The Magazine of Marlboro College .Summer-Fall 2002

Transcription

Potash Hill
The Magazine of Marlboro College
CHINA
THROUGH A
MARLBORO
. Summer-Fall 2002
STUDENT’S LENS
page 33
page 22
page 9
page 33
page 32
page 31
E D I T O R : Kevin Kennedy
A RT E D I T O R : Dianna Noyes ’80
A L U M N I E D I T O R : Teresa Storti
F I C T I O N & P O E T RY E D I T O R : T. Hunter Wilson
G U E S T P O E T RY E D I T O R : J. Birjepatil
S TA F F W R I T E R S : Lauren Beigel ’02,
Kate Hollander ’02, Regan Chewning ’03, Erin George
S TA F F P H O T O G R A P H E R : Cullen Schneider ’04
Potash Hill welcomes letters to the editor.
Mail them to: Editor, Potash Hill, Marlboro College, P.O. Box A,
Marlboro, VT 05344, or send email to: kkennedy@marlboro.edu.
The editor reserves the right to edit for length letters that appear in Potash Hill.
Potash Hill is available online at
Marlboro College’s alumni Website, www.potashhill.com.
Front and back cover photos: Cullen Schneider ’04
Marlboro College Mission Statement
The goal of Marlboro College is to teach students to think clearly and to learn independently through engagement in a
structured program of liberal studies. Students are expected to develop a command of concise and correct English and to
strive for academic excellence informed by intellectual and artistic creativity; they are encouraged to acquire a passion
for learning, discerning judgment and a global perspective. The college promotes independence by requiring students to
participate in the planning of their own programs of study and to act responsibly within a self-governing community.
Potash Hill
T h e M a g a z i n e o f M a r l b o ro C o l l e g e
page 3
L I B E R A L A RT S
page 12
Humanities-Social Sciences
Grace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
page 3
Science
Tracking the double helix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Arts
Photographs by Cullen Schneider ’04 . . . . . . . . . . 12
Poems by T. Hunter Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The Knight of the Side-Hill Wumpus . . . . . . . . . . 16
Perspective
Plenty to protest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
ON & OFF
THE
HILL
“I want to retire from big thoughts.” An interview with
Jet Thomas, “Patient, detailed, and vast”: Jaysinh
Birjepatil retires, Eric Bass moves on, Postcard from
Havana, A Plan of planes, Worthy of note, Commencement 2002. . . . . 25
ALUMNI NEWS
Class Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
In Memoriam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
L I B E R A L
A R T S
H U M A N I T I E S - S O C I A L
achieved more with
a handful of college
S C I E N C E S
Ts u y o s h i A m e m i y a ’ 6 0
students than
GRACE
generations of
Japanese diplomats
D a n To o m e y ’ 7 9
GRACE: THE DIVINE INFLUENCE THAT REGENERATES, SANCTIFIES, AND IMPARTS STRENGTH.
On the sixth of October, 1934, a child was born in a small village in the Aichi-prefecture,
near the geographic center of Japan. The boy was the son of the only Christian couple
in the village, and would be given the name Tsuyoshi, meaning strong one. His deeply
religious parents had been inspired in their choice of names by 1 Corinthians 16:13:
“Be watchful, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong.” Over the course of his
life Tsuyoshi Amemiya ’60 was to fulfill his parents’ desire that he become “strong in
Christ” in more ways than they probably could have imagined, for his faith would be the
bedrock on which he would commit himself to endeavors that can only be described
with words like courageous.
R e t u r n t o Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s
Tsuyoshi Amemiya’s life has been lived
largely in the context of the Second World
War and its aftermath. This is, of course, true
of most every Japanese person who came of
age when he did. But what distinguishes his
life from so many others has been a willingness
to confront truths about his country’s actions
from the war to the present day.
In the years immediately following the
dropping of the atomic bombs, Tsuyoshi
regarded Japan largely as only a victim of war,
not an aggressor. This changed in 1951 when
he heard a Filipino student preach a sermon in
which he related the atrocities committed
against his people by Japanese soldiers. The
boy’s father, brother, and many of his relatives
were killed. The memory of that story resurfaced in 1985, when Tsuyoshi, by that time a
professor at Aoyama Gakuin University in
Tokyo, traveled to the Philippines to visit a
former student and conduct research. He was
shocked by the poverty he witnessed, and grew
incensed about the disparity between the
Philippines and his wealthy homeland, recognizing that Japan’s domination in the Pacific
Rim has continued since the Second World
War in ways economic rather than military.
But out of indignation came responsibility.
The writings of American anthropologist
4
Potash Hill . S U M M E R – F A L L 2 0 0 2
Ashley Montagu (much of which has been
translated by Tsuyoshi into Japanese) reminded
him of the necessity of turning thought to
action, and so Tsuyoshi conceived the idea
of the cultural exposure trip. He organized
the first of these for his Aoyama Gakuin
University students in 1988, and has led fifteen subsequent trips to the Philippines, the
last of them in March. They have usually been
three-week programs in which students bear
witness to some of the world’s worst poverty,
and are brought to understand the ways in
which Japan’s trade and foreign policies aggravate this poverty. From their experience,
Tsuyoshi hopes, his students begin the path
to becoming responsible global citizens.
Each year the trip has culminated in the
group making a public apology for the atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army
during the Second World War, something that
the government of Japan has thus far been
unable to do. The public apologies have been
reported widely in the Philippine and international press, and of the 1995 group, a Filipino
stated, “The seven, only seven students have
done for peace and reconciliation far more
than hundreds of Japanese diplomats.”
