Swarthmore College Alumni Bulletin 2008-10-01

Famous Swarthmore Quotations

words

Let me introduce the word

hypertext

SWARTHMORE

Slender and snakelike
the twisted branches
of a red Japanese
maple create the
centerpiece of an
autumnal display in
front of Wharton Hall.
PHOTOGRAPH BY ELEFTHERIOS KOSTANS

(0

parlor talk
A FEW WEEKS AGO, in the midst of angry
Congressional debate over the financial
bailout, scary chaos on Wall Street, and noisy
election campaigns, I heard this news: We
saw it snowing on Mars.
That just stopped me in my tracks.
Using a laser instrument, the U.S.launched Phoenix spacecraft detected snow
falling through the thin Martian atmosphere
about four kilometers above the barren
desert surface. "We'll be looking for signs
that the snow may even reach the ground,"
said one of the scientists.
The spacecraft touched down in May at
68 degrees north latitude, at the margins of
the polar ice cap that will form during Mars'
upcoming northern hemisphere winter. The
Phoenix's primary mission is to dig trenches
and analyze subsurface soils, where it has
already found water ice—and significant
chemical evidence that liquid water also
stood on the surface there.
In the midst of economic and political
storms on Earth, the news of Martian snow
had a tremendously calming effect on me. I
remembered my childhood excitement over
the first snowflakes swirling outside our
classroom windows. For a minute, the
teacher couldn't hold any child's attention.

In the midst of economic and
political storms on Earth, the news
of Martian snow had a tremendously
calming effect on me.
Our imaginations were outside, anticipating
the pure joy of the slippery white stuff.
Of course, a spacecraft feels no such
excitement. Yet, although this machine does­
n't draw breath on the forbidding Martian
surface (nor could we), it's an extension of
our senses into a world where falling stock
prices and falling snow are mercifully unre­
lated. The Phoenix—so named because it is
the completion of an earlier Mars landing
project cancelled in 2001—is also a proxy for

swarthmore
COLLEGE BULLETIN
EDITOR

Jeffrey Lott
ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Carol Brevart-Demm
CLASS NOTES EDITOR

Susan Cousins Breen
ART DIREC TOR

Suzanne DeMott Gaadt, Gaadt Perspectives LLC
STAFF PHOTOGR APHER

Eleftherios Kostans
DESKTOP PUBLISHING

Audree Penner
PUBLICATIONS INTERN

Katie Becker '10
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT
You c annot keep things in perspective without a

Janice Merrill-Rossi

certain mindfulness about where you stand in
the larger scheme of things. I see history as
being less about human beings than about the
giant wheels of time that have been turning
since the Big Bang—about the planets and the
stars. And now, about snow on Mars.

EDITOR EM ERITA

our hunger for knowledge and our need to
imagine other worlds beyond our own.
I felt both as I watched and photographed
the installation of the new observatory dome
atop the science center (see p. 7). A new gen­
eration of Swarthmore students will soon
experience such mindful moments as they
look beyond Earth to the stars.
I hope they'll also be mindful of Peter van
de Kamp, the Swarthmore professor who
pioneered the search for planets beyond our
solar system. For my part, the excitement of
watching the dome swing into place was
tinged with sadness about the loss of Mar­
garet Helfand '69, architect of the science
center, who died before she could see this
finishing touch on her masterpiece.
I'm an optimist. (You sort of have to be
these days, don't you?) As I write this, I know
neither the outcome of the election nor the
future of the economy, although I am sure
that there will be both good—and bad—
ahead. Whatever happens, I'll try to remem­
ber the day we first saw it snowing on Mars.
—Jeffrey Lott

Maralyn Orbison Gillespie '49
CONTACTING SWAR THMORE COLLEGE
COLLEGE OPERATOR

(610) 328-8000

www.swarthmore.edu

ADMISSIONS

(610) 328-8300

admissions@swarthmore.edu

ALUMNI RELA TIONS

(610) 328-8402

alumni@swarthmore.edu

PUBLICATIONS

(610) 328-8568

bulletin@swarthmore.edu

REGISTRAR

(610) 328-8297

registrar@swarthmore.edu

CHANGES OF ADDRESS

Send address label along with new address to:
Alumni Records Office
Swarthmore College
500 College Avenue
Swarthmore PA 19081-1390
Phone: (610) 328-8435
Or e-mail: alumnirecords@swarthmore.edu.
The Swarthmore College Bulletin
(ISSN 0888-2126), of which this is volume
CVI, number 2, is published in August, Octo­
ber, January, April, and July by Swarthmore
College, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore PA
19081-1390. Periodicals 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 19081-1390.
©2008 Swarthmore College. Printed in U.S.A.

ON TH E CO VER
Thanks to hypertext and the World Wide Web, we have the whole world in our hands. Ted Nelson '59 coined

® Mixed Sources

the word and pioneered the concept that connected everything. It's just one of many contributions that
Swarthmoreans have made to the language. Story on page 32.

Product group from well-managed
forests, controlled sources and
recycled wood or fiber

FSC
2

U

www.fsc.org Cert no.
© 1996 Forest Stewardship Council

swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

in this issue

FEATURES
I O CTOBER 2008

20: THE DIGITAL WAVE

26

New technologies are changing the way
students learn.
By Audree Penner

26: MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER AGAIN
Ken Guilmartin '67 considers music
to be every child's birthright.
By Heather Shumaker '91

30: SORORITYSCIENCE
I

Equality of rights under the
law shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any
State on account of sex.

Texas Tri Deltas fight eating disorders
with psychologist Carolyn Black Becker '90
By Elizabeth Redden '05

32: SWARTHMORE SAYS ...
Out of the mouths—and pens—of
Swarthmoreans come some well-known words.
By Fred Shapiro

OCTOBER 2008

3

in this issue

DEPARTMENTS

PROFILES

5: LETTERS

60: ROOM FOR REFLECTION
At New Skete Monastery, Sister Katrina '70
found the age-old values of monastic life
recast for today's world.
By Susan Cousins Breen

Readers have their say.

7: COLLECTIO N
The Class of 2012 embarks on its Swarthmore odyssey—just one of many campus
highlights.

66: 'PREVENIENTGRACE'

THE AXIS OF EVO

43: IN MEMORIAM

"The notion that young kids cannot under­
stand evolution is a myth perpetuated by
those who don't want kids to understand
evolution," says biologist Colin Purrington.
By Jeffrey Lott

Farewell to cherished friends and classmates

Catherine "Cathy" Good Abbott '72
transitions from the corporate world to
that of the church.
By Elizabeth Redden '05

56: IN MY LIFE

70". WORKIN' ON THE RAILROAD

Doing Mexican Time
By Gerard Helferich '76

Richard Slattery '80 parlays a lifelong love of
trains into a satisfying career.
By Susan Cousins Breen

37: CONNECTIONS

62: BOOKS + ARTS

Whether volunteering, relocating, or simply
attending events, alumni find countless ways
to connect.

MASTERS: ART QUILTS—MAJOR WORKS
BY LEADI NG ARTISTS

1 8
' . FACULTY EXPERT

By Martha Sielman '82
Reviewed by Jeffrey Lott

39: CLASS NOTES
Alumni updates from far and near

72: Q + A
What Plays Pizzicato on Ed Fuller's Soul?
By Carol Brevart-Demm

ON THE WEB

CONTRIBUTORS

Swarthmore College Bulletin on the Web: This issue and more than
10 years of archives are at: swarthmore.edu/bulletin.
Also on the College Web
site, you will find:
ON PRESIDENTIAL
POLITICS: Watch
Michael Dukakis '55 speak
on campus about this
year's historic presidential
campaign and what is
at stake.

http://media.swarthmore.edu/video/?p=81
THE WORLD'S MOST SUPRE ME RUNG FU: Watch Jonathan Stafstrom
'10 demonstrate his newly learned Chinese in a film he wrote, di­
rected, edited—and in which he played all the parts.

http://media.swarthmore.edu/video/?p=73
WINGING IT WITH CHER UB IMPROV : Celebrating its one-year an­
niversary, a volunteer improv comedy group led by Jonathan Evan
Goldberg '92 combines community, creativity, and the life of the
mind, http://www.swarthmore.edu/xl9848.xml

4

A n ative of Kansas City,
Mo., Audree Penner ma­
jored in communications at
the University of Mis­
souri-Columbia. She has
served as an editor and
writer for magazines and
newspapers in Missouri,
Kansas, and Pennsylvania.
For t he past 17 years, Pen­
ner has been a staff mem­
ber of the College
Publications Office, where
she serves as the Bulletin's
desktop publishing special­
ist and Web mistress.

Fred Shapiro is associate
librarian for collections and

Illustrator Nancy Harrison
spent most of her life in

access and lecturer in legal
research at Yale Law
School. Fie is the editor of

Montreal but now lives in
Vermont. With a B.F.A., she
worked as a graphic artist,

the Yale Book of Quotations
(Yale University Press),

illustrator, and art direc­
tor/vice president of an ad
agency. Later obtaining an

which was named a Best
M.A. in illustration from
Book of 2006 by
amazon.com—one of many Syracuse, Harrison became
honors—and was favorably self-employed in 1990. She
has worked on more than
reviewed by The New
Yorker, The New York Times, 30 children's books, con­
tributed to the Bulletin
The Times (London), the
Wall Street Journal, and Na­ many times, and says she is
"havin' more fun than
tional Public Radio.

swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

letters
Pequod, we've profited while madmen and
workers paid by our tax dollars kill and pur­
sue their own white whales on the other side
of the world. This is not a time for self-con­
gratulation but for deep and serious selfcriticism.
KATHERINE BRYANT '74

develop that will inspire the American peo­
ple—and therefore embolden American
politicians—to ration our fuel. Throughout
history, Americans have stepped up and sac­
rificed for the greater good. The stakes are
higher than ever, and I sincerely hope that we
can collectively make the right choice.

Fort Valley, Va.

RICHARD CONNER '4 9

SACRIFICE FOR THE GREATER GOOD

Vineland, N.J.

The loss of World War II would have been a
PACIFISM FOR ANIMALS
disaster with dire consequences for hundreds
Seeking refuge from the cruelties of the
of years. The increase of greenhouse gases
world, I turned to my most recent copy of
could bring about the loss of thousands of
the Swarthmore College Bulletin [July 2008]
square miles of land to the rising oceans, the
only to read about the decision to kill the
displacement of hundreds of millions of peo­ Crum deer using sharpshooters and then
ple, and mass starvation.
salve the College's collective Quaker con­
During World War II, the American pub­
science by giving the meat to the poor,
lic accepted gas rationing so we would have
adding exposure to wasting disease to their
gas for our planes and tanks. The American
other troubles. How NRA.
LACKING IN SELF-CRITICISM
public should now accept gas rationing to
As long as Professor [Jose-Luis] MachaI was disturbed by the quotation from Alber­
save our planet.
do's class is worried about the impact of the
to Mora's ['74] honorary degree talk ("Col­
We car-pooled, used public transporta­
deer upon their outdoor use of the Crum, he
lection," July Bulletin: "No one educated here
tion, and cut unnecessary driving to a mini­
and others might consider the impact upon
could fail to recognize that a person's right to
mum to help our country; we should do the
conscience, and the worthy challenge of
be free from cruel treatment is a fundamen­
same to help our world. Aside from the envi­
coexistence, instead of taking the easy way
tal human right..Mora adopts an "all-ofronmental impact this step would have, it
out. There are nonlethal means—steriliza­
us-here" mentality, whereby he assures his
would also: 1) reduce our dependence on
tion and relocation are only two of many
audience that no one who attended Swarthforeign oil from unfriendly nations, 2) delay
that were rejected (without explanation in
more could be thought capable of torture or
the exhaustion of our oil reserves, 3) reduce
the article) in favor of killing. Sterilization
of condoning torture.
demand and thus lower gas prices, 4) use the
and relocation are only two such means.
Alberto was a classmate, and I have seen
saved money to help fund social security,
Population control by killing is revolting and
his name in the news—and his brave defense
healthcare, infrastructure, alternative energy,
contrary to all that we stand for as a people.
of human rights. I highly applaud his acts
personal retirement funds, and more, and 5)
Killing is always unconscionable when
and his integrity, but I must object when he
reduce the traffic congestion on America's
humane options exist; rationalization of the
places all Swarthmoreans, by definition, on
busiest highways. The result of several of
same is even worse. It is also completely
such high moral ground.
these benefits would be to lower—or at least
incompatible with Quaker values. Does not
I object empirically, having been present
slow—the growth of the rising costs of man­
the pacifist approach extend to animals at
at a post-9/11 rally at Swarthmore, where I
ufactured products, building, and food.
Swarthmore? Is convenience the current
heard the sneering, loud voices of students
It is my sincere hope that a movement will excuse for rejection of these values? How can
berating their anti-war critics as softies—and
solving this problem humanely be too great
demanding global war by all means neces­
Maybe "we" don't torture but,
an intellectual challenge for Swarthmore? Do
sary. And I object on philosophical and psy­
we circle back to arrogance—as a species,
chological grounds, because it seems to me a
like the Quaker owners of the
just toss a hand grenade into the values of
form of bad faith to wreathe all Swarthmore­
compassion and coexistence?
ans with a glow of moral purity while locat­
Pequod, we've profited while
In Professor Machado's self-serving char­
ing the evils that led to Abu Ghraib and
acterization of campus reaction as "99 per­
Guantanamo exclusively in the philosophies
madmen and workers paid by our
cent positive and supportive of the initiative
and psychologies of others.
because of the recognition of its potential
tax dollars pursue their own
In my opinion, the Quaker morality that
impact in regenerating the woods," minority
underpins and pervades Swarthmore is dan­
views and consensus are simply dismissed—
gerously elitist and lacking in self-criticism.
white whales on the other side
trumped by the alleged majority, the survival
Maybe "we" don't torture (don't be certain of
of the biggest guns. No further discussion
of the world.
that!), but, like the Quaker owners of the
needed. How many times in history has the

OCTOBER 200 8

5

'M> letters
Does not the pacifist approach
extend to animals at Swarthmore?
Is convenience the current excuse
or rejection of these values?

herd with wolves, 1 say, you've had your fun.
The CWSC exists to deal with important
matters, not for idle entertainment nor to
provide fodder for a Facebook page. As an
alternative, I suggest taking up more serious
matters, such as thinning out Haverford Col­
lege's resident Ford population with spitting
cobras.

Kyle White '08, mentioned briefly
in the article as an emcee of the
competition to pick a person to
wear the costume, was the driving

BEN ROTHFELD ' 91

How can solving this problem
humanely be too great an intellectual
challenge for Swarthmore?
Do we circle back to arrogance—
as a species, just toss a hand grenade
into the values of compassion
and coexistence?

minority view been vindicated?
The superior approach—one compatible
with Quaker values—is: Never, never be
afraid to do what is right, especially if th e
well-being of a person or animal is at stake.
Society's punishments are small compared to
the wounds we inflict on our soul when we
look the other way.
As a lifelong advocate for animal and
human rights, I surely won't be reading the
Swarthmore College Bulletin for moral or
intellectual guidance and thought any­
more—ever—if the College carries through
with this action.
GAIL O'CONNELL-BABCOCK '65

Sherwood, Ore.
Editor's Note: Readers may refer to the Crum
Woods Stewardship Committee's Web site for
complete reports on the state of the woods and
an enumeration of the options considered for
remediation: http://www.swarthmore.edu/xl6855.xml.

WOLVES AND COBRAS
To the sophomores (no doubt, given their
sophomoric nature) on the Crum Woods
Stewardship Committee (CWSC) who sug­
gested thinning out the woods' resident deer

New York City

MARCHING SOCIETY MEMORIES?
Your article about the new Phoenix mascot
("Swarthmore Hatches a Big Red Bird," July
Bulletin) made me nostalgic for the now
defunct Swarthmore Marching Society of my
college days. Ah, now there was a source of
spirit, hilarity, and pride! It may not have
been the only such college organization to
put "spin" on the half-time show, but tears
come to my eyes at the thought of "The
sperm fertilizes the egg" as performed on
Swarthmore's field during the intermission
of a football game. Can you tell the story so
it's not lost to today's spiritmongers?

force behind the mascot from the
very beginning.

Phoenix as our mascot. He should be com­
mended for his efforts.
GAVIN NUR ICK '07

Stamford, Conn.
Editor's Note: It can now be told: In photos of
the Phoenix on the cover and page 24 of the
July Bulletin, the costume is inhabited by none
other than Kyle White, who indeed deserves
great credit for the existence and popularity of
the mascot.

TOM CROCHUNIS '81

Shippensburg, Pa.
The Bulletin welcomes alumni accounts or
photos of the exploits of the Swarthmore
Marching Society. Write to us at the address on
page 2 or e-mail bulletin.swarthmore.edu.

