14 percent). Actually, in 1948 the discriminatory practices of the College seemed a small transgression compared with the fate of Jewish I n our class the core group of serious and gifted science students was overwhelmingly made up of women. (We would have said “girls.”) We borrowed sweaters— and ideas— from one another. children of my age in Europe. That my grandparents had emigrated from Eastern Europe early in the century was the accident that saved me from the Holocaust. We Jewish freshman were all clustered in the same halls, and all our “big sisters” were also Jewish. When Dean Susan Cobbs was asked about this some years later, she said it was because she thought we would all be happier that way. It took me many years to admit it, but she was probably at least partly right. Nowadays, diversity in the Swarthmore student body is considered to be an essential component of a good education, and Jews are simply included in the general category of Caucasians. As far as I know, no one is counting us anymore. Maybe someday colleges can give up such counting altogether. We’re not there yet, but we can hope it won’t be too long. G E S The truly interesting point is that Swarthmore, in our years, was amazingly diverse. You wouldn’t know it looking at our yearbook photos, but the range of talents, interests, and outlooks was enormous. Diversity is, in a very real sense, my business. I evolved from a chemist to a geneticist of the molecular variety. The study of genetics deals with genes, chromosomes, and DNA molecules, the sources of biological diversity. At Swarthmore, I inherited values and inclinations that complemented the biological inheritance and other cultural foundations that I had brought with me to the College. The Swarthmore experience prepared me to join the scientific community and sustained me in it through these long, and never easy, years. How was it that in the 1950 Swarthmore environment—with its American middle-class roots, its deep ties to a religious tradition, and its commitment to a liberal education, in the classical meaning of that term—a young person could acquire the culture of modern science? How could this civil place impart the iconoclastic skepticism, the will and skill to challenge received wisdom, that are essential to the scientific enterprise? More to the point, how could this happen to a young woman at a time when the scientific community was itself hardly congenial to female participants? The answers to these questions are partly general and partly specific. For the general, two aspects of life here were important in nurturing a young scientist: freedom and optimism. For most of us, Swarthmore meant our first freedom from family, from the communities of our childhoods. It also meant the first real intellectual freedom to think on our own. And we all quickly learned that to share thoughts meant subjecting them to criticism. Optimism can follow on freedom, but it also requires a level of self-confidence. It is not enough to think, “It can be done”; it is also necessary to believe, “I can do it.” The path, even at Swarthmore, was not smooth. Eventually, it dawned on me that to go from the “I think I can” stage to the more SWARTHMORE COLLEGE BULLETIN O U R B A C K P A G E S STEVEN GOLDBLATT ʼ67 optimistic “I can do it” stage requires ently was for so many young women nationwide; 32 went to women; five of a certain level of arrogance. I began to of our era, any reason not to take ourthose women were members of recognize that arrogance can play a selves and each other seriously. No Swarthmore’s Class of 1952; a sixth constructive role in scholarship. Com- one told us that we couldn’t do what was Rada Demerec Dyson-Hudson ’51. petition presents related quandaries. we all dreamed of doing. The invisible Some of us were fortunate enough It’s only a small slide from “I can do it” walls around this place shielded us to find ourselves in graduate departto “I can do it sooner and better than from a fact that most people knew ments that were hospitable. Others anyone else.” Competitiveness, like and we were to learn: that there was encountered more typical troubles arrogance, is not always attractive, little space in the outside world for from their male professors. One way but both often motivate good science. women as scientists. It was this core or another, we prevailed. We did all When my generation of women the things we weren’t supposed left Swarthmore, most of us were to do as well as those we were: neither fully free nor completely We got degrees, we worked, we optimistic. Now, 45 years later, broke new ground, we published, most of us have still not achieved we married, and we had children. the level of freedom and optiJoan Berkowitz, an inorganic mism typical of the best male scichemist, heads her own successentists. It is likely that my mostful company in the field of hazaccomplished male scientific colardous waste removal. Laura leagues had no need of being Maurer Roth became a