Tsuyoshi Amemiya has wanted these students from Japan to recognize that their
Filipino hosts, despite their material poverty,
often possess prodigious riches of the spirit.
Thoughtful young people, born and raised in
a wealthy industrialized country and living
among undernourished, barefoot children for
weeks, are bound to turn introspective when
faced with the contrast that they see and feel.
This is, of course, precisely what their teacher
has wanted to happen: that each student
would ultimately be compelled to ask the question: “How should I live the rest of my life?”
In a speech Tsuyoshi gave in March at the
Center for Migrant Youth in the city of Luzon,
he told his audience that a great many exposure trip veterans have “changed themselves so
his actions, and indeed his very presence, he
weak, and marginalized. The Philippine expe-
has bridged divides by working arduously for
rience has clearly influenced their choice of
equality, justice and peace.
much that they have been serving the poor,
occupations. Even in ordinary professions, they
live the lives of their own choice, not forced
by others.”
Tsuyoshi and his students initiated a waterpump donating project in Negros Occidental,
In his self-published memoir Crosses and
the Philippines and northern Thailand. They
Tigers, Takashi Nagase recounts his experi-
organized an annual peace lecture at home in
ences during the Second World War as an
Japan. They recently completed a four-volume
interpreter for the Japanese Imperial Army in
history of Aoyama Gakuin University and its
Southeast Asia, during which time he wit-
experience as a Christian school during the
nessed the horrendous treatment and not
war, and for this effort won the Japanese
infrequent torture of British and Australian
equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. Notably,
prisoners of war. He recounts as well his work
Tsuyoshi credits the Filipinos, as people whose
immediately following Japan’s surrender, when
faith carries them through the direst of cir-
he participated in the search for the graves of
cumstances, as the wellspring of all of this
the tens of thousands of Allied servicemen who
work. At the Center for Migrant Youth, he
died of starvation, disease, or exhaustion while
stated that the Filipino people have “truly
being forced to build the Thai-Burma Railroad.
been the source of our inspiration, empowerment, and activity.”
In the fall of 1945, some months after the
defeat of Japan, the workers of the Allied War
S C I E N C E S
as well as scholarship programs for children in
“The liberties of
Marlboro’s Town
Meeting government
and the freedom to call
professors by their first
names were not taken
Graves Registration Commission labored to
for granted by him;
Tsuyoshi Amemiya engaged two worlds: He is
identify shallow graves in the Burmese jungle.
they were instead
a Christian born in the heart of a non-
Takashi Nagase was accompanying a search
daily testament to the
Christian country. He is the son of a pacifist
party when a soldier’s probing hoe hit a cor-
inherent value of the
father who endured life in wartime Japan. He
roding gasoline canister. Positioned on the
individual, and to
is an Asian who wrote his college senior thesis
chest of the dead man beneath it, the can con-
equality among all.”
on John Greenleaf Whittier, then studied
tained coal tar, and in the tar was a tightly
American literature at a small college in
sealed cigarette tin. The tin held a handwrit-
Vermont. He is a classroom instructor who
ten note explaining that the man had been
worked to raise the consciousness of his uni-
sick from malaria and could not continue the
versity students through exposure trips to the
brutal march. His captors had let him walk
poorest regions of Asia. He is a peace activist
into the jungle to die. Also on the paper were
who, with his good friend Takashi Nagase,
written the names and ranks of the Japanese
helped bring together former POWs and
commander, the medical doctor, and other sol-
Japanese Army veterans on the River Kwai for
diers whom the man held responsible for his
the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second
death. Takashi Nagase learned that secret doc-
World War, and with Nagase continues to
uments like these were kept by a great many
organize an annual memorial service for the
other British prisoners of war, but it would be
Allied and Commonwealth prisoners who died
decades before he understood the lesson they
in Japan during the war. Through his beliefs,
were imparting to him: A record of what
From boyhood—indeed from birth—
SUMMER–FALL 2002
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5
occurred was the only hope these soldiers had
the war is traceable to the Imperial
for justice after they died. And in Takashi
Rescript on Education, but has its
Nagase’s view, the ultimate source of that jus-
root causes much further back in his-
tice would not necessarily be mere men:
tory. What is certain is that Japan’s
“Some thirty years after the end of the
“Each year the trip has
war I realized the solemn fact: It [was] God
particular, still wait for
that they [the Allied victims] believe[d] in. It
a formal apology.
culminated in the group
was thoughtless of me of little faith to not
making a public apology
understand this. They were expecting God’s
for the atrocities com-
Asian neighbors, Korea and China in
righteousness to be done.”
mitted by the Japanese
Imperial Army during
the Second World War,
something that the
government of Japan
has thus far been
unable to do.”
In the prologue to Crosses and Tigers, Nagase
explains the cultural environment in which
his generation came of age:
I was brought up and educated to
believe in the Imperial Rescript on
Education. The rescript was issued in
1890 in the name of the Emperor
Meiji, with the contents based upon
feudalistic ethics such as loyalty to
the Emperor, patriotism, obedience to
fatherhood as well as predominance
of men over women. Loyalty and obedience to the Emperor was the
essence of the national constitution.