THE MAN BEHIND THE PHOENIX
Your coverage of Swarthmore's adoption of
the Phoenix as a mascot was enjoyable to
read, but you missed one important fact.
Kyle White '08, mentioned briefly in the
article as an emcee of the competition to
pick a person to wear the costume, was the
driving force behind the mascot from the
very beginning. As president of the Garnet
Club (created in 2004 to promote school
spirit), Kyle took the initiative and
approached the Student Athlete Advisory
Committee (SAAC) with his idea to create a
mascot. SAAC encouraged Kyle and con­
vened a subcommittee that included Kyle,
SAAC members, and even some faculty
members. From that committee came a vari­
ety of mascot ideas that were later voted on
by the student body.
From the beginning until the end of the
process, Kyle was the reason we now have the

STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP,
MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULATION
1. Publication title: Swarthmore College Bulletin
2. Publication number: 0888-2126
3. Filing date: Oct. 13,2008
4. Issue frequency: Jan., Apr., July, Aug., Oct.
5. Number of issues published annually: 5
6. Annual subscription price: none
7. Office of publication: 500 College Avenue,
Swarthmore PA 19081 -1390
8. General business office: same
9. Publisher: Swarthmore College, 500 College
Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081-1390. Editor:
Jeffrey Lott, 500 College Ave., Swarthmore
PA 19081-1390. Managing editor: none
10. Owner: Swarthmore College, 500 College
Avenue, Swarthmore PA 19081 -1390
11. Known bondholders, mortgagees, or other
security holders owning or holding one percent
or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or
other securities: none
12. The purpose, function, and nonprofit status
of this organization has not changed during
the preceding 12 months.
14. Issue date for circulation data: July 2008
15. a.Total number of copies (net press run):
25,441. b. (1) Paid or requested mail sub­
scriptions: 22,153. b. (4) Other classes
mailed: 1,257 (ISAL). c. Total paid and/or
requested circulation: 23,410. d. (3) Nonrequested distribution by mail: 48. e. Total nonrequested distribution: 1,956. f. Total distri­
bution: 25,266. g. Copies not distributed: 175
h. Total: 25,441. i. Percent paid and/or
requested circulation: 99.3%.

6
swarthmore COLLEGE BULL ETIN

'••• "T* '#M

•V-\ '•

•

I BflfSg?'' •

T*

~

h#St''
J5»

• • £"— •

"' f

-3R

:.- —' -

"*** pi - j * ;
*

•*'

-

/T

3>'':
'

&>

.

>
NEW VAN DE KAMP
OBSERVATORY
A 20-foot diameter dome for the new Peter
van de Kamp Observatory was hoisted into
place on Aug. 15, literally capping off the
College's five-year-old Science Center. The
observatory awaits the arrival of a new 24inch reflecting telescope, set for later this fall.
A telescope pier and other infrastructure
were included in the construction of the Sci­
ence Center, which opened in 2003, but no
funding was available at the time for the
planned telescope and dome.
A National Science Foundation grant will
provide a computerized telescope of modern
design; the dome to house it was purchased
after the College received an anonymous
donation in honor of van de Kamp, professor
of astronomy and director of the Sproul
Observatory from 1937 to 1972.
OCTOBER 200 8

The dome was assembled in a nearby
parking lot and lifted into place atop the
building as dozens of College faculty and
staff members watched. Among them, beam­
ing with excitement, was David Cohen, asso­
ciate professor of astronomy.
Cohen says that the telescope will be used
to train Swarthmore students in observation­
al techniques—but that it would also be used
to do basic research on the spectra of objects
that are already being studied in other wave­
lengths by Cohen and his colleague Associate
Professor of Astronomy Eric Jensen. The
College has already purchased a sophisticated
spectrograph for the new instrument.
Cohen observes X-ray emissions from
massive stars using NASA's orbiting Chandra
X-ray telescope; he says that "it would be
very useful to have optical spectroscopy at
the same time to see what a star's circumstellar disk is doing." Jensen observes young

stars, often using the Spitzer Infrared Space
Telescope. Over time, having additional spec­
tra could help him determine the linear
space velocity of those stars, which could aid
him in determining the type of system that
these stars are part of.
"Not many telescopes of this size have the
capability for spectroscopy that ours will,
especially those at small liberal arts colleges,"
says Cohen. "Eric and I h ope to have stu­
dents using the spectrograph not only for
research projects but also as part of our
department's advanced laboratory program
for physics majors."
While the new telescope is used for
research and teaching, the Sproul Observato­
ry's 24-inch refracting telescope will contin­
ue to be used for monthly public viewing.
During Alumni Weekend, visitors were able
to observe Saturn and the moon, Cohen says.
—Jeffrey Lott

collection

On Aug. 26,373 first-year students—from a total 6,121 applicants—
descended onto the campus. Of these 185 women and 188 men, 55
percent are from public, 28 percent from private, and 9 percent from
parochial schools—as well as 8 percent from foreign or American
schools abroad. Of the 44 percent from schools reporting class rank,
24 percent were valedictorians or salutatorians, 45 percent were in
the top 2 percent of their class, and 87 percent in the top 10 percent.
The new freshman class represents 42 states and 16 foreign coun­
tries. The class's ethnicity includes 10 percent African American, 12
percent Hispanic/Latino/a American, and 16 percent Asian American
for a total of 38 percent domestic students of color. States yielding at
least 10 percent of the class are, in descending order, New York, Penn­
sylvania, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Texas,
Connecticut, and Virginia.
According to Director of Financial Aid Laura Talbot, about 50 per­
cent of first-year students—all those who need help—receive finan­
cial aid, as does approximately the same percentage of the entire stu­
dent body. Because the College's new "loan-free-awards" policy,
which also applies to all returning students, was implemented this
fall, the average aid award— corresponding to need—is about

$34,600, of which $32,840 is in the form of scholarships/grants and
the rest in campus jobs, Talbot says.
Members of the Class of 2012 bring a fascinating melange of
accomplishments to the College. They include:
• a Celtic harp player
• a co-founder of a trap shooting club in her high school
• a competitor at the junior nationals and nationals in men's curling
• a participant at summer circus camp, taught by former
Swarthmore admissions counselor Kennette Banks '06
• a student who discovered Swarthmore by corresponding with
2006 Physics Nobel Laureate John Mather '68
• a prospective engineer and self-taught metal worker who built a
foundry in his basement to create artistic crystal structures
• at least one professional juggler
• two students—one from California, the other from New Jersey—
who competed against each other in the international FIRST
Robotics Championships
• a student whose hometown was named after him for a day in
honor of service to his community.
—Carol Brevart-Demm

President Bloom Will Lead NYU Abu Dhabi
IN SUMMER 200 9, SWARTHMORE PRESIDENT

Alfred H. Bloom will assume full responsi­
bility as vice chancellor of New York Univer­
sity (NYU) Abu Dhabi for creating a highly
selective liberal arts college, distinctive grad­
uate programs, and a world center for
advanced research and scholarship in the
Persian Gulf state.
According to university officials, the
school's programs will "form the backbone
of a unique Global Network University."
8

The Abu Dhabi campus will welcome its
first undergraduate students in fall 2010 at a
temporary location in Abu Dhabi City. A
permanent campus will be built by 2012.
NYU President John Sexton said: "If one
were listing the ideal liberal arts college, one
would think immediately of Swarthmore,
rightly regarded as one of the top colleges in
the United States. Much of Swarthmore's
recent success flows from the leadership of
its president, A1 Bloom."

While completing his term as president,
Bloom will consult on the NYU Abu Dhabi
project, working with a team led by Mariet
Westermann, NYU's vice chancellor for
regional campus development. According to
Westermann, "NYU Abu Dhabi can know
no greater good fortune than having A1
Bloom as its first CEO." He called Bloom
"an exceptional educator, administrator, and
leader—and a true internationalist."
Bloom said he was "drawn to this project
by what makes it so extraordinary: the
opportunity to develop a world-class center
swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH
SEEKS BROAD INPUT
The search committee charged with
finding a successor to President Alfred
H. Bloom began its work in earnest this
fall. The committee expects to make a
final recommendation to the Board of
Managers by spring 2009. President
Bloom announced in May that he will
leave the post on Aug. 31, 2009, after 18
years as Swarthmore's president.
The committee, chaired by Thomas
Spock '78, a member of the Board since
1997, is sponsoring a Web site where all
aspects of the search are described. In
September, the committee's search con­
sultant, Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates,
conducted extensive interviews with
members of the campus community
and alumni body, including current and
former Board members. The committee
then created a "position specification"
describing the nature of the College, the
challenges facing it in the years to come,
and the qualities that its new leader
should possess in order to be successful.
After advertising the position in
major national education publications,
the committee expects the nomination
process to end on Oct. 30, after which
preliminary interviews of selected can­
didates will be conducted.
Visit the search committee Web site
for more information on all aspects of
the search, a historical look at Swarth­
more's presidents, and an e-mail link
where you may submit a nomination:
www.swarthmore.edu/x 17191.xml.
—Jeffrey Lott

of learning and intellectual advance from the
ground up and to create an active connec­
tion with the Washington Square campus,
thereby providing the foundation for a new
concept of global university."
He cited the importance of "advancing
the role of education in promoting coopera­
tive pursuit of knowledge, global under­
standing, and ultimately a world that recog­
nizes and builds on human common
ground."
In a Sept. 29 e-mail to the Swarthmore
community, Bloom wrote: "The project
OCTOBER 200 8

Once a week, 92-year-old Robert "Bob"
Thompson buys cookies—enough packages
to fill his canvas tote bag—and carries them
from the College Bookstore to the Scott
Arboretum offices at Cunningham House,
where the Arboretum's 100-plus volunteers
and visitors gladly munch on them.
A popular figure around campus,
Thompson spends each morning, five days a
week, carrying mail between various campus
offices and Cunningham House, where he
has been a fixture since 1990, logging more
hours than any other active volunteer.
Thompson's service to the Arboretum
isn't his only link with Swarthmore. During
World War II, as an inspector and, later,
assistant to the manager of turbine and
nuclear services with Westinghouse, he was
chosen—along with other bright young
employees—to attend evening classes in
mechanical engineering at Swarthmore as a
participant in a government-sponsored edu­
cation program. After the war, he enrolled in
academic programs at Drexel University and
the University of Pennsylvania, where he
obtained certificates in purchasing, quality
control, and metallurgy. "The classes were
available for free if you qualified, and we fel­
lows were hungry for education," he says.
A former 15-year board member of the
Delaware County Historical Society, Thomp­
son is a member of the Concord Historical
Society and recipient of its 1998 Volunteer of
the Year Award for exemplary service.
Last year, Thompson undertook a re­
search project, investigating the stone sundial
that stood for generations on Parrish lawn. It
was moved in the 1980s during reconstruc-

enjoys the full support in vision and
resources of the Abu Dhabi government. We
will recruit exceptional students and faculty
from around the globe, and the Abu Dhabi
campus will be the first—alongside NYU
New York—of several campuses worldwide
to be linked into a single global university.
My 30 years at Swarthmore, thinking and
working with you, provide a remarkable
foundation for this endeavor. I th ank you for
that and look forward to completing a won­
derful final year together."
—Jeffrey Lott

Bob Thompson spends three and a half to four hours
a day, five days a week, delivering Arboretum
messages to campus offices. More t han 60 years
ago, Thompson (inset: far left) posed with fellow
students around the old sundial.

tion of the lawn and is currently stored under
the bleachers alongside Skallerup Track.
"I researched the sundial because my pic­
ture was taken in front of it when I was
attending classes here," he says.
"Bob was determined to learn about the
sundial, which was a popular photograph site
for generations of students and faculty," says
Susanna Morikawa, archival specialist in
Friends Historical Library. "He pored through
archives to find out more."
Thompson found that the sundial was a
class gift to the College in memory of
Howard White Jr. (1875-1903), a member of
the Class of 1895 and son of Howard and
Helen Comly White, both of the Class of
1875. Both Helen White and her younger
son, Barclay White of the Class of 1906, were
members of the Board of Managers.
Thompson's love of his job, his work set­
ting, and his many friends on campus—not
to mention further research projects lurking
beneath the bleachers—may just keep him at
the Arboretum for another 15 years, where
all those who are hungry for a sweet treat
will continue to look forward to the weekly
deliveries by the cookie messenger.
—Carol Brevart-Demm

collection

mm

STUDYING RELIGION—ESPECIALLY ISLAM—BRINGS "RESPONSIBLE
SCHOLASTIC PRACTICE" FACE TO FACE WITH PERSONAL FAITH.
By Eli Epstein-Deutsch '10
Tariq al-Jamil, assistant professor of religion
and coordinator of the recently approved
Islamic Studies Program, is endowed with a
certain mystique. Al-Jamil casts a different
aura—maybe due to his colorful ties, classic
suits, and black designer glasses (a talking
point for fashion-minded students) or his
striking physiognomy. But it also has to do
with his teaching style.
All who have taken a class with al-Jamil
can attest to both the breadth of his erudition
and his sometimes bewildering habit of cut­
ting himself off mid-lecture and switching
topics. A hint of ironic self-awareness as he
does this banishes any suspicion of absentmindedness and arouses curiosity. Was he
about to enter a realm too theologically com­
plex for students to follow—or, more possi­
bly, approach a point of religious or social
sensitivity from which he then withdrew?

After all, Islam is currently endowed with
an especially charged geopolitical status. In
post 9/11 America and Europe, terrorist
stereotypes and hostility toward Muslims
abound, while in parts of the Islamic world,
perceived slights to the dignity of Muslims
spark protests and violence. The academic
study of Islam seems more necessary than
ever but also fraught with potential pitfalls.
Al-Jamil largely does not believe that the
sensitivity of religious subject matter in genera'
and Islam in particular—should affect
its teaching in any special way. Concerning
the difficulties that might seem inherent in
teaching a class made up of both believers
and nonbelievers, he says: "I personally feel it
is not the role of the professor to avoid inves­
tigating questions that would impinge on
truth-claims. We are studying religion
through a multidisciplinary range of lenses:

historical, anthropological, sociological, and
literary." Faith, moral values, mystical experi­
ence, theological systems—the components
of religious existence—may be discussed but
never be subjected to direct evaluation, so
that neither believers nor nonbelievers need
back away from such scholarly investigation.
Al-Jamil strives to give equal consideration
to different or opposing traditions of knowl­
edge that make up his discipline. He never
allows his personal views about various
Islamic theological sects to trickle into his
teaching, applying a criterion of responsible
scholastic practice that he says is generally
valid for more than just the treacherous ter­
rain of religion.
The reasoning behind such an argument is
rooted in the fundamentals of epistemology.
Every discipline needs a basic set of givens, or
a priori laws," to determine what counts as
legitimate knowledge or argumentation with­
in that field. No academic discipline can func­
tion by directly attacking the base on which it
is built, (although theoretical ground can