professor taught about freedom and optiof physics. Vivianne Thimann mism. Unlike women, they grew Nachmias is a professor of cell up with these attributes as part of biology. Barbara Wolff Searle their internal environments. The went back to mathematics and social science research of Carol wound up working on education Friedman Gilligan ’58 [see p. 47] for the World Bank. documents this difference beSwarthmore has been and tween American boys and girls. remains a place where young Perhaps this is beginning to women can get an extraordinary change, but that is another story. start in science. Swarthmore In our class the core group of graduates older and younger serious and gifted science stuthan we have made important dents was overwhelmingly made contributions to the modern up of women. (We would have understanding of the natural said “girls.”) Six of us in particular world. It is a marvelous surprise were friends. We were colleagues. each time I encounter one of In 1952 there were 600 National Science Foundation We were competitors. We talked. graduate fellowships, remembers Maxine Frank Singer them—astronomers like Nancy We fought. We borrowed ’52—and just 32 of them went to women. Five of those Grace Roman ’46 and Sandy women were members of her Swarthmore class. sweaters—and ideas—from one Moore Faber ’66, biologists like another. We lived together in Jane Kellock Setlow ’40 and Carshifting combinations as roommates of students that really educated me. olyn Walch Slayman ’58, professor of in the same dormitories. In the preThanks to the group, the rest of the linguistics Barbara Hall Partee ’61, ceding and following classes, there world began to seem manageable. and seismologist Ines Cifuentes ’75. were other scientifically inclined Was our confidence simply a conAll of these women have been able women who figured importantly in struction of ambitious young women? to contribute to the incredible scienour seminars, discussions, and lives— The first evidence came our senior tific discoveries of the past decades. people like Ursula Victor Santer ’53 year. Sue Carver Buchanan, who Swarthmore made it possible. And in and Lisa Steiner ’54. became a successful cardiologist, was doing that, it has played a critical role The men in our science and math accepted into a great medical school in advancing freedom and optimism classes were themselves wonderfully even though she ruined her chances for all. It is a role to celebrate! ■ talented, but there was never any rea- at another by telling her interviewer Maxine Frank Singer ’52 is president son to assume that they were more that his questions about her plans for of the Carnegie Institution in Washingimportant to the highly interactive marriage and family were out of ton, D.C. This essay was adapted by student group, or to the professors, order. That took guts in the spring of than were the women. And as the four 1952. The other five went on to gradu- Roger Youman ’53 from Singer’s address to the Alumni Collection duryears progressed and the classes and ate school, with National Science ing Alumni Weekend 1997. Youman is seminars became smaller and more Foundation fellowships. That was the married to Singer’s sister, Lillian advanced, the women predominated. first year such fellowships were availFrank Youman ’57. There was not for us, as there apparable. Six hundred were awarded Take time to smell the roses ’98 ALUMNI WEEKEND J U N E N 5 – 7 o matter when you graduated from Swarthmore, at class reunions it often seems like only yesterday. New buildings, new faces, and new landscaping don’t obscure the College’s timeless essentials, from favorite vistas to compelling discussions to your own special reminders that there’s no place quite like this one. Promise yourself this opportunity to take advantage—at last—of the subtler pleasures around the campus. Remember wishing as a student that you could hike around the Crum, or settle into an Adirondack chair with a good novel, or stroll through the rose garden? Somehow there was never enough time to stop and smell the roses or even to enjoy a book that wasn’t required reading. Alumni Weekend ’98 offers something for every mood. Play a brisk game of tennis. Attend a faculty lecture—and don’t worry about taking notes. Sing along at this year’s special Folk Festival reunion. Sit in on the Alumni Council meeting, and meet the representatives from your region. Find out if you recognize any of the shops in the Ville. Participate in a class reunion panel. Or enjoy the bliss of doing nothing at all. Some of the best parts of the Swarthmore experience can happen at a reunion! Look for your Alumni Weekend brochure in the mail soon. More information is available from the Alumni Office at (610) 328-8401 or on the Internet at alumni@swarthmore.edu. ARE YOU RECEIVING DUPLICATE COPIES OF THE BULLETIN? PLEASE SEND BOTH LABELS TO: ALUMNI RECORDS, SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, 500 COLLEGE AVE., SWARTHMORE PA 19081