Fundamental human rights were
ignored. The attitudes that stemmed
from these principles shaped the
country’s military planning in the
Second World War as well as the
world view of most individual
Japanese during those years. The
lengthy shadows of these attitudes
have had influence in Japan—sometimes subtle and sometimes not so
subtle—up to the present day. Some
have argued that the Japanese government’s reluctance to apologize for
the country’s military brutality during
6
Tsuyoshi Amemiya is, like Takashi Nagase, the
kind of individual who can point easily to the
pivotal moments in his life, seeing clearly how
those events affected the paths he ultimately
traveled. In 1940 he entered primary school,
where the militaristic training dictated by the
rescript contradicted the love and Christian
charity he found at home, creating a dissonance
that left him confused. While his father (whose
religious devotion caused him to be questioned
continually by the war-time police) died prematurely two years after the war’s end, his son
credits him with the inherited legacy of
Christian faith. Tsuyoshi was baptized at a
small church in Tokyo on Christmas of 1954,
and he says it was then he decided teaching
offered him the best way to serve God. And so
the Christian legacy of his father and his baptism became the derivation of much that would
follow. But two further events in his life would
shape what he would teach and how he would
teach. One was the aforementioned trip to the
Philippines in 1985, and the other his decision
to attend Marlboro College for the 1959–1960
academic year.
After earning a degree in English
Literature from Aoyama Gakuin University in
1957, Tsuyoshi felt a need to further improve
his language skills, his knowledge of literature
in English and his understanding of American
culture. One day he happened upon the name
of Marlboro College in the back of an
American dictionary. He wrote the school,
and two other New England colleges, letters of
inquiry. Marlboro alone answered with an
application. It was reviewed, he was invited,
and he enrolled in the fall semester of 1959.
He was allowed to transfer credits from
Aoyama Gakuin, and the following spring he
became Marlboro’s 100th graduate. When the
college bestowed on him an honorary doctoral
degree 37 years later, he stated, “Such is the
influence of Marlboro that almost everything I
do is connected with Marlboro.”
S C I E N C E S
To understand how profound Marlboro’s
influence has been on his life, one need first
remember that this man came of age in a
defeated nation where vestiges of a feudal and
hierarchical culture, in varying degrees, still
shaded thoughts and actions. As such, the
egalitarianism so fundamental to life at that
considers the word magnanimous in its original
strongly democratic New England college
Latin meaning of “great-souled” as perhaps the
would have been, in Tsuyoshi’s first days as a
best single word to describe this man.
student, thrown into sharp relief. The liberties
Privation was a given in wartime Japan, and
Former Marlboro
of Town Meeting government and the freedom
Tsuyoshi spent much of his boyhood hungry.
President Rod Gander
to call professors by their first names were not
When he received the letter of acceptance
with Tsuyoshi in
taken for granted by him; they were instead
from Marlboro, he was a poor young man living
the 1980s
daily testament to the inherent value of the
in a country still struggling out of poverty.
individual, and to equality among all. Tsuyoshi
He has never forgotten that his Marlboro edu-
has more than once called Marlboro College
cation, as well as the costs incurred in getting
his “true home” probably for many reasons, but
him to New England (he took a freighter
among them surely are these: he had become,
across the Pacific, then a bus from the West
for that single academic year, a member of a
Coast) were paid for by generous people in
community in which every person mattered;
Vermont, and today he repeats the favor in
where he was able to observe, in the way his
kind through financing the education of foster
teachers led their lives, that intellect and
children in the Philippines. And it was at
learning meant more than the headlong rush
Marlboro that he learned the value of small
for material gain; where the bond between
classes and tutorials. His exposure trips over
student and teacher was real, and where
the past 14 years usually involved no more
generosities required no thanks. These things
than 10 students, for he states, “in a big group
were in accord with his deepest values.
you will miss so much and will not learn.”
Tom Ragle, who made the final decision
Unbounded generosity and regard for the indi-
to accept Tsuyoshi as a student (even though
vidual are two of the exposure trip principles
no one knew with certainty on that day how
that very clearly have their roots in his
his travel expenses or tuition would be paid)
Marlboro education.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
7
is the Japanese symbol
for Tsuyoshi, meaning
“strong one.”
Calligraphy by
Marlboro Asian
studies instructor
Seth Harter
Dan Toomey teaches
English and writing at
Landmark College.
8
Saint Augustine explained the nature of
God as being a circle with a center that is
everywhere, and with a circumference that is
nowhere. If God’s nature is made manifest
through a completeness, a harmonizing wholeness; and if God’s goodness is made manifest
through the actions of people who bring what
wholeness they can to this ever-fractured
world, then the life of Tsuyoshi Amemiya has
been, at many levels, a deeply spiritual undertaking. In his exposure trip students’ act of
walking the trail of the Bataan Death March,
there is a telescoping of time, and in their
apology for what the generation of their grandfathers did, a correspondent telescoping of ethical responsibility. Tsuyoshi Amemiya has
insisted time and again that if Japan’s wartime
actions are not acknowledged, remembered,
and atoned for, the same terrible acts will only
be committed again. Having learned the truth
of their country’s history by participating in
the exposure trips, his students and former students will be able, for the rest of their lives, to
work to prevent history from repeating itself.
The oft-repeated story about Emerson looking
through the barred window at Concord Jail
and asking Henry Thoreau what he was doing
in there and receiving as a reply “What are
you doing out there?” is without basis in historical fact. It is nonetheless suitable for mention here because Tsuyoshi Amemiya has for
so long been a student of American letters,
and also because it suggests something about a
significant difference between two kinds of
people: While Emerson talked and wrote,
Thoreau was more likely to act.
Tsuyoshi Amemiya and Takashi Nagase
together accomplished more than perhaps any
in Japan to bring to light to their fellow citizens
the truth of their country’s involvement in the
Second World War. Their courageous work
has not been without cost: Takashi Nagase has
had his life threatened by former Allied prisoners, many of whom have publicly stated
they would kill a Japanese veteran if they ever
encountered one; and he has ample reason to
fear the same from right wing elements in
Japan. Bill Allchin, a British psychiatrist and
a former prisoner of war of the Japanese,
pronounced Takashi Nagase “one of the rarer
men in human history.”