10
swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

shift over time). Moreover, such an a priori
foundation is not monolithic or self-justified:
It is composed of overlapping and conflicting
premises held by competing intellectual tradi­
tions within the field as well as general
assumptions made by outsiders. These
inevitably must be balanced.
"All disciplines are careful not to impinge
on the presuppositions of their students or
colleagues," Al-Jamil says.
Even in physics, careers may be built on
separate theoretical frameworks (eg. tradi­
tional particle physics versus string theory)
that appear irreconcilable, he says. Such com­
peting views cannot and do not simply dis­
miss each other. His analysis has logical force.
Yet, there remains the profound sense that

always been dialectical, dynamic, elastic."
or development of our particular sect." She
At the other end of the spectrum are pro­
says that Al-Jamil, who specializes in studying
fessors for whom the classroom can be a place Shi'ism—especially its medieval incarna­
for spiritual awakening or exploration.
tion—has helped her in that regard.
"I'm not there," Hopkins admits.
Soofi, who grew up in a traditional Muslim
Al-Jamil is more blunt. "My [own] faith
community and could read the Koran in Ara­
should have nothing to do with [my teach­
bic by age 12, says: "Where I grew up, there
ing]," he says. "I'm a professional through and was not much chance to question why we do
through. I find it to be a problem when a
the things we did. We just did them. I think
teacher privileges his own presuppositions in
looking critically at the reasons for these prac­
the classroom and quashes those of students.
tices—like praying five times a day—can
The teacher [of Islam] who says 'this is the
deepen and round out my belief."
way we did things when I was growing up in
Pakistan, so I know how it is'—that is intellec­ Eli Epstein-Deutsch is pursuing a self-designed
major in modernist studies and is co-founder of
tually shoddy."
the student magazine The Night Cafe. He took
On the other hand, neither does al-Jamil
Tariq al-Jamil's course in fall 2006.
believe that the sensitivities of religious stu­
dents deserve special
consideration. "The
All academic learning is about jettisoning the baggage
academic study of reli­
FACULTY APPROVES
of preconceived notions, and religion is no exception.
gion is designed to
ISLAMIC STUDIES PROGRAM
bring traditional
religion is somehow different from other
understanding into dialogue with a broader
The opening of the new school year gives
domains. Professor Steven Hopkins, chair of
intellectual discourse. All academic learning is
Swarthmore students an additional academic
the Religion Department and a scholar of
about jettisoning the baggage of preconceived
option—to minor in Islamic Studies. A formal
South Asian religions, talks about what makes notions, and religion is no exception."
Islamic Studies Program, emerging steadily
the study of religion particularly complex.
Al-Jamil's no-nonsense view of intellectual
across several departments during the past
"The challenge is, you're not studying
rigor finds support among Muslim students.
decade, received faculty approval last spring.
something that is neutral to people's experi­
"Tariq doesn't censor himself," says
Courses in religion, anthropology, history,
ence. You're studying traditions that make
Humzah Soofi '10, who took his first Islamic
and Arabic language and literature will provide
truth claims, that are about ultimate ideas and Studies course last year. "He doesn't step away
students with insight into expressions of Islam
from hot-button issues. The American Mus­
existential aspects of people's lives," he says.
as a religious tradition, Islamic civilization in
lim community tends to be very apologetic,
Hopkins does not favor, in the name of
history, and the role of Islamic discourse in
like when talking about the concept of Jihad.
objectivity, aggressively pursuing topics that
today's world.
would undermine "the self-understanding" of They insist that Islam is really peaceful. But
The program is funded in large part by the
Tariq is willing to tell us that Islam, like any
religious beliefs: "I come from a particular
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation as well as indi­
religion, is not exempt from violent discourse
school of thought that says religious people
vidual donors; and the Mellon Foundation
and,
also, as in other religions, neither does
should be able to recognize themselves in your
has further provided annual funding for a threescholarship. That makes studying religion dif­ Islam necessarily prescribe nonviolence."
year visiting professorship in Middle Eastern
Ailya Vajid, a senior religion major with an
ferent from, say, the study of Proust. There are
history as well as seed money to fund a perma­
nent position.
interfaces with living persons of faith, who are Islamic Studies minor, agrees. "Tariq gives you
part of your study, that makes it complex, that all the good and bad about your religion, so
"We are excited about the future of Islamic
you know you can trust his class. You can
Studies and keenly aware of the College's posi­
makes it negotiated and transactional."
begin to come to terms with things like the
Hopkins recognizes that all professors of
tion and responsibilities as perhaps the first lib­
complex and challenging Koranic passages on
eral arts college to establish a program of its
religion do not share this view: "There are
slavery."
scholars who have immense insights but who
kind. It has been well over a decade in the mak­
The academic study of Islam has enriched
have little or no interest in religious perspec­
ing. There are still many dimensions of the pro­
the personal religious lives of both these stu­
gram that I an d the Islamic Studies Committee
tives and kind of a disdain for religion itself.
dents and bolstered their understanding of
are hoping to develop further in the future. It
They study the texts historically. So you don't
offers a wealth of opportunities for drawing in a
necessarily have to be sensitive to religiousness inherited traditions, they say. Vajid admits
taking some of what she has learned in class—
diverse range of faculty and disciplines to weigh
to be a scholar of religion."
in on this most relevant and timely of subjects,"
He believes a range of approaches is essen­ such as postmodern commentary on the
Koran—"with a grain of salt," but she has
says Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies Tariq
tial to the discipline and contributes to the
found much that is indispensable. "I come
Al-Jamil, coordinator of the program.
overall strength of a program like Swarthfrom a minority within Islam—Shi'i—and
more's. "Religion is a subject matter that
—Carol Brevart-Demm
needs many perspectives. Our department has before I got here I knew nothing of the history
OCTOBER 200 8

11

collection

The first day of school can be fraught
with emotional excitement for children
and their families. It's about anticipation
and hope—sometimes mixed with anxi­
ety and fear of the unknown.
On Sept. 4, similar high emotions
were also palpable among the faculty,
staff, and longtime supporters of the
new Chester Upland School for the Arts
(CUSA), which opened to 200 students
in pre-kindergarten through second
grade. The school is a natural outgrowth
of the Chester Children's Chorus
(CCC), founded in 1994 by John
Alston, associate professor of music at
the College. The CCC began modestly
with seven boys and now serves nearly
100 boys and girls ages 8 through 17.
Alston beamed as the first children
began to stream into the "Sunshine
Room," a freshly painted assembly
area in the Parry Building at Ninth
and Fulton streets in downtown
Chester. His vision for the school—
and the support of hundreds of edu­
cators, contributors, and community lead­
ers—had led to this exciting, perfect Septem­
ber morning. The building, which was most
recently a middle school, has space to allow
the school to add a class each year until it
reaches eighth grade.
Four years of planning, fundraising, and
negotiating preceded the creation of the
school, which is a public school in partner­
ship with the Chester Upland School Dis­
trict. Superintendent Gregory Thornton sup­
ported the project to "offer Chester children
a school that is academically and artistically
superior, producing scholars and artists of
character who will become powerful and
benevolent leaders."
The unusual partnership is supported
both by public-school funds and by a sepa­

(Clockwise from top left) The Chester Upland
School of the Arts will combine intensive work in
the arts with a rigorous academic program—en­
couraging intellectual processes that help develop
hypothetical reasoning, critical thinking, and cre­
ativity. Sara Posey '04, a second-grade teacher,
gets to know her class as the school opens in Sep­
tember. Principal Suzanne Ryan greets two kindergartners in the "Sunshine Room," where each
school day begins with an all-school assembly. The
first day of school isn't all smiles.

rate not-for-profit corporation, the Chester
Fund for Education and the Arts. The
Chester Fund, which is headed by Maurice
Eldridge '61, helps enrich the school design
by providing smaller classes, arts program­
ming, and an extended-day program begin­
ning at second grade. The school aims to
provide a core experience in the arts—
music, dance, and visual arts—in addition
to rigorous academics and inquiry-based
learning.
—Jeffrey Lott
Listen to Maurice Eldridge '61 describe the founding
of the Chester Children's Chorus and its evolution
into the CUSA a t http://media.swarthmore.edu/featured_events/?p=30.

A PLETHORA OF FACULTY PROM OTIONS
This spring, the Board of Managers approved the promotion from
assistant to associate professor with continuous tenure of eight facul­
ty members: Diane Downer Anderson, educational studies; Alan
Baker, philosophy; William Gardner, modern languages (Japanese);
K. David Harrison, linguistics; Bakirathi Mani, English literature;
Steve Wang, mathematics and statistics; Richard Wicentowski, com­
12

puter science; and Carina Yervasi, modern languages (French).
Seven faculty members were promoted from associate to full pro­
fessor: Michael Brown, physics; Timothy Burke, history; Yvonne
Chireau, religion; Frank Durgin, psychology; Haili Kong, modern
languages (Chinese); Lisa Meeden, computer science; and Tyrene
White, political science.
—Carol Brdvart-Demm
swarthmore COLLEGE BULL ETIN

This fall, David Kemp Residence Hall, the new 75-bed student dormitory, opened its doors to students of
all class years. The 29,000 square-foot, three-stony building—a gift to the College from Giles Kemp '72
and his wife Barbara Guss Kemp in honor of Kemp's father—consists of single and double rooms including
bi-level lofts. It shares a landscaped courtyard with its companion Alice Paul '05 Residence Hall, and its
design includes many similar environmentally sustainable features, including a green roof. The new hall
was dedicated on Sept. 26 in the presence of the Kemp family and members of the Board of Managers.

WOMEN & GENDER: A PROGRAM OUTGROWS ITS NAME
issues that were unavailable in the existing
including the study of the interrelationships
This spring, Swarthmore's Women's Studies
between gender and sexuality and local and
disciplines.
Program reached the end of a long process of
The
name
of
the
program
became
an
early
global politics in the program.
reshaping itself and its name—to accommo­
source
of
controversy,
criticized
in
the
1980s
Among the new appellations considered
date the changing needs, requirements, and
by
the
ethnic
and
African
American
commu­
were
Feminist and Queer Studies, Gender
wishes of 21st-century students. Henceforth
nities
as
a
label
for
a
"bourgeois,
white
Studies,
Critical Feminist Studies, and Gen­
to be known as Gender and Sexuality Stud­
women's
discipline."
Moreover,
course
offer­
der
and
Sexuality
Studies.
ies, the program offers a minor in course or
ings
have
expanded
to
the
extent
that
"For
the
long
run,
Gender and Sexuality
honors as well as special major options.
Women's Studies no longer adequately
Studies won out because it encompasses both
Women's Studies was first created as a
what the faculty are doing in their scholar­
describes the program.
concentration at the College in 1986—sever­
"Women's Studies, as a name, is a study
ship—some are heavily invested in queer
al years later than at many of Swarthmore's
about women," said Simon in an April 26,
studies, others in feminist scholarship, others
peer institutions, says Sunka Simon, associate
2007 Phoenix article. "When you look at the
on postcolonial projects, and so on," Simon
professor of German studies and film and
content of our current courses, it's really no
says. "At the same time, we're hoping the new
media studies and former coordinator of the
longer about women specifically. It's about
name will inject additional impetus into the
program. Interdisciplinary by nature, the
program."
the
categories
of
gender,
class,
race,
and
sexu­
program emerged as an outgrowth of 1970s
ality
and
how
they're
all
connected."
In
a
later
—Carol Brevart-Demm
emancipatory feminism, to promote thinking
interview,
she
stressed
the
importance
of
and teaching on topics of gender and women s
OCTOBER 2008

13

collection
A New Face for
War News Radio
In July, the College community welcomed
Abdulla Mizead as journalist-in-residence at
War News Radio (WNR), the award-winning,
student-run radio program that reports on
daily life in war-torn Iraq and Afghanistan.
He succeeds Ayub Nuri, who returned to Iraq
in the spring.
A former staff member in National Public
Radio's (NPR) Baghdad bureau, Mizead was
honored with the 2007
Alfred 1. Du Pont Colum­
bia University Award for
NPR's coverage of the
Iraq War.
Surrounded by maps
of Iraq and Afghanistan,
some labeled in Arabic,
Mizead already appears
to be quite at home in the
WNR headquarters on
campus. Occasionally, he
has to leap up to chase
down his lively 18month-old son, Mahmood, who, he says, "goes
everywhere I go." They
live in the Morganwood
section of Swarthmore
with Mizead's physician
wife, Raghad; 5-year-old
daughter Danya; and 4month-old son Ahmed.
A citizen of Iraq,
Mizead had an interna­
tional upbringing as the g
son of an Iraqi diplomat |
whose assignments took t
him to Washington, D.C.;|
Mozambique; London;
and Tanzania. "It was in London that I
learned English," Mizead says, with no trace
of a foreign accent.
Having spent half his life abroad, Mizead
returned to Iraq with his family in 1990 and
remained there when his father applied for
early retirement in 1994.
"We lived through the embargo and the
sanctions. They were really hard times for
us," Mizead says. "Then, the United States
invaded us," he adds.
After graduating from high school in his
home country, Mizead obtained bachelor's

and master's degrees in English literature
from the University of Baghdad. When the
government of Saddam Hussein was toppled
in 2003, Mizead joined NPR as a producer
and translator, working alongside NPR Dir­
ector of News Operations Charlie Mayer '98.
"I picked up journalism at NPR," Mizead
says. Four years later, some of the NPR jour­
nalists helped him to obtain a scholarship at
the Columbia University School of Journal­
ism. After Mizead's graduation this spring,
Mayer alerted him to the position with

Abdulla Mizead, a former staff member at National
Public Radio in Iraq, now serves as journalist-inresidence at War News Radio, the student-run
program about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

WNR. Mizead spoke with WNR founder
David Gelber '63, who, he says, "got me very
excited about it."
"It's Iraq. It's an area I k now about and
have covered for four years," Mizead says. He
is pleased that WNR focuses on the people
rather than the politics. "When I w orked for
NPR, 1 didn't cover much politics," he says. "I
was a street guy. I'd roam the streets of Bagh­

dad, go into the provinces, talk to the people.
I went to rural places that nobody would
ever cover. I wrote human stories—that's
what I lo ve. And this is what War News Radio
does every day. It's just Iraqis and Afghans
talking about their lives and the way the wars
have affected them. None of the big news
organizations cover this aspect of the wars."
Mizead has several ideas that he believes
will contribute to the program, which is now
in its third year. "This is not my radio sta­
tion," he says, "but I would like to help the
students develop what they
have already achieved, and
I think they should be
enabled to pay more atten­
tion to newscasts from the
regions that aren't accessi­
ble via the U.S. stations
such as CNN and Fox."
To assist them with this,
he has already spoken with
Joy Charlton, director of
the Lang Center for Civic
and Social Responsibility,
about the possibility of
purchasing a satellite dish
for the roof of the WNR
headquarters in Lodge 6, so
students will be able to
view full-length newscasts
from broadcasting organi­
zations such as A1 Jazeera
and Iraqia.
Mizead also plans to
hang a map of Baghdad in
the WNR office. "Maps are
very important, especially if
you're covering a place
from thousands of miles
away. You need to know the
neighborhoods—and there
are so many of them—which are Shi'ia,
which are Sunni, Christian, upscale, middle
class, or slums. Because of the war, some of
the neighborhoods have changed drastically.
Some that were formerly half Shi'ia, half
Sunni are now completely one or the other.
With all the talk of reconciliation and Iraq
becoming unified, there are many neighbor­
hoods that are still split, people struggling
with mixed marriages, fighting sectarian vio­
lence, and division. And that's a story in
itself."
—Carol Brevart-Demm

14
swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

faculty retirements
RETIRING, SCHULDENFREI
RECAPITULATES READINGS

surprised now to see what a short period that Then she'll ask, 'What did you do?' 'Nothing,'"
was in my life, but it was pivotal."
I'll reply.
Such a luxury for a philosopher.
"In my youth," Schuldenfrei explains, "I
It's September, and the students are back.
—Jeffrey Lott
was a positivist, scientistic person—infor­
Classes begin, but something vital is missing
med by the Enlightenment. Marxism was a
from Swarthmore's class­
point of view, a more
rooms. Professor of Philoso­
radical place from
phy Richard Schuldenfrei has
which to examine sci­
KURTH L EAVES THE
retired.
ence as ideology. But
FACULTY BUT NOT THE FIELD
I ask him, isn't it strange
then I came to see
not to be going back to school?
Marxism itself as ideol­ With his retirement in June, James Kurth,
"I'm not consciously disori­
the Claude C. Smith Professor of Political
ogy"
Science, has become an emeritus member of
ented," he says, scowling first,
Schuldenfrei's
the faculty. But that doesn't mean that he's
father, raised in
then smiling. "I feel great, and
quit the College or the classroom. This fall,
Poland, had, as a
I'm enjoying the freedom. But
Kurth is teaching Defense Policy and advis­
young man, aban­
I don't know. Maybe I'm like
ing two students doing directed readings. He
doned the religious
the guy who jumps off the
says his plans for future teaching are uncer­
aspects of his Jewish­
Empire State Building and, as
During his 42 years on the faculty,
tain, but he expects to stay engaged with
ness. He became a
he passes each floor, says to
Schuldenfrei says Swarthmore has
Swarthmore
Marxist but later, after
himself, 'So far, so good.'"
become "a lot less parochial."
students and
emigrating to the Unit­
Schuldenfrei, 67, whose leg­
alumni. Kurth
ed States, adopted liberal secularism.
endary teaching verged on performance art,
remains active
Schuldenfrei the son, although raised cul­
says he simply ran out of energy for the
in the Phila­
turally Jewish (he attended Hebrew school
classroom: "I was exhausted after every class.
delphia-based
four days a week in grade school), went fur­
It was time for me to stop."
Foreign Policy
ther down the secular path—all the way
Now, he says, "I'm recapitulating my
Research
left—then turned back, seeking the bound­
reading list"—revisiting authors who influ­
Institute and
aries that religion imparts, the limits that
enced or entertained him decades ago—like
is former edi­
help define right and wrong.
Isaac Bashevis Singer and Philip Roth. "I'm
tor of its jour­
"My
trajectory,"
he
says
almost
confiden­
trying to see how I m isunderstood the world
nal Orbis. His
tially,
leaning
across
the
table,
"is
reflected
in
when I was young, in light of how I u nder­
writing has
this
interview,
in
which
I
am
revealing
more
stand it now."
James
Kurth,
who
formally
appeared fre­
than
is
probably
required
by
the
etiquette
of
Roth's fiction, which often explores the
retired in June, will continue to
quently in
a
retirement
interview,
but
I
don't
really
relationships among secular and religious
teach and write as an emeritus
journals such
know
how
to
talk
any
other
way."
Jews, might be another recapitulation for
professor.
as
The
For
40
years,
Schuldenfrei
has
been
talk­
Schuldenfrei, who was raised by left-wing,
National
Interest,
The
American
Interest,
ing
with
his
students
the
same
way,
often
nonreligious Jewish parents in Brooklyn. In
National Review, and The American Conser­
asking, "How do you live a good life?" A
the June 1998 Bulletin, Rich told writer Vicki
vative.
In a widely read 1994 article in The
moral
life.
A
life
in
community
with
others.
Glembocki that when he left home for the
National
Interest, Kurth asserted that the
A
life
that
has
meaning.
University of Pennsylvania, the religious
United
States
is less threatened by clashes
"I
still
ask
this,"
he
says,
"but
I've
nar­
aspects of Judaism weren't a part of him: "'I
with
other
civilizations
than by ideological
rowed
the
focus.
I
no
longer
have
to
accom­
was like a fish in water—I didn't know that I
and cultural divisions within the country,
modate
other
people's
answers
to
this
ques­
was wet,' he says of his Jewishness. Now,
especially those "between the multiculturaltion—students' answers."
reflecting back, Richie thinks he may have
ists and the defenders of Western civilization
Retirement
seems
to
suit
Rich.
His
stumbled into philosophy because he was
and the American creed."
younger
daughter
just
graduated
from
high
looking for guidance that he hadn't realized
Kurth received a B.A. in history from
school, so the nest is emptying. (He married
through religious study."
Stanford and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political
Helen Plotkin '77 in 1984. They have two
Once a vocal Marxist, Schuldenfrei
science from Harvard, where he taught from
daughters. Plotkin is director of the College's
underwent a philosophical and political
1967 to 1973 before joining the Swarthmore
Beit Midrash, a center for Jewish study, and
transformation during the 1980s. The atroci­
faculty. A Navy veteran, he has served as vis­
recently became an ordained rabbi.) He
ties committed by Pol Pot in Cambodia
iting professor and chairman of the Strategy
spends his time reading and recapitulating—
drove him away from the moral and political
and Campaign Department of the U.S. Naval
"and a lot of time just sitting and thinking.
philosophy he had chosen in the 1960s.
War College.
Helen will come in at the end of the day and
"Marxist radicalism was what my life led up
—Jeffrey Lott
ask, 'Did you have a nice day?' 'Yes,' I'll say.
to and away from," he told Glembocki. "1 m
OCTOBER 2008