Tsuyoshi Amemiya, too, is one of the rarer
men in human history. For when a person
commits his energy, his time, his thoughts, all
of his resources—his very life—to what he
believes, then that life—if we are willing to
acknowledge it—is demanding any of us who
claim to be people of conscience an answer to
that very same question: What are you doing
out there? People like him do not want to be
honored; they want others to come and work
alongside them. It is the bridging of this
divide—convincing those of good conscience
to act in accordance with their beliefs—that
has time and again proved most difficult for
the peacemakers in world history.
But this 100th graduate of Marlboro
College has bridged divides despite many
obstacles. He has found commonalities in the
disparate cultures of the Orient and of the
West; has worked to open communication
between the peoples of the too-often spiritually
bankrupt North with those of the impoverished
Third World; has reconciled conquerors and
their victims, prisoners and their captors, tortured and their torturers. He has attempted to
draw together fragments of the whole that so
sadly constitute our out-of-balance world. It
has been with God in mind that Tsuyoshi
Amemiya has worked in the altruistic desire
that the hope for justice, or for God’s righteousness, never again comes to be embodied
in a canister of coal tar waiting to be found.
S C I E N C E S
Tracking the double helix
through the wilds of conservation biology
To d d S m i t h
WHEN I
at Marlboro College I
wanted to offer a laboratory course with my
biochemistry and molecular biology classes, so
I poked around in the chemistry laboratory in
the basement of Brown Science Building. A
dusty, homemade acrylic tray was one of the
first things I found. The plastic box was used for
protein electrophoresis: separating proteins with
an electric current. For years this represented
the premier technique for examining genetic
variation in populations. I soon realized that
my find characterized the lab: pieces of old
equipment stashed away in cabinets, every so
often uncovered and rejuvenated by an enterprising student. The process of students building
their own research equipment and then employing it in a project almost always provides a
valuable experience. But this is not the case in
all fields. DNA technology has advanced so
dramatically in the past 10 years that it would
be exceedingly difficult for a student to build
his or her own equipment, or cobble together
an apparatus based on past endeavors.
Molecular genetics is the study of genetic
material, the structure of genes, and their
function at the level of individual molecules.
This aspect of biology has grown tremendously
in the past few decades, affecting nearly every
aspect of the natural sciences. In almost any
future endeavor, college graduates pursuing
work in the life sciences will encounter some
aspect of molecular genetics.
ARRIVED
One of the options we want to offer students at Marlboro is the opportunity to learn a
variety of scientific techniques and how they
are applied to answer various questions. A grant
by The Atlantic Philanthropies to the college
funded construction of a new campus DNA laboratory that will be used for courses and student
research, giving students hands-on experience
with modern techniques in molecular genetics.
The origin of DNA knowledge and
research can be traced to the work of James
Watson and Francis Crick in 1953, when they
deciphered the structure of DNA: a double
helix in which four nitrogen-rich molecules, or
bases—nicknamed A, T, C and G—face each
other in an elegant spiral. It took another 10
years for researchers to decipher what we refer
to as the genetic code. The code consists of
three-letter “words” of A’s, T’s, C’s and G’s in
one strand of the double helix. Through a
molecular intermediary called RNA, the DNA
tells the cell the order in which to string
together amino acids to build specific proteins.
This scheme for how information is stored in
and retrieved from genes is modestly referred
to as the central dogma of molecular biology.
Knowledge of the genetic code, and the
ability to read the code in a process referred to
as sequencing, has led to staggering advances
in scientists’ abilities to understand and
manipulate genetic information. Research in
molecular genetics has created DNA-based
SUMMER–FALL 2002
Todd Smith received his
Ph.D. in biology from
the University of Rhode
Island in 1997. After a
two-year post-doctoral
fellowship with the
National Marine
Fisheries Service in
Narragansett, RI, Todd
came to Marlboro in
1999 as visiting professor of biochemistry.
. Potash Hill
9
Todd Smith
in Marlboro’s
new DNA lab.
Photo by
Larry Broder
10
technology and techniques that can be applied
to almost all aspects of biology. Familiar examples of these applications include the Human
Genome Project, an effort by an international
consortium of public and private laboratories to
read the sequence of, and decipher, the human
genome: the approximately 3 billion-letter string
of A’s, T’s, C’s and G’s contained in the entire
set of human chromosomes. Forensics presents
another high-profile use of the technology for
studying DNA. News reports frequently refer
to the use of DNA for identifying human
remains, catching criminals and exonerating
death-row inmates. DNA for these activities
can be obtained from a miniscule sample of
tissue, such as a hair follicle, a drop of blood or
even cheek cells left on a licked envelope.
Although students will not be examining
DNA from any crime scenes, in the new lab
they can perform many of the techniques used
in molecular genetics today. They can extract
DNA from small samples of animal, plant or
bacterial cells and then, with electrophoresis,
separate pieces of DNA in an electric field
based on their size, then capture a picture of the
DNA with a digital camera and a computer.
I have used some of these techniques in
the new laboratory for a project of my own. I
am interested in the effect that human activities have on aquatic organisms, particularly
fish. For example, runoff from roads and parking lots can raise the temperature in a stream.
Does the increased temperature have any
effect on the fish that live in that stream?
Almost all cells make special proteins (heatshock proteins) when exposed to a sufficiently
severe increase in temperature. To study this
phenomenon in fish I remove a few scales—
which are covered with live cells—and measure the activity of the gene that codes for one
of the heat-shock proteins. One appeal of this
approach is that it is not necessary to kill the
fish to get a sample of tissue, and the fish regrow those scales that I remove. I am also
going to explore whether the same technique
could be used for studying the effects of pollutants on fish. Scientists have found that specific
pollutants alter the activity of specific genes, so
it should be possible to measure the quantity
of a pollutant in a stream and also measure
whether that compound influences gene activity
in fish from that stream.
Although scientists apply the technology
for studying and manipulating DNA to diverse
disciplines, the particular focus of Marlboro’s
DNA lab is on ecology and conservation biology.
The origin of this particular emphasis can be
traced to a Marlboro science graduate, Robert
MacArthur ’51, who went on to become one
of the nation’s most influential ecologists. The
more recent embodiments of this focus are
biology professors Jenny Ramstetter ’80 and
Bob Engel. Together we feel that the new lab
gives students at Marlboro an exciting opportunity to combine theoretical studies, fieldwork
and laboratory analysis for in-depth explorations of ecology and conservation biology.
As an integral piece of this process, the lab
gives students the ability to learn new techniques used in molecular genetics for exploring
DNA, and to apply them to research in ecology
and conservation genetics. Although the focus
of the lab will be learning and applying techniques in molecular genetics, many of the pieces
of equipment in the DNA laboratory are actually
quite versatile, so the lab also offers improved
facilities for work in other areas, such as chemistry, biochemistry and physiology.
What kinds of questions could students
explore? The goal of conservation biology is to
preserve a species, or a habitat that is home to
many species. But scientists first need to know
about the plants and animals in that habitat
and about their relationships to each other. One
way to explore these relationships is through
studying genetic variation. The techniques
I’ve described are particularly well-suited for
exploring genetic variation. The genomes of
do not interbreed for some period of time they
may develop subtle differences that eventually
make interbreeding impossible, and where there
was once one species there are now two. This
is a natural process, but separation imposed on
populations by human activity may happen
more rapidly, or more frequently, or may even
fracture an initial population into many small
fragments. The fear is that the remaining populations are too small, or that their habitat is
too small, and that instead of forming an array
of new species, they will disappear altogether.
In a project I developed to break in our new
lab, two students, Kristina Weeks ’03 and Kathy
O’Dell ’03, undertook with me a study using
DNA fingerprinting. We wanted to use a specific type of DNA variability to distinguish
between individual animals. Our plan was to
start with chickens. A great deal is known about
chicken genetics since there is world-wide
interest in using chickens for eggs and meat.
We collected DNA from the blood of two different breeds of chicken, but also had some
success extracting DNA from discarded feathers, so we probably will not have to be using
needles to draw blood from birds. In studying
this DNA from the chickens we did see differences between the two breeds of chicken, but
we need to fine-tune our technique to distinguish between individuals. Eventually we hope
to extend this work to other species of birds,
perhaps even the peafowl roaming the campus.
Even as advances in molecular genetics
produce astonishing results—such as a draft of
the entire sequence of the human genome—
there is talk of a new cutting edge: a shift from
the genome as the frontier to the proteome as
the frontier; from the information contained
in the genome to the array of proteins made
from those instructions. With such a shift
future students may come to Marlboro wishing
to use protein electrophoresis to study genetic
variations, so I think we’ll hold on to that
homemade acrylic tray for a while.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
S C I E N C E S
most organisms are full of variations—in single
letters (A, T, C, G), in short sections of DNA
that are repeated varying numbers of times
between individuals, as well as different versions of genes that give us such individual
differences as blood-group type.
Scientists use an array of procedures to
detect these variations, and they can be
grouped together under the generic heading of
DNA fingerprinting. Students can use these
fingerprinting techniques to explore questions
on many different scales. A student studying
the breeding behavior of a group of animals
could use DNA fingerprinting to identify the
parents of new offspring; information that might
be difficult or impossible to obtain through
field observations alone. An exciting aspect of
this approach is that it is possible to obtain
DNA from the animals without handling them.
Even minute amounts of DNA extracted from
such sources as fur, scat or feathers can be used
for the fingerprinting assays.
On another scale, DNA samples can be
used to assess the genetic diversity of a population of organisms. Low variability in the DNA
under scrutiny would indicate low genetic
diversity in the population. Theory holds that
populations with low genetic diversity are less
prepared for changes in their environmental or
biological surroundings, whereas greater genetic
diversity provides a higher probability that
some individuals within a population will
survive environmental change.
On a still larger scale, it is possible to
use DNA fingerprinting techniques to assess
whether seemingly separate populations are in
fact interbreeding. Populations separated by
physical barriers, such as rivers and mountains,
or even obstacles of human construction, such as
highways or housing developments, may not be
able to continue to exchange genetic material.
Separation by physical barriers represents one
model favored by scientists to explain the development of new species: When two populations
A digital photo of DNA
after testing different
conditions for making
copies of the gene
for hsp70.
P h o t o b y To d d S m i t h
. Potash Hill
11
Cullen Schneider ’04
12
A R T S
Cullen Schneider brought her camera and her
inspired eye to China in March when she
toured as a member of the Marlboro College
Performance Workshop dance troupe. Funded
by a Freeman Foundation grant and led by
Marlboro Asian studies instructor Seth Harter,
the troupe performed with the Marlboro
Women’s Chorus in front of audiences ranging in size from dozens on the Great Wall to
thousands in Jiangmen. Despite her busy
schedule, Cullen found time to capture on
film a sense of her surroundings.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
13
T H E F AT H E R S
A GIFT
OF
S TA R S
Your wild and steady stars
were out last night,
that great swirl of burning junk
that we make pictures from.