15

collection

On Aug. I, the Garnet soccer team, led by
Head Coach Eric Wagner, headed south of the
equator for a two-week stay in Argentina and
Brazil Director of Sports Information Kyle
Leach accompanied the team on their Latin
American adventure and, too tall to sleep com­
fortably on a plane, busied himself at his lap­
top, relaying the team's fascinating, exotic, and
sometimes exhausting activities back to the
College community via detailed, colorful blog
posts. An edited excerpt from one of them
follows:

A common thread in the Department of Ath­
letics is giving back to the community, main­
ly through service projects. On a trip to Eng­
land in 2005, the Garnet soccer team visited a
soup kitchen in East London, helping the
Quaker Social Action organization. Head
Coach Eric Wagner wanted to continue the
team's commitment to this philanthropic
ideal in South America, collaborating with
Buenos Aires native Francisco Sersale '02 to
find a needy local organization. Through his
local football connections, Francisco came
across Hogar de Dia (a daycare center).

Located north of Buenos
Aires in La Matanza, a desolate
section of one-story residences
on a flat of land past the lum­
beryards, steel factories, and a
heavily guarded Super-WalMart, Hogar de Dia is funded
by a tall, quiet international
businessman named Alejan­
dro (a football teammate of
Francisco's).
Upon our arrival, Francisco
introduced us to Estella and
Ceila, the mother/daughter
team who have made it their
mission to provide the chil­
dren of La Matanza with a
place where they can seek
respite from the tough life of
the neighborhood.
As Francisco interpreted, we began to
understand the story of these two women,
who had run a similar program in the city of
Buenos Aires and recently relocated. Chil­
dren, starting as early as 2 years old and end­
ing on their 13th birthday, spend their after­
noons at Hogar de Dia, a low, white concrete
structure with an office, classroom, and play­
room. A sizeable yard with a pair of soccer
goals and an array of playground equipment
extends in front of the building. Parent
involvement is a vital part of the program.

16
swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

Kyle Leach (/ eft), director of sports information, accompanied the varsity soccer team to South
America in August, The team interrupted its tour to put in a day of service at a daycare center
near Buenos Aires, where—inevitably—a game broke out. The children treated Swarthmore
players like L adule Lako '09 {right) as celebrities, asking for autographs before they left.

Parents learn how to handle the different sit­
I
uations that typically occur at various stages
i
of child development while volunteering one
;
afternoon a week at the center.
Francisco introduced us to Alberto, a gen­
eral contractor, who within 15 minutes had
25 Swarthmore guys cleaning, sweeping, and
painting. Some clattered on the roof, others
tackled renovation of the playground equip­
ment, and a larger group assaulted the exteri­
or walls, careful not to paint over the mural
of the baby Jesus. Coach Wagner, Director of
Athletics Adam Hertz, and I were sent to the
front gate and, using our limited Spanish,
received direction from Alberto that a coat of
black paint was needed on the 9-by-12—foot
iron-and-chain-link gate.
The children arrived around lunchtime,
voicing timid greetings as they passed
through the gate. Most of them were "alum­
ni" of the program, who had received a spe­
cial invitation to meet the Americans. The
Argentine boys soon produced a ball, and a
soccer game broke out. The Swarthmore
players could not resist taking breaks from
painting to join the scrum.
"All the little kids were good at soccer, and
one, Pablo, was awesome," said sophomore
Morgan Langley. "When the game first start­
ed, Pablo pulled off some sick moves, even
megging Jason Thrope '09." (Megging is the
tactic of pushing the ball between the
defender's legs.) Morgan, a native of Honolu­
lu, had worked with children as a counselor
at Iolani High School summer camps and
saw little difference in playing with the

entrance, where Adam and I were delicately
painting the gate as if it someday might hang
in the Met. She picked up an idle paintbrush
and started slopping black paint on the gate.
language, but when it came to
Mindlessly dripping paint in all directions,
the girl began chattering, asking for our
soccer, I ha d no trouble
names, favorite colors, what languages we
could speak. Our Spanish was limited, but
getting along with the kids."
she babbled on, happy as could be, just dip­
ping the brush. I asked Francisco to come
over and translate, eventually discovering
Argentine youth. "I was unable to speak the
that she wanted to see the bus. The little girl
language, but when it came to soccer, I had
jumped right into the driver's seat, and her
no trouble getting along with the kids."
friends soon joined her aboard the bus.
The volunteers and children took a break
Before long, she found the horn and blasted
for lunch, enjoying steak and sausage sand­
the neighborhood. Thirty seconds later, the
wiches grilled by Carlos, Ceila's husband.
bus was filled with giggling children.
The braver among us tried an Argentine spe­
At the end of the afternoon, Coach Wagn­
cialty called "black sausage," which reminded
er presented the children with two soccer
me of scrapple, a Philadelphia favorite. The
balls and a handful of team brochures. A
sausage is pitch-black and very juicy. I had
rush for markers and pens ensued, and the
two bites and then ran back for some of the
Swarthmore soccer players were swarmed by
genuine Argentine beef.
autograph seekers.
The children became more comfortable
"I felt famous," exclaimed Morgan, whose
with the Swarthmore contingent as the after­
signature was easily the most sought-after.
noon went along, drawing more of the stu­
"This was a special experience for me. I've
dents away from the painting and into their
done community service before (with the
games. Morgan, in particular, was a favorite,
team), but the difference with this one was
getting invited into a n ew game the children
being able to see the smiles on the kids faces
made up. "It was soccer, but you were only
and understand the impact we had."
allowed one touch, and if you shot the ball
To some, sport is exercise. To others, sport
wide, you were banished to goalie. It seemed
is competition. On this day, sport was a uni­
like an individual game, but 1 soon realized
fier, a communicator, and an eye-opener.
the kids were passing it back and forth, try­
ing to get me to be the goalie," he said.
To view more of Leach's postin gs from Latin
Friendships were forming all over Hogar
America, visit http://kyleleach.wordpress.com.
de Dia. One little girl wandered out to the

"I was unable to speak the

17

IN

OCTOBER 2008

[S3 faculty expert
IN ADDITION TO COURSE DESCRIPTIONS AND

information about his research interests,
Associate Professor of Biology Colin
Purrington's Web page has a "bonus feature."
Click on an image of Charles Darwin and
you arrive at his "Evolution Outreach Proj­
ects—Part of the Axis of Evo."
Purrington's bonus site provides resources
for teachers, parents, and others who believe
that "species continue to evolve today
through nonmagical processes such as natu­
ral selection." It reflects his passion for sci­
ence education—and his outrage that Ameri­
"THE NOTION THAT YOUNG KIDS
cans' "strong faith in alternative, supernatu­
ral explanations is maintained by indoctrina­
CANNOT UNDERSTAND EVOLUTION
tion of young children by parents and facili­
tated by public school curricula that pur­
IS A MYTH PERPETUATED BY THOSE
posefully delay evolutionary biology instruc­
tion until high school."
WHO DON'T WANT KIDS TO
Purrington's sly sense of humor perme­
ates many offerings on the site, which
UNDERSTAND EVOLUTION," SAYS
includes body armor for science teachers
("great for making presentations to back­
BIOLOGIST COLIN PURRIN GTON.
ward school boards, but light enough for
classroom use"); downloadable Charles Dar­
win stickers and temporary tattoos ("Darwin
By Jeffrey Lott
has a posse"); and "mildly educational" text­
book disclaimer stickers meant to be surrep­
titiously applied both to science books and
creationist tracts. Sticker messages include:
"This textbook states that the Earth is over 4
billion years old. Because this fact conflicts
rather directly with a hugely popular fic­
tional account, both sides of the argu­
ment should be taught to impression­
able children"; and "This book was
anonymously donated to your school
library to discreetly promote magical,
religious alternatives to the theory of
evolution. Please re-shelve it in the fic­
tion section."
But alongside his lighthearted—and
sometimes venomous—jabs at creationists,
Purrington offers some serious help: an illus­
trated article on Galapagos tortoise evolu­
In anticipation of
the 200th anniversary of
tion, assorted graphics for science presenta­
Charles Darwin's birth in February 2009, Purrington
tions, suggestions for improving evolution
ordered 1,000 temporary tattoos of his own design,
education at zoos and museums, and links to
derived from an 1881 photo of Darwin. They are
groups like the Pennsylvania Citizens for Sci­
available at his site.
ence and the National Center for Science
Education.

The Axis
of Evo

We asked Purrington to explain some of
the reasons behind this "evo" outreach:

"Because I teach evolution, I have a pro­
fessional obsession with when and how peo­
ple come to hate the theory. Many people
suspect that there might be something
immoral about accepting evolution—and
that there is certainly something wrong with
people who spend all day teaching the theory
to children. Once, after a presentation I made
about teaching evolution to young kids,
another speaker (a particle physicist) pointed
at me and said that asking teachers to inform
elementary school kids about Darwin was a
'crime against humanity.' In my view, the
true crime is withholding evolution instruc­
tion until high school or college.
"Kids—especially very young kids—are
naturally interested in the origin of life, the
origin of humans, and what it means to be
alive. Teaching evolution to older kids just
doesn't work; you have to start with toddlers.
"So, several years ago, I decided that sim­
ply teaching evolution to a few thousand
Swarthmore students over the life of my
career wasn't going to really change public

Purrington hopes his
evolution Web site
provides "a welcome relief
from the anti-science,
ignorance-is-virtue culture
that has become so
popular in our country."

attitudes. I felt I had to do something to
speed up the acceptance of evolution. This
work is not going to stop global warming or
make gas cheaper, but I feel strongly that sci­
ence education is hobbled in part because
other aspects of science are so often associat
ed with evolution. If people accept and enjoi
the science of evolution, we might have a
better overall science education policy in the
United States—and that would be a good
thing.

18
swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

"I optimistically started a collection of
pro-evolution Web pages that I collectively
call my Evolution Outreach Projects, with
the hope that some of them might be virally
transmitted often enough to slowly influence
those on the Internet who might be swayed.
I often describe these projects as part of the
"Axis of Evo" to make it clear that this type of
endeavor is pure evil to some. But for others,
I hope it is a welcome relief from the antiscience, ignorance-is-virtue culture that has
become so popular in our country.
"The success of Web sites is often meas­
ured in hits or sales, but for me it's the feed­
back I get from people who've stumbled onto
the sites and consumed the content as I
hoped they would. My ultimate goal is that
my projects plant the idea in parents that it is
possible to talk about evolution to their
kids—and that the kids will love it. One per­
son who wrote to me made it all worthwhile:
'My wife is pregnant; I have bookmarked
your site for when the wee one approaches
me with questions about from whence we
came. I know that it's a cliche, but keep up
the good work.'" §

Evo

next 3 billion years

Find Colin Purrington's Evolution Outreach
Projects on the Web at www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/cpurrinl /evolkl2/evoops.htm, or follow
the link from this article on the Bulletin Web
site: www.swarthmore.edu/bulletin.

This road sign is one of the most often downloaded
images on Purrington's site: "It was even used by one
high school teacher on her class blog, which warms
my heart." It's based on a sketch in one of Charles
Darwin's noteboo ks, dated 1837 (left).

Is your dachshund named Darwin? If so, he (or she)
can join Purrington's Pets Named Darwin Club, which
has more than 80 members represented by their on­
line photos. "If you have friends who are expecting
pets," he states, "please float Darwin as a great name,
then send them here." This highly evolved dog be­
longs to Erica Wines.

19
OCTOBER 2008

the

IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT PA ST, students

required to create a "visual database" in a
course like Assistant Professor of Art History
Tomoko Sakomura's Contemporary Japanese
Visual Culture, might well have gone scurry­
ing to the library in search of books or slides
on contemporary Japan. Perhaps they would
even have ventured to an art museum, news­
stand, or bookstore.
Today, although students still use such
physical resources, they can find most of
what they need with a click of a computer
mouse—often without leaving their rooms.
"The visual database [which is a "wiki"
site] is created by students for the entire
class," says Fletcher Coleman '09, who took
Sakomura's course last spring.
Wiki is software from Wikia that allows
multiple users to post comments on a shared
Web site for use as reference material, similar
to an encyclopedia entry on a subject. But it
also allows users to edit, expand upon, link
to, or even delete each other's postings. Thus,
a wiki is intended to be a sort of collective,
self-correcting compilation of information—
of which the on-line encyclopedia Wikipedia

is the best-known example.
Scrolling down the electronic pages of the
Japanese culture database, which are filled
with pictures, Coleman explains, "We're to
find images of Japanese contemporary cul­
ture and post them on the site." He stops at a
large Food Network advertisement.
"See," he says. "Someone has posted a pic­
ture of an Asian woman picking up the bun
of her hamburger with chopsticks." In the ad,
the woman is dressed as a geisha with heavy
white makeup and bright red lips. The text
underneath the image reads: "Culture Shock.
We can help. Food Network."
Another of Sakomura's students, Brigette
Davis '10, posted an ad for Playstation 3
(PS3) that, at first glance, appears to be an
atomic-bomb mushroom cloud. But this
doomsday cloud—which has such powerful
meaning in Japan—has been digitally
manipulated to look like the face of a clown.
Davis posted the following comment:
Once you get over the initial creepiness
of the image, you can see how [the
advertisers] are comparing the new

PS3 with the large, life-changing,
colossal impact of the atomic bomb.
Perhaps now [World War II] has been
long enough ago to take such a shock­
ing and disturbing image and use it for
a gaming console ad. It comments on
the way that Japan has progressed since
the bombing and the sort of things
that will provoke a reaction from its
audience. I think it's important to
mention that this ad agency is in
France and not Japan, but I believe it is
used for more than just the French
audience.
"It's been a lot of fun to see what students
come up with for the visual database," Sakomura says.
Another on-line tool used by Sakomura,
to which students respond well, is the blog—
a portmanteau of the words Web and log. A
blog is created by an individual as a personal
diary or, in an academic course, as a means
to post opinions that can be read by the
entire class but which, unlike a wiki, cannot
be altered.