The Great Square of Pegasus,
which I first puzzled out
flat on my back with the star book
in a field at fourteen,
still keeps me kindred
to the Greek shepherd of my imagination,
some kid back there with his sheep
and his head full of stories
and the incomprehensible points of light
beyond counting.
And the Great Bear, in his slow
apparent motion, pointing
always at the solid Pole Star
that made this new world possible,
still reproaches all the others
with simplicity.
But now, in all of them,
in all this burning, whirling world
I know that you
are solid too to hold
and hold me solidly in turn.
They leave.
They go away.
And we are left,
ponderously feeling our way
out of the shock of abandonment
into our new isolation
and responsibility for having wished
not to be left but to go
and now certain that our days
are to be lived out in atonement.
And when we love,
it is to rediscover
all the dumb hurt and fear,
all the wrong ways of being
loved or of loving
until that unsettled moment
comes when the crumbling pretense
abandons us to that raw time
in a childhood we had thought happy
and to the incumbent misery
of separation.
P o e m s b y T. H u n t e r W i l s o n
14
A R T S
SMOG
for Jill
The sea we sat beside
was smooth and oily gray,
as flat and still as quickly melting ice.
The sky was a surface
without depth that met
the sea in an indeterminate
streak. The city too was muted
silver, its lines uncertain
in a molten sheen
of wavering glass and stone.
And the smell of too much ozone
was like leaves smouldering
in another season,
in the gutters.
A group of mothers
managing small children who kept
slipping off toward the water-edge
kept up a conversation
on which we eaves-dropped,
smiling at the familiar
worries we were on beyond.
Our breakfast came
with a distracting click of china
on the varnished table, and we kept up
the desultory chat
of those who’ve weathered
crises.
A pressure rose then
in the air
and acquired direction:
behind us and above,
the air moved and cleaned
until a bracing exhalation
of clear air
from the interior
disturbed the water’s rim
and purged the atmosphere,
leaving as its wake
a widening, rippling surface.
The farther out the ripples went
the farther we could see.
DOZER
Whether a bell on a bicycle is
more useful than rubber boots
and a wheel barrow depends
on whether travel or gardening
is in the offing and, if travel,
whether the way is crowded, and with what:
the bell may alarm pedestrians
out of the way or alert the lazing
driver, dawdling along with windows open.
But the lumbering lorry
or elephant had better be avoided
than signaled. If the travel is only local,
out among the flower beds in the dew
under a morning moon fragment,
then the boots are better, and the barrow
to weed into or get started
on that bigger project: getting that rock out
from the middle, with a bar, maybe,
and a come-along, prying and hauling,
rolling it up to the barrow and in,
knowing we won’t travel far
with that tippy dead weight
but satisfied that the obstacle
we’ve looked at and wrestled over
can finally be lurched off to the edges,
so after lunch on the garden bench
we can settle down with the newspaper
and doze off.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
T. Wilson has taught
writing and literature at
Marlboro College since
1971 and publishes
occasionally in small
magazines.
. Potash Hill
15
The Knight of the Side-Hill Wumpus
Adapted from a picture book written by
L a u r a C . S t e v e n s o n a n d i l l u s t r a t e d b y U l l a Va l k ’ 0 3
Quilliam was a Hedgepig.
He lived in the lea of a Hummocky Hill, in a hamlet huddled under the holly hedge that separated the pastures of
Nusquam from the mountains of Nil. It was a perilous place, for beyond the Hummocky Hill, there lurked a Side-Hill
Wumpus.
The Hedgepigs were warily watchful. Every evening, the patrols of the Heroic Hedgepig Hussars poked their noses
out of their burrows,
sniff
sniff,
sniffing.
And scouted along the holly hedge,
snuff
snuff
snuffing.
If they sniffed no snuffle of the Side-Hill Wumpus, they squeaked a signal, and all the other Hedgepigs scrambled
out onto the open.
The older Hedgepigs dug grubs for the Hussars’ dinner. The young ones ran scrabble scrubble scrabble scrubble
after beetles for their dessert.
After the Hussars had feasted, they marched magnificently over the Hummocky Hill to watch for the Wumpus.
After their own simple suppers, the young Hedgepigs wrestled, raced, and marched.
All but Quilliam.
He had been born without a right hind leg. Everybody said it was all right, but it wasn’t.
When he tried to wrestle, he fell over.
When he tried to race scrabble scrubble scrabble scrubble, he could only hobble snuffle wuffle shuffle
snuffle wuffle shuffle.
So of course he couldn’t march. He could only watch.
One moonlit evening, when Quilliam was watching races, a breeze blew across
the finish line. And on that breeze was scrumptious smell.
Quilliam sniffed.
Something soury spicy sweet.
Quilliam snuffed.
Something temptingly tangy tart.
16
It was coming from behind the Hummocky Hill. Quivering all over, he started towards it. Snuffle wuffle shuffle,
snuffle wuffle shuf …
“Lookoutlookout … LOOK OUT!!!” shouted the other young Hedgepigs.
“The racers are finishing!”
Quilliam stumbled back just in time to keep from being bowled over by the big brawny Hedgepig
who finished first.
“Hurrah for Spinoza!” cheered the other Hedgepigs. But Spinoza spun around savagely.
“What’s the matter with you?” he squealed. “You almost made me lose!”
“I’m sorry,” said Quilliam. “I was thinking.”
“You’re always thinking!” said Spinoza.
“I know,” said Quilliam apologetically. “But there’s a scrumptious sniff.”
The other Hedgepigs stopped giggling and started snuff
snuff
snuffing.
“Something soury spicy sweet,” murmured one.
“Something temptingly tangy tart,” whispered another.
“Yes!” said Quilliam. “Something terrifically tasty! So I decided to follow the Hussar’s path around the
Hummocky Hill to find it.”
“Good idea!” said Spinoza. “Glad I thought of it!” He stepped in front of the other Hedgepigs. “All right,
everybody—forward, march!”
And they all ran off, scrabble scrubble scrabble scrubble.
Quilliam followed as fast as he could, snuffle wuffle shuffle, snuffle wuffle shuffle. But by the time he’d reached
the Meadow of Mars where the Heroic Hedgepig Hussars were drilling, he was hopelessly behind.
The Captain of the Hussars caught sight of him as they all marched by.
“Company, halt!” he said.
The Hussars stopped in perfectly parallel rows. They looked beautiful and brave with their flying flags and
shiny silver swords.
The Captain pointed at the other young Hedgepigs, who were scrabble scrubbling towards the path at
the bottom of the Hummocky Hill.
“Where are Spinoza and the others off to?” he said.
“There’s a scrumptious sniff in the breeze, sir” said Quilliam, “and they’re following it.”
“Scrumptious sniff!” said the Captain. “I should say so! It’s the sniff of great, green, grandiloquent,
gristly-bristly gooseberries—the most fabulous food there ever was! BUT—
Those gooseberries grow at the end of a slippery slope between a craggy cliff and a plunging perpendicular
precipice.
They bristle in a blighted burdock bed to the west of a wasted wall.
And beyond the blighted burdock bed is the lair of the Side-Hill Wumpus.”
“Oh, no!” gasped Quilliam.
“Oh, yes!” said the Captain. “So you run after the others, and tell them that great, green, grandiloquent,
gristly-bristly gooseberries are OFF LIMITS.”
“But sir,” said Quilliam. “I’m very sl –”
“No back-talk!” snapped the Captain. “Hurry! If you don’t, your friends will be Hedgepig
fricassee.” He turned back to the Hussars. “Forward, march!”
The Hussars marched off in perfectly parallel rows.
“Hurry!” said Quilliam to himself. And he hurried.
He hobbled down the Hummocky Hill: snuffle wuffle shuffle, snuffle wuffle shuffle.
He slithered along the slippery slope, gulping as he glanced over the plunging perpendicular precipice.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
17
Finally he came to the wasted wall. He could hear the others scrabble scrubbling up and down the far side, snuffing
for the source of the scrumptious sniff. It was very close; Quilliam could smell it. But he could also smell a whiff of
Wumpus.
“Hurry!” he whispered to himself. And he began to climb. snuf- snuf-snuf - snuffle oooooof wuf- wuf -wuffle
eeeeerg shuf- shuf- shuffle aaaaaargh
At last, he hauled himself onto the top. But as he rested, the shaky stone he sat on
suddenly
sliiiiiiiiipped
sliiiiiiiiiiid
skiiiided
down the far side
… and landed him in a prodigiously prickly bush filled with bristly berries. He wiggled and writhed, but his quills
were totally tangled in the prickles.
Spinoza looked up from the blighted burdock bed and snickered. The other young Hedgepigs gathered
around Quilliam, giggling.
“Don’t laugh!” begged Quilliam. “I have an Important Message!”
The others giggled harder.
Quilliam opened his mouth to try again. But a bristly berry fell into it.
A soury spicy sweet berry.
A temptingly tangy tart berry.
“OOOOH!” he murmured.
“What are you eating?” said Spinoza.
“The source of the scrumptious sniff,” said Quilliam dreamily. He picked a berry with his upside down
paw and dropped it to Spinoza. “A great, green, grandiloquent, gristly-bristly gooseberry.”
Spinoza nibbled the berry cautiously. “OOOOOH!” he murmured.
“See?” said Quilliam. “It’s the most fabulous food there ever was!”
“Let us taste!” squeaked the other Hedgepigs. And they all gobbled greedily, drooling gross green,
grandiloquent, gristly-bristly gooseberry goo down their chins.
18
“Wait!” shouted Quilliam. “The Captain of the Hussars says these gooseberries are OFF LIMITS!”
“Hedgefeathers!” snickered Spinoza. “You just want them all for yourself.”
“Right!” said the others. And they kept gobbling.
Suddenly, they heard a far-off sound. Kawump kawumpus, kawump kawumpus. They froze, listening, as it came nearer
and nearer. Kawump kawumpus, kawump kawumpus. Kawump kawumpus, kawump kawumpus.
Spinoza began to shake and quake. “The Side-Hill Wumpus!” he whispered.
The other Hedgepigs scrabble scrubbled in circles. “The Side-Hill Wumpus!” they bleated. “What’ll we
do? What’ll we do?”
“We’ll have to fetch the Heroic Hedgepig Hussars,” said Quilliam. “But there’s only time for one of us to
climb the wall. Spinoza should go—he’s the fastest runner.”
“Good idea!” said Spinoza. “Glad I thought of it!” and he scrambled over the wall.
“Quick, you others!,” said Quilliam, “If the Wumpus sees you, you’ll be Hedgepig fricassee! Curl up
under the burdock leaves, so you look like burrs. Don’t move until the Heroic Hedgepig Hussars get here.”
The Hedgepigs looked at each other; then they obeyed orders. In a moment, the blighted bed looked
absolutely empty, except for sixteen shaking burdock leaves.
Quilliam curled up in his bush and tried to look like a great, green, grandiloquent, gristly-bristly gooseberry.