20
swarthmore COLLEGE

BULLETIN

Ej<
Fi-

fl S

Sakomura set up a blog called
tion from the previous week's lecture," my boss at MTV," says Wong. (She ini­
"First Impressions" for the same
Sakomura says. "Because Mingei was a
tially met Graden, president of MTV
course. "I post several images prior to
topic at the beginning of the semester,
Entertainment, during a summer 2007
a lecture and ask students to post their you can see how the students are
MTV internship.)
first impressions," she says. "Students
building upon the information dis­
Wong doesn't think that the wiki
usually post one or two paragraphs,
cussed earlier in class or how they are
for the animation class helped her
but some write longer entries. I
seeing the objects in a new way in
engage with the subject. "Wikis are
believe this assignment helps
students think about the works
in their own terms before the
The traditional book doesn't appear to be going away
formal lecture."
Coleman agrees. A double
i n favor of electronic books, but many students prefer
honors major in Chinese stud­
ies and art history, he finds the
electronic resources because of their low cost
first impressions database
informative.
and their links to other information.
"It lets me read other peo­
ples' ideas about the images and
expands my own thoughts," he says.
light of the prior weeks' material."
supposed to be objective information.
"And it's a good place to read com­
In Assistant Professor of Film and
Blogs are where people state their
ments [by people] who may not want
Media Studies Bob Rehak's Animation
opinions. I think the blog is a more
to—or have not had time—to speak
and Cinema course last fall, contribut­ effective means for helping to form
up in class."
ing wiki comments comprised 20 per­
opinions."
Sakomura agrees. "Often, students
cent of a student's grade. (The class's
Sean Varsolona '09, who has also
who are hesitant to speak up in class
on-line discussion group also includ­
taken two of Rehak's courses, agrees.
post very insightful blog comments.
ed students from Middlebury College
"My time with the wiki [for the
To encourage their classroom partici­
in Vermont.)
course] was really enjoyable, but it's
pation, I refer to their comments in
Lena Wong '10, pursuing a film
not something I would use in my own
class and ask students to expand upon
and media studies major with a minor free time," says Varsolona, an econom­
their posts," she says.
in sociology and anthropology, has
ics major with a minor in film studies.
Coleman recently posted this com­
taken two of Rehak's courses, includ­
"Through his teaching methods,
ment after viewing several images of
ing Animation and Cinema. Her fin­
[Rehak] has gotten me to a level of
contemporary Japanese industrial
gers move quickly as she clicks
excitement about film I never thought
design:
through several sites on her laptop to
I would have. For me, the new tech­
get to the animation class's wiki site.
nologies and the teacher's ideas were
I see these objects to some
In addition to her Swarthmore
amazing."
degree as a natural extension of
classes, Wong does market research
Wong sees the wikis "as a jumpingYanagi's ideas. [Soetsu Yanagi
for the programming department at
off point to find other sources. I don't
launched the Mingei (meaning
MTV, helping the cable music channel
rely on Internet sources alone for my
"folk crafts") Movement in
create social networking sites that can
work, "because you can't always know
Japan and is founder of the
compete with Facebook and MySpace. where they originated. I grew up in
Japan Folk Crafts Museum in
Yet, despite her expertise in new
Silicon Valley. The 'new' technology is
Tokyo]. They incorporate some
media,Wong believes most students
not really new to me," says Wong, who
of the traditional elements of
contribute to or read wikis because it's
has been creating Web pages since ele­
simplicity, efface the artist
a course requirement, not because
mentary school.
(though perhaps not the design­
they find them educational.
Coleman came from a very differ­
er), are made for everyday use,
"I think the wiki is meant for
ent background. Raised in rural Ohio,
and harmonize in some sense
extended engagement with the infor­
he says he spent very little time on­
the use of machine and hand as
mation we learn through our readings
line before coming to Swarthmore.
it is the hand that designed
and class discussions as well as expos­
Now, he checks each of his classes
these objects and the machine
ing our classmates to new, relevant
daily through Blackboard, a Webthat produced them.
people and topics in animation," she
based course management software
says. "I posted a biography of Brian
that was developed in the late 1990s to
"When Fletcher mentions Yanagi in Graden, one of the original executive
facilitate communication and collabo­
his posting, he is referencing informa­
producers of South Park, who is now
ration among professors and students.
swarthmore COLLEGE

BULLETIN

Blackboard was introduced at Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford in 2001 as
a tri-college endeavor, according to Liz
Evans, former academic computing coordi­
nator in the College's Information Technolo­
gy Services (ITS) department.
Evans reports that throughout the 2008
spring semester, 321 Swarthmore faculty
members had Blackboard accounts, 65 per­
cent of which were active; 1,489 students had
accounts, 94 percent of which were active;
and, of the 406 core academic courses and
seminars created automatically by the Col­
lege's database system in Blackboard, 73 per­
cent were actively available to students.
Coleman, slender, soft-spoken and beard­
ed, finds Blackboard extremely helpful. "Pro­
fessors post announcements, readings, the
syllabus, and links to interesting articles
related to the classes."
Lin Gyi '09, a biology major with an art
history minor, agrees: "I prefer Blackboard
resources over books because it is inexpen­
sive and more comprehensive than tradition­
al books. I can access more documents and
important links efficiently."
Students may also submit completed
assignments using Blackboard's secure Digi­
tal Dropbox, although few of the students
interviewed said that their professors used
that feature. Individual grades may also be
accessed through Blackboard, which is pass­
word protected.
According to Gayle Barton, director of
Information Technology Services, Black­
board is continually improving its software.
The newest version allows professors to send
messages to students.

OneNote while reading the PDF in another
Old Does Not Mean Obsolete
program. But then there's the whole printing
thing. I hate to waste paper," says Wong,
Although new technologies make informa­
speaking at top speed as she sits cross-legged
tion more accessible, even tech-sawy profes­
and barefoot in the second-floor conference
sors such as Rehak are unwilling to abandon
room of Sproul Alumni House.
traditional teaching and learning methods.
The traditional book doesn't appear to
"I'm old-fashioned in that I believe the
be going away in favor of electronic books
best learning still takes place in the classroom
readers," says College Librarian Peggy Seiden. through lectures and discussion, in the stu­
"I don't believe students are going to read
dents' writings, and in closely reading and
books exclusively on-line when there's an
analyzing texts," Rehak says.
extensive amount of information involved. I
"The big change, I think, is in how these
already hear students say they don't like it
materials are distributed and made available
when a book is [only] on reserve electroni­
in new contexts, so that students can fit the
cally. They want to be able to pick it up and
information into their schedules in creative
move around."
ways.
Coleman says he reads short articles
"My hope is that if scholarly work can be
on-line but prints out longer ones so he can
integrated more flexibly and enjoyably into
make notes on the pages and take them to
students' daily habits, they will be able to
class—a practice that, if followed by 15 stu­
make more and better connections between
dents in a class, uses 15 times the paper.
what they're learning and the world they're
"The amount of paper students use annu­
living in."
ally is huge, due to many of the reserve read­
With the rapid changes in educational
ings being available digitally," Seiden says.
technologies, the College's ITS staff is not
Paper usage seems to be falling slightly,
focusing on any specific hardware or soft­
however. According to an April 2008 Bulletin
ware to bring to campus. Barton says one of
article, the campus recycled 61 tons of paper
the roles of ITS is to monitor new technolo­
in 2007, down from 63.04 tons in 2006 and
gies and foster strategic innovation.
67.02 tons in 2005.
"We try to identify what will be useful in
"On-line readings provide the same
education and then watch for the point at
opportunities as traditional books as well as
which the cost, ease of use, and functionality
additional ones, like links to other sources. 1
meet the College's needs. While some people
really do prefer reading on-line to books,"
are early adopters of new technologies and
says Coleman, who has a Facebook page only
are willing to experiment, other faculty
members are only interested in technologies
because his friends made it for him.
"Reading on the computer is not one of
that have been proven to enhance student
learning and scholarship," she says. "The fac­
my strong suits," Varsalona says. "So I like
ulty sets the pace."
books for that reason." He agrees with Cole­
man that the wikis and blogs allow for dis­
That pace—and College support for
cussion
outside
of
the
class.
"It's
an
opportu­
on-line
technologies—could be a little deep­
Books Move Over But Not Out
er, says Richard Valelly '75, professor of polit­
nity to learn things not covered in books," he
ical science.
says. "I feel that the new technology some­
Its ironic that although Fletcher Coleman
Sincp 2003, Valelly has been using a
how
makes
me
a
more
efficient
person."
from rural Ohio prefers to do most of his
free
Web site called VoteView (voteview.com)
Although
the
College's
libraries
still
main­
reading on-line, Lena Wong, who grew up in
in
his
American Politics and Congress in the
tain
full
collections
of
books,
films,
and
the high-tech world, says she still prefers the
music,
those
resources
are
being
increasingly
American
Political System courses. The site
feel of a book in her hand.
displays
a
continuously
changing twoenhanced
with
the
new
technologies.
"You still have to read the book in order
Lin
Gyi
says
the
way
she
reads
and
uses
dimensional
plotting
of
ideological locations
to know what it's about and write about it.
the
Cornell
Science
and
Engineering
Library
for
members
of
Congress
and Senate since
And sometimes the entire book isn't avail­
1789.
is different from most. "Since my work is not
able on-line. But I'm lucky—I can do this,"
research intensive or centered on the human­
she says, spinning her laptop monitor 180
* PDF is an abbreviation for "portable docu­
ities,
I treat the library as a space that isn't as
degrees and folding it d o w n bac kw ar d s s o i t :
distracting
as
my
room
and
a
place
where
I
ment format." It is an almost universally read­
flat like a writing tablet.
can study with my friends. There's nothing I
able docurrlent that can be viewed with free
'If a professor has put PDFs* on-line, I
software oil nearly all computer platforms.
use at the library that I c an't find on-line."
tan take no tes on here, using Microsoft
OCTOBER 2008

23

"I use the scores that have been derived
to display the plots," Valelly says. "Students
find the spatial theory behind the scores
very interesting."
But he'd also like access to other on-line
tools.
"I'd love to have a subscription to the
Roper Center polls, but that costs a certain
amount of money, and it would be nice if
the College budgeted a certain lab-like
overhead to me and other political scien­
tists," Valelly says. "There are low-cost tools
that I can use like LegSim (legsim.org), a
legislative simulation site at the University
of Washington, which only costs $12 per
person per semester; and the Iowa Election
Futures Markets, which requires only a $10
registration fee. Alas, students have balked
in the past at using the Election Futures
Market, on the grounds that $10 was too
much, and LegSim requires classes of 50,
60 or more-which is never going to hap­
pen in a Congress course here."
Wong says she wouldn't want to pay
extra for access to technology or on-line
sources required for a course. "There's so
much on campus already; I would wonder
why the College wasn't supporting it. It
would be different if it were an e-book and
I had to buy a book for the class anyway,
but not for an on-line resource," she says.
Gyi agrees. "I'd prefer not to do this.
The last time I ha d to use a supplementary
software program was for a physics class,
and it had far too many glitches to be use­
ful. It just became frustrating as the semes­
ter progressed," she says.
But Coleman says he would be willing
to subscribe to an off-campus site if it
meant he didn't have to buy a book for the
course. "Books are really expensive," he says.

Converging Technologies
Robin Jacobsen, manager of client services
for ITS, says an emerging technology trend
called "convergence" is already having an
impact on campus.
"There are three levels to convergence:
infrastructure, appliances, and services. All
work together via various means: wired
Internet Protocol (IP), wireless IP, and
mobile cellular devices."
One example is the Apple iPhone, a
device that combines voice, text, e-mail,
24

and Web access through either cellular or
wireless IP. Jacobsen says another model of
convergence uses voice as a data service but
also includes text messaging, video, and
pictures.
In terms of voice technology, Jacobsen
says that Swarthmore has "a strong IP
backbone" and that, in the future, faculty,
staff, and students will be able to receive
voice messages through their e-mail
accounts.
"Convergence will increase mobility and
will be a key factor for students who need
access to campus technology when abroad

resources and another on how Saves the
Day, which is a band I like, uses the Web to
promote its music.
"We then were able to listen to each oth­
ers' podcasts via iTunes in class and in our
rooms. It was another way to learn infor­
mation not covered in class. I really
enjoyed it," Varsolona says.
Professor of English Literature Peter
Schmidt was a podcast pioneer on the fac­
ulty. Beginning in 2004, for some of his
classes, Schmidt asked students to choose
and read key passages from literature—the
authors ranged from John Steinbeck to

The faculty sets the pace. Some are early adopters of
new technologies and willing to experiment;
others are only interested in technologies that have been
proven to enhance learning and scholarship.

or off campus," Jacobsen says.
ITS is currently exploring collaboration
and communication solutions that com­
bine computing and software services
including e-mail, instant messaging, calen­
dars, document sharing, and concurrent
documents.
Barton says that convergence technolo­
gy or "mashups"—links between different
Web applications such as Google maps and
Craig's List—will enable currently discrete
technologies to work together.
According to Jacobsen, another technol­
ogy that's growing in popularity is the podcast. A podcast is a digital audio file avail­
able on the Internet that can be played on
computers or portable media players and is
usually distributed through Web-feed for­
mats such as Really Simple Syndication
and Atom.
Podcasts are also created by students
within the framework of their coursework.
In spring 2007, Varsolona created five- to
seven-minute podcasts for Rehak's course
From Broadcasting to Podcasting: Televi­
sion and New Media.
"I made a podcast that looked at how
Hillary Clinton's campaign used Web

Jonathan Franzen '81—and then add five
minutes of commentary. The professor and
members of the class then listened to pod­
casts on that week's reading before class
and used these to generate some of that
day's discussion points. "The assignment
returns to the foreground both the virtues
of reading aloud and doing a close reading
of one passage to see how it can give us in
microcosm some idea of the larger work,"
Schmidt says.
"The new technology also fosters a
sense of community," Sakomura says. "It
will never replace a real classroom, but it's
an interactive space that feeds into our
classroom discussions."
Barton foresees students using an everincreasing number of digital media collab­
oration tools.
"Grassroots video is a great term for the
expansion of video into the collection of
tools casual users have for sharing stories
and information with each other," she says.
"Colleagues can be on different campuses
or in different countries, editing a shared
document in a browser window while talk­
ing to each other using video chat, and feel
like they are in the same room." $
swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

.

the
[electronic!

towers
i

of

hanoi
For 20 years, Professor of Mathematics and
Department Chair Stephen Maurer '67 has
been using a m athematical puzzle called
The Towers of Hanoi in his Discrete Math
course. The puzzle originally consisted of
three wooden poles with three-or-more
donut-like rings stacked up in order of size
on the left-hand pole. The object is to
move the rings from the left-hand pole to
the right-hand pole using the fewest
moves, ending with the rings in the same
size order as at the start.
Each year, Maurer would put The Tow­
ers of Hanoi on reserve in Cornell Science
and Engineering Library for students to
practice with. "I would say to my class, if
you are in th e library and a tour group

OCTOBER 2008

comes in, start playing The Towers of
Hanoi," Maurer jokes. "But don't just zoom
through it. Physically agonize over your
moves, show people how hard we think."
Some years ago, a student wrote in her
final course evaluation: "Great course, but
those towers became very Hanoi-ing,"
Maurer reports.
With the advent of digital technology,
The Towers of Hanoi is now an on-line
applet—a small stand-alone software
application that operates within the con­
text of another program, usually a Web
browser—where the number of rings can
be controlled and move efforts are timed.
(Try it at www.mazeworks.com/hanoi/-

"It's valuable to get hands-on experi­
ence with the game to appreciate the power
of the recursive methods used to solve the
problems," Maurer says. "Recursion is a
term that means that a solution procedure
invokes itself. The Towers of Hanoi illus­
trates how one can take what is seemingly a
very complex problem and break it down
into smaller parts, in which the solutions
use the same structure as the original
situation.
"Without recursive methods, most peo­
ple can easily solve the game with three or
four rings, but they start going in circles
with more rings."
—A.P.

index.htm)

25

By Heather Shumaker '91

Guilmartin considers
music to be every
child's birthright

It's just a matter
of education

As A BO Y, KENNETH GUILMARTIN '67 COULDN'T
carry a tune in a bucket. His kindergarten
teacher labeled him a "crow" and asked him
to mouth the words instead of singing with
the other children. It was only in his 20s that
he learned to sing, taking remedial voice les­
sons to keep pace with his burgeoning musi­
cal career.
Today, kids from China to Croatia are
singing Guilmartin's tunes. He is the founder
and director of Music Together®, an innova­
tive, research-based music program for chil­
dren from birth to age six. Launched in
1987, Music Together has blossomed into a
global phenomenon in the toddler and pre­
school world. You can find Music Together
classes in 2,000 communities worldwide,
including nearly all 50 states and 26 foreign

Children can become more skillful at music,
but the foundation is set for life. For those
(like Guilmartin) who missed this critical
window, it's a struggle to catch up. What
children need, he says, is music immersion in
their daily lives.
Today's media culture is awash in music.
But recorded music doesn't fit the bill,
according to Guilmartin. Evoking an ideal
picture of Grandma singing in the kitchen,
he says children learn music best by hearing
their parents and loved ones singing. "Music
is seen as a culture of talent," he says. "We
passively consume music as grown-ups
instead of making it."
That attitude is filtering down to children
in the United States and increasingly world­
wide as families download songs and rely on
professional performers to provide music.
countries.
Guilmartin considers music to be every
Fewer adults are able to clap to the beat or
child's birthright. "Tone deaf does not really
sing in tune. Through studies done at his
exist," he says. "It's just a matter of educa­
research branch, the Center for Music and
tion." Children are wired to absorb their
Young Children, Guilmartin finds American
native music as easily as they master their
children to be lagging behind their musical
native language. But this natural musical
potential. "Most children in our culture are
ability fades if it's not nourished. By age 9, an developmentally delayed by two to five years
in music," he says. "It's a case of simple
individual's level of inborn musical aptitude
neglect."
becomes permanent in the human brain.

Many families
introduce music by
starting with piano
lessons. Big mistake,
says Guilmartin.

Most children in
Music Together aims to reverse that
more mood
our culture are
trend. The first to admit he might be a
stabilizing for
"wounded healer," Guilmartin devotes
babies than
developmentally
his life to giving children a good musi­
their parent's
cal start. To do that, he and Lili Levivoice singing
delayed by two to
nowitz, a professor of music education
to them."
at Rowan University, co-created a play­
Mamlin dis­
five years in music,
ful program designed to help children
covered Music
gain "basic music competence"—
Together as a
he says. "It's a case
singing in tune and keeping a beat. It
parent. She
also strives to put daily family musicimmediately
of
simple
neglect."
making back in the home and give par­
liked its
ents the tools to do it. Music Together
emphasis on
embraces the whole family, inviting
play and its
grandparents and siblings of mixed ages to
understanding of child development. At
class, with a special welcome for babies.
Music Together classes, adults are asked to
"All of us are born with a personal pitch
participate in all the songs and actions, but
center," says Guilmartin. Babies tend to cry,
kids don t have to. Children can walk, run,
coo, and babble around an individual tone. If
dance, put maracas in their mouths, or
you find an infant's natural pitch, she is more
silently observe. Mamlin's son, Charlie, then
likely to respond or be soothed by a lullaby
2, spent entire classes falling down in front of
in that key. Soon, babies change their pitch to
a mirror. "I did have that feeling,'Oh, my
match a song, cooing back in the resting tone
gosh, what am I p aying for here?' But then
or the fifth, the dominant note.
we'd come home, and he would be chanting
"They're in the game from the begin­
the songs and know the movements," she
ning," says Leigh Mamlin, a registered Music
says.
Together teacher and director of Music Mat­
Nonstop movement and giggles set the
ters in Columbus, Ohio. "There's nothing
tone at Georgia O'Brien's Music Together

class in Traverse City, Mich. After a welcome
song, "Hello Everybody, so glad to see you ...,
" she launches into "My ball is big and blue;
I'm rolling it right to you...." One song slides
seamlessly into the next. Silliness rules. Geor­
gia taps rhythm sticks on the floor to a word­
less "bum bum" tune, then waggles them on
her head like antenna, singing "bzz bzz
buzz." When she dumps out an enormous
basket of instruments, the kids leap up as if
it's candy. Tanner, a jowly-cheeked toddler,
beats a tambourine. Jacob, 5, clanks a "clatterpiller." Moms and dads join in, striking
triangles and clapping frog-shaped castanets.
Whether it's ball-rolling, finger plays, or
dancing, movement is part of each song.
That's partly due to Guilmartin's background
in Dalcroze Eurhythmies. Emile JaquesDalcroze, a Swiss music educator, believed
children learn music best through playful
movement.
As children grow musically, they learn to
audiate—to hear music internally. Leaving
out a note in a familiar song like "Twinkle,
Twinkle, Little Star," for example, demon­
strates how the brain can hear the next note
before it arrives. Music Together believes that
audiation is the key to music-making, and

28
swarthmore COLLEGE BU LLETIN

singing is the path to develop it. "Kids learn
says Guilmartin. "We're locked into what we
best from the unaccompanied human voice,"
grew up with."
says Mamlin.
As Guilmartin concocts song collections,
Many families introduce music by starting
he makes sure to slip in "musical vitamins."
with piano lessons. Big mistake, says GuilThese include several minor key modes like
martin. If children haven't yet grasped
Aeolian, Dorian, and Phrygian. "Look at the
rhythm and pitch, instrument lessons are
back of a bottle of multivitamins," he says.
likely to frustrate teacher, child, and parents
"It's got all these words you can't pronounce.
alike. "These are your lessons, you have to
Well, that's the Aeolian, Dorian, and Phry­
practice 30 minutes every day—that can be
gian. It's in there. It's not children's music."
negative for a child," agrees Mamlin. "As long
Music Together also includes a hearty dose of
as your family's musical diet is diverse and
minor keys. "To give children just what you
joyful and constant, you are doing no harm
think is children's music, people make the
to wait."
A hallmark of Music Together is its metic­
WHEN IS YOUR CHILD READY
ulously researched song collections, which
FOR F ORMAL MUSIC LESSONS?
offer a rich musical diet. Sporting titles like
"Bongos," "Maracas," and "Tambourine,"
Children may grasp rhythm and pitch as
each 10-week collection exposes families to a
early as age 3. Does that mean it's time to
range of music from around the world,
start piano lessons? Many need more
including songs in minor keys, asymmetric
time. Some are musically ready early but
meters, and songs without words. "Words
lack social and emotional skills. Gauge
can really trip kids up on songs," says Mam­
your child's readiness:
lin. Music Together offers plenty of songs
• Can your child sing a song in key?
using vocables such as "doo doo doo" or "la
• Can your child keep a consistent
la la." These help children focus on pitch
beat?
without the distraction of lyrics. Likewise,
• Can your child sit still and focus for
rhythmic chants help them hear the beat,
15 to 30 minutes?
and props like balls help them feel it. "It's
• At minimum, does your child know
numbers 1 to 5 and letters A to G?
taking the pulse of the song and putting it
• Is your child interested in reading
into a big movement," says Mamlin. Other
and able to begin reading music?
songs include dog howls, sirens, or whoops
• Is your child big enough to reach the
that help lift voices out of the talking voice
keys or hold the instrument?
and into the upper register. Guilmartin and
• Is your child easily frustrated, or can
Levinowitz also pitch songs in a natural
she cope with the discipline and
singing range for children (the A below midpatient repetition needed for practic­
dle-C to the D an octave higher) unlike most
children's music, which is pitched higher.
ing?
• Can your child handle the pressure of
Guilmartin likes to borrow from Spanish
performing in public recitals?
and Hasidic Jewish traditions for dancing.
•
Is
your child overscheduled? Is there
"The driving energy inspires kids to spin,
enough
play time in his day?
leap, and dance. It's rhythmic, active, and a
•
Does
your
child truly want to learn
touch wild," he says. He and Levinowitz mix
an
instrument?
in jazz, blues, and folk, plus music from
Many music educators suggest waiting
many cultures including Irish, Greek, and
until age 7 to 9 for music lessons. Suzuki
Chinese heritage. "World music is every­
Method students start as young as 3
body's music now," says Guilmartin. They
(without reading music) but still need
make sure to include at least one Spanishrhythm and pitch basics first. If either
language song each time to honor the cul­
rhythm or pitch is a challenge, try infor­
tures of the Americas. Global music exposes
mal, movement-based group classes first,
kids to a variety of rhythms and pitches. For
like Dalcroze, Kindermusik, Kodaly,
example, traditional Greek dances tap out in
Music Together, Orff Schulwerk, or
five beats to the measure, instead of three or
four. "Asymmetric meter is not hard for a
baby or a 3-year-old. It's easier for them,"
OCTOBER 2008

others.

mistake of doing easy songs in major keys—
happy songs," says Guilmartin. "A lot of them
are pretty boring."
Most children's music tends to grate on
adult nerves—think Barney, the singing pur­
ple dinosaur on television. But Music
Together songs draw adults in. "At first, we
argued over who would take him to class,"
says Mia Nitchun-Sacks, mother of 14month-old Reed in Princeton, N.J. "Finally,
we agreed we would both take him. It
became the highlight of the week." Not only
was the class fun, but they brought the music
home. Her husband, Jeff, started playing
music with Reed in the evenings. "Now they
go through the songbook and play instru­
ments together. It totally transformed their
relationship."
This is music to Guilmartin's ears. Besides
the careful mix of meters and musical vita­
mins, Music Together wants to rekindle the
joy of singing at home. If adults like the
music, they will sing around the house the
way families did before recorded music. "For
eons, humans have made music together as
part of daily life," he says. "[Adults] need to
set the model of being music-makers." He
laments the loss of music in schools, too,
remembering the day when kindergarten
teachers had to be able to play piano in order
to get a teaching job. "There are still a lot of
pianos in a lot of kindergarten rooms, but
they're out of tune, and almost nobody uses
them," he says.
These days, Guilmartin is adapting the
Music Together format for preschools and
daycare centers, including Head Start. He
says U.S. schools approach music education
backwards—neglecting it in early years, then
creating school orchestras in fifth grade.
Trained Music Together teachers lead school
sessions, but Guilmartin says children need
to hear their classroom teachers singing, too.
"It's not musical babysitting. [Teachers] are
also primary caregivers, and their model is
just as powerful."
Even for the lucky child raised in a musi­
cal household, Music Together classes have a
place. "There is absolutely no substitute for
the social aspect of Music Together," says
Mamlin. "People leave my class with smiles
on their faces. It's an absolutely joyful experi­
ence to make music with other people."
Or, as Guilmartin would say, let's make
music together again. $
—H.S.
29

Soror

cience

TEXAS TRI DELTAS FIGHT EATING DISOR DERS
WITH PSYCHOLOGIST CAROLYN BLACK BECKER '9 0.
By Elizabeth Redden '05
IN JULY, CAROLYN BECKER WAS INITIATED. CALL HER A DELTA DELTA DELTA.

"One thought that went through my head was, 'Oh-my-gosh. I've
become a sorority sister.' But the next thought was, 'I've never seen an
organization put this much effort into eating disorders prevention.'"
It turns out that the Tri Deltas are interested in a lot more than the
next fraternity party. When they made Becker—an associate profes­
sor of psychology at Trinity University in Texas—a member of their
sisterhood, they were thinking more about the Sorority Body Image
Program that Becker founded. Recently, Tri Delta's executive organi­
zation adopted the Trinity-rooted program with ambitious, 10-year
plans for nationwide
expansion.
Becker's Sorority
Becker is humbled by
the possibilities.
Body Image Program
"I don't think that it
ever occurred to me as
takes on the "thin
someone who was never

ideal"—that for
women, to be
beautiful is to be thin

in a sorority—and never cared about being in a sorority—that as
highly organized groups of women, they have the power to make
things happen and to create change," she says. "That's probably my
Swarthmore feminist education coming together in a very odd way to
match with sororities."
It may seem an odd match, because sororities have been absent
from Swarthmore for 75 years—ever since Molly Yard Garrett'33,
who went on to become president of the National Organization for
Women, helped lead a student campaign to abolish them.
"I actually think," Becker observes, "that there's enormous irony in
all of this."
Becker's unplanned detour into sorority life enables her to bring
her evidence-based eating disorders prevention program to "stagger­
ing" numbers of college women nationwide. Tri Delta boasts about
13,500 active members and 136 chapters—and has committed to
help spread the body image program to other interested sororities.
Amid all of this, the Academy for Eating Disorders, a global profes­
sional association, recently
endorsed the Sorority Body
Image Program after its
board of directors reviewed
the program's scientific
merit. The endorsement
means that "the program was
determined to be based on
the best available evidence in
the field," explains Judith
Banker, the Academy's
president.
"I never would have
thought this big. It was the
sororities who thought this
big," Becker says.
After earning a Ph.D. in clini­
cal psychology from Rutgers

s

Photographer and filmmaker
Lauren Greenfield's work ( left)
has explored girls' body image
and American girl culture. Her
book and film Thin documents
the ravaging effects of e ating
disorders. Learn more about her
at www.laurengreenfield.com.

University in 1996, Becker spent three years in
Body Image Program since its beginnings.)
Dartmouth Medical School's psychiatry
"We're trying to use the organizational
department—long enough, she says, "to learn
power of sororities to address eating disorders
that I really didn't like academic medicine."
on a more collective level," says Becker. As a
Attracted to Trinity because she wanted to
happy consequence, she adds that the pro­
teach at a liberal arts institution, she explains,
gram, now embedded in sorority orientation
"I needed to come up with research that was
at Trinity, has changed the way sorority mem­
amenable to this kind of setting and could
bers talk and think about eating disorders
include undergraduates."
year-round: "They have gotten more assertive
Becker had researched eating disorders
about saying to someone, 'We're really wor­
treatment in graduate school—drawn to the
ried. You have a problem.'"
field because it combines her interests in cul­
ture, psychopathology, and women's issues.
But how to deploy a program that has worked
Yet, the history of eating disorders preven­
so well at Trinity—with just six sororities—
on a national scale?
tion, she explains, "is actually relatively
Enter Tri Delta.
depressing. For decades, we really couldn't
The
sorority's national organization first
find anything that worked."
expressed
interest in the Sorority Body Image
Becker, who regards herself as "something
Carolyn Becker's Trinity University students and
Program
in
2005, at which point Becker pilot­
of an optimist," figured there had to be a way
other sorority members have contributed thousands
ed
what
was
then a Trinity-based initiative at
to improve eating disorders prevention, or at
of hours to help her develop a program to reduce
other
universities.
Finally, in 2007, "We said,
body
image
dissatisfaction
among
young
women.
least reduce body image dissatisfaction. In
'Let's
stop
piloting;
let's start doing,"' recalls
reviewing the literature with a student in
Susan
Woda,
Tri
Delta's
senior director of
bers
write
out
the
costs
of
pursuing
the
ideal,
2001, the two came across a promising pre­
operations.
Tri
Delta
has
since set a goal of
debunk
it
in
role
plays,
and
even
undress
vention program developed by Eric Stice, now
bringing the program to every collegiate
(alone in their rooms) for a homework
a scientist at the Oregon Research Institute.
assignment in which they're asked to stand in chapter at least once every four years —reach­
"We thought, 'Maybe we can replicate
this,"' Becker says. Her student research assis­ front of a mirror, "wearing as little clothing as ing every "college generation."
"We believe in the integrity and the value
possible," and identify positive qualities about
tant—who happened to be a sorority mem­
of this program," Woda says.
themselves.
ber—offered up a ready-made sample popu­
This summer, Tri Delta announced it
By asking participants to behave in ways
lation. Becker launched a small pilot study,
would underwrite the cost of printing 20,000
that counteract the thin ideal—even if they
adapting the Stice program for sorority use.
believe in it—the hope is that they'll enter an copies of a Sorority Body Image Program
manual, co-authored by Becker and Stice and
uncomfortable psychological state (disso­
The Sorority Body Image Program takes on
published under the Oxford University Press
the "thin ideal"-—that for women, to be beau­ nance) and thus will feel compelled to give
up, at least to an extent, their investment in it. "Treatments That Work" series. "From our
tiful is to be thin. Researchers consider inter­
initial estimates, 20,000 manuals were going
Early results proved successful, suggesting
nalization of the ideal to be a possible risk
to get us through five years of the program,
that the intervention does in fact reduce the
factor for developing eating disorders. And
based on our mapped-out expansion," Woda
sorority sisters' internalization of the thin
beyond clinically diagnosable diseases like
says. "The response has been so incredible,
ideal.
Becker
subsequently
went
on
to
run
anorexia nervosa or bulimia nervosa, body
we're now finding out that those manuals are
several
studies
demonstrating
that
the
posi­
image issues remain big concerns on college
probably going to last us three years, which is
tive
results
hold
even
when
trained
peer
lead­
campuses.
exciting—more than we ever could have
ers—as
opposed
to
clinicians—conduct
the
"Although full-syndrome eating disorders
hoped for or wished for."
Sorority
Body
Image
Program.
occur in a minority of college women, sub­
Speaking in July, just after her return from
Becker's
recent
research
zeros
in
on
ques­
clinical eating pathology, which is associated
Tri Delta's national conference in Chicago—a
tions
of
real-world
application
and
replica­
with negative affect and body dissatisfaction,
newly initiated honorary member and a
tion. Relying on trained peer leaders from
appears to be common," Becker writes in the
recipient of the sorority's Vision award—
within
the
sororities
makes
the
program
more
journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology,
Becker seems awed by the scope and
easily
replicable,
explains
Becker—who
ran
a peer-reviewed journal.
serendipity of it all, yet still very much in con­
her sorority-based studies at Trinity without
The program is premised on a psychologi­
trol. "It's actually a little bit of a runaway
any grant funding and without the help of
cal concept called "dissonance theory," which,
freight train at the moment," she says, laugh­
graduate students. (Undergraduate sorority
as Becker writes, "suggests that if individuals
ing like someone who, moments earlier, had
members, however, earn co-authorship on
act in ways that contradict their beliefs, then
safely jumped aboard.
packer's journal articles and co-presenting
they typically will change their beliefs to align
duties at scientific conferences. Becker esti­
with their actions."
In August, Elizabeth Redden covered the Demo­
mates, conservatively, that Trinity sorority
In short, the Sorority Body Image Program
cratic National Convention for InsideHighmembers have contributed 12,000 unpaid
asks sisters to actively resist the thin ideal in
erEd.com, where she is a reporter.
hours to running and studying the Sorority
two, two-hour group sessions. Sorority memOCTOBER 2008

31

^tAJGrlhwore
OUT OF THE MOUTHS—AND PENS—
OF SWARTHMOREANS COME SOME
WELL-KNOWN WORDS.
By Fred Shapiro
Illustrations by Nancy Harrison

Quotations from the arts are often whimsical. These
two are from one of the most popular novelists of the
last century and one of our zaniest musicologists.

(
—

/ was brought
up in the cjreat tradition
of the late 10th Century: that
a writer nei/er CoMp/ainSj
nei/er erp/ainS, and
nei/er disdains.

James Michener '29,
quoted in The New York
Times, Nov. 14,1989

Peter Schickele '57, quoted in
the Los Angeles Times, June 5, 1966,
describing his musical alter ego PDQ Bach

swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

ONE OF S WARTHMORE COLLEGE'S

Swarthmore alumni is the ex­
MANY DISTINCTIONS is the strong tent of their contribution to

tradition of social and political

The work of Swarthmoreans from having compiled The Yale
can be surveyed in a number of Book of Quotations (Yale Univer­

the physical and biological sci­

ways, such as awards won or

ences and technology, includ­

attributed to the school's

offices held, but I am in a

ume, I attempted to collect

ing computer science.

Quaker origins. Swarth-

position to assess it in a novel

famous quotations and to use

more's activist tendency

These activist and scientific
threads complement Swarth-

fashion—through the lens of

state-of-the-art research to

has produced alumni who

famous quotations. Alumni

trace their origins more accu­

more's strength in the arts and

have written or uttered a

have been notable reformers.

rately than do other reference

media as well as a wide range

number of memorable quota­

It has also combined with the

works. The following quota­

of achievements in education,

tions or phrases; we speak a

College's intellectual rigorous-

tions by Swarthmore graduates

law, business, and many other

different language because of

ness to produce pioneers in the

were included in the YBQ or

fields, to round out a fascinat­

their sayings.

social sciences.

were added by me using similar

ing roster of accomplishments
by alumni.

activism, which can be

Another notable aspect of

sity Press, 2006). In that vol­

My personal position in
quotation-gathering stems

Equality of rights under the
law shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any
State on account of sex. V-4aL

research techniques to those
underlying the book.

Une ot the most powerful political luiumnists of all time coined a celebrated phrase
characterizing the United States Supreme
Court at a time when the Court was viewed
by many as a reactionary
obstacle standing
in the way of
Franklin D.
Roosevelt's
New Deal.

Alice Paul, Class of 1905
Proposed Equal Rights
Amendment, 1923
The Equal Rights Amendment was draft­

Drew Pearson, '19,
The Nine Old Men, 1937

ed by Paul and introduced in every Con­
gress from 1923 to 1972, when it finally
passed both houses by overwhelming
margins. But the amendment fell three
states short of the required 38 state rati­
fications and has yet to be added to the
Constitution.

In electoral politics, one Swarthmore alumnus
received the Democratic nomination for president
but lost to George H. W. Bush in 1988.

OCTOBER 2008

This
election isn't
about ideology;
it's about
competence.
Michael Dukakis '55,
accepting the presidential nomination,
Democratic National Convention, 1988

33

Automa­
tion iS

Activism spills over into social-science schol­

Swarthmore's

arship. Among the most prominent social

scientific/techno­

scientists in recent decades is psychologist

logical graduates

Carol Gilligan '58, who studied the moral

include not only

development of girls and founded "difference

Nobel prizewinners

feminism," including drawing a distinction
between the "ethic of

but also some

justice" and the
"ethic of
care.

wore*

netAj

denoting both

automatic operation and
the

process

of making things
automatic.

remarkable computer

While

4

visionaries. Here again, the

an ethic of justice
proceeds from the prem­
ise of equality—that everyone
should be treated the same—an
ethic of care rests on the
premise of nonviolencethat no one should be
hurt.

impact has been linguistic and
conceptual as well as substantive.
The first quotation popularized
the word "automation."

John Diebold '49,
Automation: The Advent of the
Automatic Factory, 1952

Carol Gilligan '58,
In a Different Voice:
Psychological Theory and
Women's Development, 1982I

.
Let
me introduce the word
"hypertext" to mean a body of
written or pictorial material inter­
connected in such a complex way
that it could not conveniently be
presented or represented on
paper.

The second quotation constitutes the
coinage of the term "hypertext." Ted Nel­
son's hypertext and his efforts to create an
easy-to-use computer interface helped
pave the way for personal computers and
the World Wide Web.

Theodor Nelson '59
Proceedings of the 20th National
Conference of the Association of
Computing Machinery, 1965

a*#,
swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

Swarthmore literary quotations include passages from some
of the most acclaimed recent works of fiction—both winners
of the National Book Award.

The
madness of an autumn prairie
cold front coming through. You could feel
it: something terrible was going to happen. The
sun low in the sky, a minor light, a cooling star.
Gust after gust of disorder. Trees restless, tem­
peratures falling, the whole northern reli­
gion of things coming to an end.

In
Africa,
you want more,
I think.
Norman Rush '56,
Mating: A Novel, 1992

Jonathan Franzen '81,
The Corrections, 2001
ffe
12
jj
"***

IMHPB

I

Mil'

...

H

*4

rnsimm^-

vi

.AM# It

OCTOBER 2008

35

We conclude this romp through Swarthmore

quotation history with two quotes represent­
ing two of the many other fields in which
alumni have distinguished themselves—
sports and education.

Sports
\
do not build character.
They reveal it.

Heywood Hale Broun '40,
quoted in James Michener,
Sports in America, 1976

I find that the three
Major adnmiStratiUe

problems

o»a campus are Ser for the
studentsj athletics for the
a/until j and parking for
the facu/ty.

A Clark Kerr '32,
quoted in Time, Nov. 17,1958

If you know of other famous—or infamous—
Swarthmore quotations, write to us at
bulletin@swarthmore.edu or Swarthmore Col­

lege Bulletin, 500 College Avenue, Swarthmore
PA 19081. We'll add them to the Web site for this
article at www.swarthmore.edu/bulletin.
36
swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

COURTESY OF HISTORIC HUDSoJm^^WWWHUDSONwJ^^Si
SAGES: EXPLORE HU DSON VALLEY
Vgar-net 'saj\ n [fr. Tom Hallowell
'29, upon celebrating his 50th class reunion]
(1980): a graduate of Swarthmore College who

Garnet Sage

has celebrated his or her 50th class reunion.

»\

Join the Garnet Sages Nov. 12 through 14 to
tour some of the Hudson River Valley's most
beautiful and interesting sights, including a
visit to the Franklin D. Roosevelt home,
library, and museum in Hyde Park. The FDR
library—the first presidential library—was
planned and designed by Roosevelt himself
and remains as it was during his third and
fourth terms. Also in Hyde Park is the Culi­
nary Institute of America (CIA). Travelers
will tour the CIA's facilities—comprising 41
kitchens and bakeshops—and enjoy dinner
in one of its five public restaurants.
Other stops on the three-day, two-night
trip include a visit to the Union Church of

OCTOBER 2008

The above details are from the three stainedglass windows "Cherubim," "Ezekiel," and
"Joel"—part of a series of nine by Marc Chagall
that grace Union Church of Pocantico Hills in
New York, which also contains a rose window by
Henri Matisse. All the windows were commis­
sioned as family memorials by t he Rockefellers,
who had worshipped there since John D. Ro cke­
feller moved to the village in the early 1890s.

Pocantico Hills, a hidden gem in the Hudson
Valley and home to a unique collection of
stained-glass windows created by Marc Cha­
gall and Henri Matisse; the newly restored
Boscobel house and gardens, located on a
bluff overlooking the Hudson Valley; Wash­
ington Irving's riverside home, Sunnyside;
and the Brotherhood Winery, which is locat­
ed in Washingtonville.
To register, please contact Astrid Devaney
at adevanel@swarthmore.edu or (610) 3288412 as soon as possible.

UPCOMING E VENTS
NOVEMBER
7-9, on campus
Fall Alumni Council Meeting
12, Washington, D.C.
Faculty Talk: Nonviolent Responses to
Terrorism" with Eugene M. Lang
Visiting Professor for Issues of Social
Change and Peace and Conflict Studies
George Lakey
13, Berkeley, Calif.
Faculty Talk: "'Leaky' Rationality and the
Paradox of Choice" with
Dorwin P. Cartwright Professor of Social
Theory and Social Action Barry
Schwartz

37

.—jJ connections
Class of 2008

ATLANTA

Welcome to the City!

BALTIMORE
BOSTON
CHICAGO
DENVER
HOUSTON
LUINL'UIN

On June 1, the 364 members of Swarthmore's senior
class officially became alumni. On Sept. 6, the second
annual worldwide Welcome to the City! event was held
to help these graduates acclimate to their post-Swarthmore homes.
Alumni and friends in 18 different cities across the
United States and around the globe gathered at loca­
tions including local bars, restaurants, an art gallery,
and an alumna's home to host the new graduates, pass
on information about their new locales, and assist
them in socializing and networking with other mem­
bers of the Swarthmore community.

LOS ANGELES
MINNEAPOLIS
NEW YORK CITY
PARIS
PITTSBURGH
PHILADELPHIA
SAN FRANSCISCO
SEATTLE
DURHAM
TUCSON
WASHINGTON

The successful event would not have been possible
without many alumni volunteers who coordinated in
each city. Thanks to organizers and to everyone who
participated. To sign up for next year, contact Geoff
Semenuk at (610) 328-8453 or gsemenul@swarthmore.edu.
Did you just move to a new city? Are you interest­
ed in meeting fellow alumni who live near you or
work in the same field? Do you feel like contacting a
long lost classmate? You can update your contact
information and search for alumni and classmates via
the On-line Community at olc.swarthmore.edu.

In Los Angeles (left), alumni
met at Bottle Rock in Culver
City. From l eft: Sainam Khan
'93, David Shearer '51, Barry
Schkolnick '80, Kenneth Schwab
'81, and Matthew Seeberger '81.
Reshma Pattni '06 and Win Chia
'06, New York Connection
co-chairs (right), welcomed
almost 100 Swarthmore alumni
who gathered despite Tropical
Storm Hanna's wind-swept
torrential rain.

Top 5 Ways to Volunteer for Swarthmore
D. Admissions

4. Extern Program

The Swarthmore Extern
Alumni volunteers are a
Program is a five-day jobvital part of the Admis­
shadowing program that
sions Office's outreach,
enables current students
recruitment, and yield
to explore a particular
efforts. They interview
prospective students, rep­ field of interest during
resent Swarthmore at col­ January. Alumni may vol­
unteer as workplace
lege fairs, and serve as
sponsors or homestay
resources for both
hosts—or both. Contact
prospective and admitted
Laura Sibson in Career
students and their fami­
Services at extern@lies. Contact Christine
swarthmore.edu or (610)
Costello '07 at ccostell@328-8352.
swarthmore.edu or (610)
328-8307.

38

J . Alumni Council

L% Reunion Planning

If you graduated in a year
Alumni Council, the gov­
ending in "4" or "9," or in
erning body of the Alum­
2007, you can help make
ni Association, partici­
pates in a variety of activ­ Alumni Weekend 2009
the best ever by serving
ities to support students,
on your class reunion
alumni, and the College.
planning committee.
If you have questions
Volunteers coordinate
about the Council, are
class activities and
interested in serving, or
wish to nominate a fellow encourage classmates to
return to campus June
graduate to serve, contact
5-7, 2009. Contact Karen
Astrid Devaney of Alum­
Bernier at kberniel@ni Relations at adevanel@swarthmore.edu or swarthmore.edu or (610)
328-8404.
(610) 328-8412.

1 • Connections
Swarthmore's regional
alumni organizations are
called "Connections."
Connection events range
from trips to museums to
family picnics in the
park. The Alumni Office
is always looking for vol­
unteers to help organize
and staff Connection
events. Contact Geoff
Semenuk at gsemenul@swarthmore.edu or (610)
328-8453.

swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

V ' 1 i n m y life

\ ''

I,M-"

Doing
Mexican
Time
AS THE MEXICANS SAY,
YOU D ON'T REALLY KNOW A PLACE
UNTIL YOU K NOW ITS JAIL.

mmmm
By Gerard Helferich '76

DANIEL PEPPER/GETTY IMAGES

WE FIRST CAME TO SAN MIGU EL DE ALLENDE

six years ago, on a driving vacation through
Mexico's central highlands. My wife, Teresa
Nicholas '76, and I sto pped for less than 24
hours on that first visit, but we were suffi­
ciently taken with the picturesque setting,
colonial architecture, and vibrant arts scene
that we decided to quit our jobs in book
publishing and move here. It would be in San
Miguel, we decided, that we would realize
our much-discussed but long-postponed
plans to become writers. Over the years, we
bought a little house on the grounds of an
old hacienda and worked on our writing
projects. We learned Spanish, and I w as a
volunteer English teacher at a nearby school.
Then one December morning, I'm driving
out of a parking lot in the center of town.
Traffic is heavy, and a taxi stops to let me
make a left-hand turn. But as I ease past the
cab, I m struck by a police motorcycle speed­
ing by without siren or lights.
The young policeman is thrown to the
ground but suffers only a minor cut to the
bridge of his nose and an injury to the tip of
his right pinky finger. My car is impounded,
and I hav e to go to the public prosecutor's
office to give a statement. I'm not overly con­
cerned, since I wasn't doing anything illegal

We stop in front of a barred door,
and I see figures milling in
the shadows. Inside, my four
cell mates invite me to sit on a
cot. "What did you do?" they
ask right away.
or imprudent, and it was impossible to see
the motorcycle until it appeared on top of
my hood. But the policeman's declaration
contradicts my own, especially concerning
his speed and our positions at the moment of
impact, and the public prosecutor finds me
at fault. My insurance company pays $100 to
repair the motorcycle and another $750 for
the injury to the policeman's pinky. I pay to
have my car fixed, since the damage is less
than the deductible on my policy.
In the United States, that would have been
the end of the matter. But the policeman is
claiming that his pinky is permanently bent.
And under Mexican law, causing physical
harm to another person isn't just a civil issue,

56
swarthmore COLLEGE BULLETIN

it's a crime. So my case drags through the
courts for 10 tense months, until a hearing is
finally set before a judge. The problem is that
the insurance company's lawyers don't think
to notify me. So about a week after I fai l to
appear, a man comes to our front gate with a
warrant for my arrest.
Accompanied by one of the insurer's
lawyers, I go to the public prosecutor's office
and turn m yself in. A guard takes me to the
massive state prison next door and, in a
cramped room off a loading dock, tells me to
take off all my clothes. "Did they hit you?" he
asks as he examines me. Only later do I r eal­
ize he s talking about the police, who he sup­
poses have brought me in.
Over the next few hours, I'm processed
the same way as someone sentenced to
prison for life. All my belongings are taken,
I m given a stained khaki uniform to wear
placed in handcuffs, and led to an office
where I'm fingerprinted and mugshot. I'm
examined by a doctor, who also asks, "Did
they hit you?" Then, "Is your blood pressure
always this high?"
"No," I tell h im, "just today."
On our rounds, I m ake small talk with my
guard, a compact, courteous man in his 30s.
Were you in a fight?" he wants to know, see­
ing that I've been charged with "injuries."
Finally, we stop in front of a barred door,
and 1 see figures milling in the shadows. The
guard reads the panic on my face. "Don't
worry," he says in a kindly tone, "they're
peaceful."
Inside, my four cell mates invite me to sit
on a cot. "What did you do?" they ask right
away. One, with a shaved head and tattoos
covering his arms and naked chest, lies on
the floor and doesn't say much. Another, a
™c'er man wearing boxer shorts and a
Pair of flip-flopS, tells me he's been in prison
or 12 years, but he doesn't seem to want to
ta.'s

about what

brought him here. A younger
inmate says he was in a car accident where a
was injured, but he doesn't have the
money to post bail. He's been waiting six
weeks for his case to come up, and he hopes
0 e released in a nother month or so. When
e ears that my lawyer is outside with my
ai papers, h e pats me on the knee and says,
on t worry, you 11 be sleeping with your
1 e in your own bed tonight."
As they share their food and reassurance,

I m deeply grateful to the other prisoners. In
fact, they don't seem all that different from
my English students, or friends of friends
t at I m ight be introduced to at a party I'm
hugely relieved, but the dissonance also
makes me uneasy, as though incarceration
here has more to do with the Mexican legal
system than with guilt or innocence. Indeed,
according to Amnesty International, 40 per-'
cent of Mexican prisoners haven't even been
convicted of a crime.
Eventually, I'm led to a hearing room in
the state courthouse next door. Standing
behind bars, to which I'm handcuffed for
good measure, I listen for two hours as the
testimony against me is read aloud, then I'm
given a chance to reiterate my own version of
the accident. I ask the sympathetic-looking
judge about the punishment if I'm found
guilty, and he answers patiently but vaguely.
From a table on the other side of the bars,
the insurance company lawyer suggests that I
plead guilty, but I decline. I'm returned to
the cell, where I r ejoin my new companions.
A few more hours of waiting, and my
$ 1,000 bail is processed. I take a list of things
my cellmates want from the outside, heart­
breaking in its ordinariness—soap, skin
cream, towels, phone cards, a takeout chick­
en and promise to come back. My clothes
and other belongings are returned. But
before being released, I'm carried by paddy
wagon to the local immigration office to
have my documents checked and a note
entered in my file. I'm finally freed about 10
0 clock that night, 11 hours after the man
from the public prosecutor's office rang our
front-door bell.
On
Monday
morning,
1 hire my
own
lawyer,
and by
the end
of the
week the
charges
against
me have been dropped, the judge ruling that
the injury to the policeman's pinky isn't seri­
ous enough to warrant prosecution. I'm not
even fined for a traffic infraction. As these

things go, I've been extremely lucky. But even
so, Teresa and I h ave had almost a year of
anxiety, culminating in a day of dread. Our
young Mexican friends are sanguine about
our experience, telling us you're not a true
Mexican until you've been arrested, but their
casual attitude only seems to underscore the
inequity of the system.
There's a Mexican saying that you don't
really know a place until you know its jail,
and I certainly did learn something about
our adopted country that day. I learned how
easily a policeman's self-serving version of
events could be accepted, despite physical
evidence to the contrary. I learned that I
lived in a place where a fender-bender could
escalate into criminal charges and incarcera­
tion, where the American consul couldn't
always help you, where your fate could be
decided without a jury of your peers. And
where, thanks to the Napoleonic Code, you
were guilty until proven innocent.
Shaken, Teresa and I began to ask our­
selves what kind of country we'd chosen to
call home. We even thought about leaving
Mexico and settling in Mississippi, where we
already spent a few months of the year with
'eresa s family. But we'd learned more
besides. We'd learned that despite a harsh
egal system, judges, prison guards, even con­
victs could treat you with kindness. That jus­
tice could be served, however tardily. And
that, as in so many other aspects of Mexican
life, the generosity, perseverance, and black
humor of the people could trump the obvi­
ous failings of their government.
So nearly a year after my arrest, we're still
in San Miguel. We're still living in our house
on the old hacienda, still writing in our
adjoining studios. So many times in the
intervening months I've thought of a line of
William^ Faulkner's. "You don't love because,"
he said, "you love despite; not for the virtues
but despite the faults." He was writing about'
Mississippi, but he could just as easily have
been talking about Mexico. $
Gerard Helferich '76 is the author of two
books, High Cotton; Four Seasons in the Mis­
sissippi Delta (Counterpoint, 2008) and
Humboldt s Cosmos: Alexander von Hum­
boldt and the Latin American Journey That
Changed the Way We See the World (Gotham
Books, 2004).

OCTOBER 2008

57

J -* books + arts

of (^Juilts
Martha Sielman '82, author and curator, Masters: Art
Quilts—Major Works by Leading Artists (Lark Books, 2008)
When people ask me how I got involved with art quilts,"
writes Martha Sielman in her introduction to this sumptu­
ous volume, "I tell them that it all began when I was very
ittle and my mother let me play with the fabric scraps left
over from sewing our dresses. Whenever I talk about playing
with those scraps, my hands automatically start to mime
ouching the pieces—feeling the bumpiness of corduroy, the
softness of velveteen, the slinky smoothness of sateen, and
he crinkly quality of seersucker."
Sielman made her first quilt in 1988 for her first baby. "I
went to the Hartford [Conn.] Public Library and borrowed
every book they had on quilting—all six of them." Sielman
may not have known it as she sewed an alphabet quilt made
of pastel calico cottons, but the art of quilting was morphing
from something for the bed to something for the wall. The
"art quilt" movement—which got its start at the 1971 exhib­
it Abstract Design in American Quilts at the Whitney Muse­
um of American Art in New York City—was exploding
across the country.
"I made a quilt based on my own design in 1995, and I
haven't looked back," writes Sielman. "Today, of course,
books about quilting line shelf after bookstore shelf ... but
my history is fairly typical of the experience of many art
quilters."
In 2002, Sielman founded Fiber Revolution, a group of
art quilters who work together to educate the public about
art quilts and to find exhibition opportunities for quilters.
In 2004, she became executive director of Studio Art Quilt
Associates (SAQA), a fast-growing nonprofit membership
Martha Sielman, Jellies of Monterey (2003)
organization dedicated to advancing fine-art quilting.
41 x 3 1 x 3 inches
It is from this perch that she has created Masters: Art
Hand-dyed cotton, silk, polyester cording, wire, paint; machine quilted, appliqued
Quilts—a portable feast of quilts from 40 masters of the
Sielman did not place herself among her book's 40 master quilters but included an ex­
medium. Every artist is given about 10 pages of "exhibit
ample of her own work in a biographical note. Missing from her book bio is the fact
that her father, mother, sister, and husband all went to Swarthmore. She lives in Storrs,
space," so the viewer can get a deeper understanding of the
Conn., with husband David Shaiken '82, five children (none of whom has shown any in­
talents of each. The work ranges from the pictorial to the
terest in attending the College—"yet," she says), and two cats.
abstract, from hints of old patterns to pieces that look as if
they are about to jump off the page.
Even first-rate photographs of these largely three-dimen­
sional works can't do justice to the textures, appliqued objects, and
ed States starting later this month in Houston (see box on next
unconventional materials favored by contemporary quilt artists.
page). I ca n see photos of others at the SAQA Web site:
(One piece is made from aluminum roof flashing overstitched with
www.saqa.com.
orange plastic line from a weed whacker.) But this entire exhibit1 here may have been just six books on quilting in the Hartford
in-a-book, which includes statements by each artist, makes me
Library in 1988, but librarians everywhere would do well to add
want to see these lush, colorful works in person.
this handsome volume to their collections for the next generation
Fortunately, I can do that. A traveling exhibit featuring one
of fine art quilters to discover.
work by each of the 40 masters will visit five spots across the Unit—Jeffrey Lott
62

swarthmore COLLEGE BU LLETIN

Jane Sassaman, Wittow (1996), 75 x 75 inches
Machine appli qued and quilted. Gardening is the in­
spiration for Sassaman's work. She translates flowers
into meticulously appliqued designs that curl and
coil around on e another. "Most of my quilts are
symbolic statements about the cycles and spiritual
forces of life," Sassaman says. "A plant travels the *
same cycle as a human: fertility, birth, maturity,
I
death, and rebirth."
1

Hollis Chatetain, The Gift (2006), 48 x 5 3 inches
Cotton, wool/polyester batting; hand-dye painted, machine quilted. Chatelain says that much of her
work is influenced by personal experience. Her recent work depicts the people from countries she has
visited, often displaying a distinct social agenda that promotes the importance of basic human rights,
peace, clean drinking water, education, and protection from economic exploitation.

UPCOMING QUILT FESTIVALS
AROUND THE COUNTRY
International Quilt Festival
Houston, Tex.
Oct. 29-Nov. 2, 2008
International Quilt Festival
Chicago, III.
Apr. 17-19, 2009
International Quilt Festival
Caryl Bryer F allert, Flying Free #2 (1995),
53 x 82 inches
Created from cotton that has been hand dyed and
painted, ma chine pieced and quilted, this work is
from what t he artist calls her "viewer participation"
series—pieces characterized by the inclusion of her
hand-dyed fa brics in a color-saturated,full spectrum
'o create a sense of sheer exuberance and joy. Bril­
liant colors fill the entire field of view, and swirls of
quilting g ive texture to the designs. It is Fallert's
hope, she s ays, that her designs will lift the spirits
a"d delight the eyes of those who see them.

October 2008

Long Beach, Calif.
July 24-26, 2009
Museum of the American
Quilter's Society
Paducah, Ky.
Aug. 13-Nov. 10, 2009
New England Quilt Museum
Lowell, Mass.
Nov. 2009-Feb. 2010

Wendy Huhn, Somnambulist (2003), 72 x 8 2 inches
Canvas, vintage fabrics, netting, heat transfers, phosphores­
cent medium, monofilament, beads; stenciled, painted, ma­
chine quilted, bound. An early love of paper dolls inspired
Huhn's work, yet the childlike images are juxtaposed with
ominous ones, including skeletons, insects, snakes, and
frightening clowns interacting with housewives, teddy bears,
and children.

63

y+

Wt

* books + a rts

TAMAR E. CHANSKY, Ph.D

FREEING
YOUR CHILD
FROM
NEGATIVE
THINKING

Powerful,
Practical Strategies
to Build a Lifetime
of Resilience, Flexibility,
and Happiness

companies. It is the first compre­
hensive summary of the law and
ethics on physician relationships
with industry written for the
physician.
Tori Kearns '97, Making the Call:
Determining Who Qualifies as
Learning Disabled in Higher Edu­
cation, LRP Publications, 2008.
The author relies on her own
experience as a psychological
examiner at the postsecondary
level and as a provider of disabil­
ity services in this reference work
for those setting up and manag­
ing programs for students with
learning disabilities.

Tamar Chansky '84, Freeing Your Child
From Ne gative Thinking: Powerful,
Practical Strategies to Build a Lifetime
of Resilience, Flexibility, and Happi­
ness, Da Capo Press, 2008. The author
analyzes the underlying causes of
children's negative attitudes and pro­
vides numerous strategies to help par­
ents and their children manage
negative thoughts, build optimism,
and establish emotional resilience.

Robert Ellis '56, A Collision of
Truths: A Life in Conflict With a
Cherished Faith, iUniverse Inc.,
2008. With insight and poignan­
cy, the author narrates his life
story, including the events that
led him to a deep personal strug­
gle and later rejection of the
Christian Science faith he was
raised in and to which he was
committed. Engaging and inti­
mate, this spiritual adventure
demonstrates that it is acceptable
to question cherished spiritual
convictions.
Steven Schachter, William Mandell, Scott Harshbarger, and
Randall Grometstein '74, Man­
aging Relationships With Indus­
try: A Physician's Compliance
Manual, Academic Press, 2008.
Members of the medical field
will benefit from this elucidation
of the ever-changing law and
ethical standards on interactions
with pharmaceutical and device
64

H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis.
Kelly Terwilliger '89, A Glimpse
of Oranges, Finishing Line Press,
2008. This debut collection sum­
mons up a world of desire, loss,
nature, things material and
immaterial in poems with titles
like "Jupiter and Saturn From
the Driveway," "My Father's
Glasses," "The Dog's Wake," and
"Painting by Vermeer."
Nader Vossoughian '95, Otto
Neurath: The Language of the
Global Polis, NAI Publishers,
2008. The author compiled this
book in conjunction with the
exhibit After Neurath: The Global
Polis he curated in The Hague
during spring 2008. The exhibit
focused on sociologist and econ­
omist Neurath's relationship
with architecture and his influ­
ence on urban development.
Richard Weber '41, Thumbnail
Sketches: 29 Important Ameri­
cans, Vantage Press, 2007. This
work for middle to high-schoolaged children offers brief biogra-

Nancy Robertson '78, Christian Sister­
hood, Race Relations, and the YWCA,
1906-46, University of Illinois Press,
2007. This analysis of black and white
women's struggles over race relations
in the YWCA is based on lively autobi­
ographical accounts and personal pa­
pers from women associated with the
YWCA and a large body of records doc­
umenting the organization's members.

IN OTHER ME DIA
Paul Golub '84 (director), La
Puce a I'Oreille, Golub will direct
a production of Feydeau's classic
farce on love and thwarted desire
at L'Athenee Theatre Louis Jouvet in Paris from Jan. 15 to Feb. 7
and throughout France until the
end of April 2009.

Christopher Lukas '56, Blue Genes: A
Memoir of Loss and Survival, Doubleday, 2008. The author captures the
devastation wrought by a family
legacy of depression and suicide and
the impact that both can have on
those left behind.

Harvey Robbins and Robert
Keighton '53, If You Elect Me
President: Behind the Scenes of a
Presidential Election, Blue Hill
Publishers, 2008. This work is an
account of the effort to save his­
toric Prowse Farm in Canton,
Mass., and the authors' involve­
ment in the 1988 presidential
election contest between George

phies of politicians, industrial­
ists, women's rights advocates,
authors, inventors, and others
without whom life in the United
States—from foreign policy to
modern-day methods of produc­
tion—would be quite different.

John Pollock '64, Tilted Mirrors:
Media Alignment With Political and So­
cial Change—a Community Structure
Approach, Hampton Press, Inc., 2007.
Rather than examining the impact of
media on society, this book studies
the impact of society on media, ana­
lyzing the ways in which communities
influence the way media build per­
spectives on issues.

B.(Bartlett) C. Jones '54, Dr.
Mary—Dang Contrary, premiere,
Unitarian Universalist Church,
Columbia, Mo., 2008. A retired
professor of history and social
science turned playwright
debuted his play depicting the
life of Mary Edwards Walker, the
first and only female winner of
the Medal of Honor and the first
female U.S. Army surgeon to
serve during the Civil War.
swarthmore COLLEGE BUL LETIN

q +a
EDWARD F ULLER, COLLEGE EMPLOYEE SINCE

1975 and currently McCabe Library's refer­
ence and video resources librarian, is a
sweetly eccentric kind of fellow with doleful

What Plays
Pizzicato on
Ed Fuller's
Soul?

blue eyes and a devilish grin. You can spot
him strolling across campus in a suit and one
of his many hats, including a Navy blue beret
(he loves Paris), a French boater, and various
caps. The bulk of his wealth, he says, is car­
ried in his shirt pocket, home to five or six
expensive calligraphic fountain pens includ­
ing a Mont Blanc and a Parker, both with
solid gold nibs.
Fuller displays an "Old School" brand of

By Carol Br&vart-Demm
Photograph by Eleftherios Kostans

What brought you to Swarthmore?
Hunger. I applied for a development-writing
job and was asked by the interviewer whether
I could stay forever. My answer—that this
was an unpredictable variable—apparently
was the crux of my rejection. Four months
later, the head of personnel informed me of
an opening in the library. Bells chimed, light
bulbs went on, and I saw fireworks. So I
bounded over to McCabe, and, for inexplica­
ble reasons, got the job—sorting the mail
and 'other duties as required.' After a series of
swift but minor promotions, I entered
library school at Drexel University as a noc­
turnal student.

etiquette, opening doors for female staff or
students, some of whom, he complains, don't

How did you become a walking Bartlett's?
I suppose it's basically because I'm rather
shallow. Rather than read an entire work, I
try to extract some intellectual one-liners
from it. Just the other day, reading the 18thcentury French moralist and essayist Joseph
Joubert, I picked up a very useful piece of
wisdom: "Never cut what you can untie.'

appreciate his efforts. It upsets him that most
students have never heard of Bela Bartok.
His relentless humor ranges from the corny
to the wickedly irreverent to the utterly
genial. And he has a photographic memory
for quotes, the result—according to a neurol­
ogist with whom he once chatted at a
party—of "bad wiring in my brain." Once

What is the appeal of being a reference
librarian?
Again, I'm a rather trivial and shallow per­
son, with a lot of breadth but quickly out of
my shallows. For example, I know a few basic
facts about the French Revolution; but don't
start poking around about the social condi­
tions in France or why they were the way
they were. Did you know, by the way, that
Robespierre, until he came to power, was
against capital punishment?

accused of being "so intellectual" for reading
Wordsworth while taking a cigarette break
outside the library, he murmurs dreamily,
"Wordsworth is wonderful; remember those
lines, 'Nothing can bring back the hour of
splendour in the grass.' That's from his 'Ode;

Do you have a favorite book?
There are lots of works I'd read over and
over. But maybe Hamlet is my favorite. I've
read it about 15 times. As the poet Wallace
Stevens would say, it "plays pizzicato" on my
soul. But so do Mrs. Dalloway and The Mas­
ter and Marguerita. Oh yes, and Vanity Fair,
too.

Intimations of Immortality.'" Fuller's love of
poetry, prose, drama, and classical music
permeates his being.

72

Why do you love Paris?
I'm not sure, but the first time my wife, Gail,
and I went there, we got off the plane and felt
at home. We were homesick for Paris on the
plane back to Philadelphia. We've been there
15 times in the last 10 years. I think the rea­
son might be that there's been a seriously
destructive cultural shift in this country. For

swarthmore COLLEGE BU LLETIN

example, gangsta rap may be in the tradition
of oral recitation, but when I'm forced to lis­
ten to it occasionally, I'm amazed at the pure
barrenness of it—the laundry lists of obscen­
ities punctuated by violence. The only time I
heard loud music coming from a car in Paris,
it was Mozart.

i

What was your favorite pastime as a child?
Avoiding my parents, getting out of the
house. The greatest punishment in our house
was being sent to bed with supper. Happy
childhoods are the result of adults with bad
memories—now that's a Fullerism.

OCTOBER 2008

What would be your ideal job?
Probably commander of the British cavalry
at the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean
War. You know, the Charge of the Light
Brigade—"Cannon to the left of them, can­
non to the right..." Did you ever read Ten­
nyson? Tennyson is wonderful. The job I cur­
rently have may not be the perfect job, but it
is the best available compromise.

What constitutes the depths of despair for you?
Being deprived of people to talk to and
things to read.
How about the heights of joy?
The feeling that the world might be a happier
and better place because I'm here—just in a
very modest way—in my immediate world. §