Kawump kawumpus, kawump kawumpus. The Wumpus loped into the blighted burdock bed. It
stopped. It sniffed. Slowly, its fierce fangs stretched into a smile.
“Great, green, grandiloquent gristly-bristly gooseberries!” it roared. “Yum, yum, yum!”
It kawumped through the shivering burdock plants and stopped just below Quilliam. Standing on its long
lolling downhill legs, it plucked gooseberries off the bush with the claws of its short sinewy uphill legs.
Quilliam curled up tighter as the click of claws came
nearer
nearer
nearer
and the gurgle of gooseberry guzzling grew
louder
louder
louder.
Suddenly, four claws closed around him.
Pulled him from the prickles.
Moved him towards the fierce fangs . . .
And stopped.
“My sainted aunt!” woofed the Wumpus. “A succulent young Hedgepig!”
It lifted Quilliam to the top of the wall and held him there with a clawed uphill paw. “Wait there,
young’un,” it said, licking its chops. “Then you can join me for dinner. After I’ve gathered some great, green,
grandiloquent, gristly-bristly gooseberries, I’ll make the most fabulous fricassee there ever was.”
Quilliam’s quills quivered–but then he heard a faint faraway sound. Scrabble left scrubble right scrabble left scrubble right …
The Heroic Hedgepig Hussars were marching towards him, double quick.
Quilliam squinted back along the slippery slope from between the Wumpus’s claws. He couldn’t see the
Hussars, but he saw something else. A few feet away, a slanting slate leaned against the far side of the wasted
wall. If he could reach it, he could roll down it—and it looked as if there were a shadowed space between it and
the wall where a Hedgepig could hide.
The Wumpus opened his claws. “Stay still, Hedgepig,” it snarled. “I need a burdock leaf to hold these
gorgeous gristly-bristly gooseberries. But if you so much as quiver one quill, you’re hors d’oeuvres.” It gave Quilliam
a grizzly glance, kawumped towards the nearest burdock leaf—and cocked its head. “What’s that?” it muttered.
Quilliam knew what it was: the Hedgepig underneath the burdock leaf was whimpering. He shuffled towards the
slanting slate. One step. Another. Another …
The Wumpus sniffed the burdock leaf suspiciously.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
19
“You witless Wumpus!” shouted Quilliam. “You’ve lost your fricassee!” Curling up, he rolled
down the slanting slate. At the bottom, he scuttled towards the shadowed space. It was stuffed with stones.
Behind him, something scrabbled. Looking up, he saw the Wumpus pull itself to the top of the wall with
its short sinewy up-hill legs.
“Aha!” it said. “I see you, Hedgepig!”
There was only one thing to do; meet the Heroic Hedgepig Hussars. Quilliam began to run.
Shuffle wuffle snuffle, shuffle wuffle snuffle.
The Wumpus scrambled down the wall and dashed after him. Kawump kawumpus kawump kawumpus.
Shuffle wuffle snuffle, shuffle wuffle snuffle. Quilliam looked desperately over his shoulder. The
Wumpus’s long lolling down-hill legs leveled it on the slippery slope, so its short sinewy uphill legs were perfectly
placed in every speedy stride. But as for him, every snuffle wuffle he shuffled slid him sideways towards the plunging perpendicular precipice, because he had no right hind leg to steady him.
Kawump kawumpus kawump kawumpus
Kawump kawumpus kawump kawumpus
There was no hope, not even when he slithered around a corner and saw the faraway Heroic Hedgepig
Hussars draw their shiny silver swords and charge. Scrabble left scrubble right scrabble left scrubble right. But by
the time they got to him, it would be too late.
Suddenly, he had a Thought.
What if the Side-Hill Wumpus had to run the same way he did, with its lesser legs on the down-hill side?
What would happen? What would have to happen?
There was no time for more thinking–he could feel the Wumpus’s breath hot on his quills. All he could do
was try.
20
He whirled around clumsily, curled up as tightly as he could, and rolled between the Wumpus’s legs.
SNAP!
The fierce fangs grazed Quilliam’s quills—but they missed. Shaking with fear, Quilliam uncurled himself
and shuffled back the way he had come.
The Wumpus howled a horrendous howl and whirled around. As it ran the other way, its long lolling
down-hill legs kawumped on the up-hill side of the slippery slope. And its short sinewy up-hill legs kawumped on
the down-hill side. It tilted. It thrashed. It tripped. It rolled towards the edge of the plunging perpendicular precipice
teetered
tottered
fell
Down
Down
Down
Down
D
O
W
N
And landed with a colossal
kawump on three big, black boulders.
The Heroic Hedgepig Hussars halted. The captain walked to the edge of the
plunging perpendicular precipice.
Quilliam shook the tears out of his eyes, wiped his nose with
his paw, and limped towards him.
Snuffle Wuffle Shuffle,
Snuffle Wuffle Shuffle,
Snuffle Wuffle Shuffle.
Together they looked down.
The captain sheathed his shiny silver sword. “You have defeated the arch-enemy
of the Hedgepig Hamlet,” he said to Quilliam. “And you have saved your friends
from being made into Hedgepig fricassee. Good work.”
Quilliam wiped his nose again. “Thank you, sir,” he said.
The Heroic Hedgepig Hussars cheered. Then they carried Quilliam back to the
holly hedge on their shoulders, with all their flags flying.
The next day, the Hedgepigs fixed a fabulous feast in Quilliam’s honor. At the splendid
ceremony that followed, Spinoza and the other young Hedgepigs gave him a Magnificent
Medallion of Merit, and the Captain of the Hussars dubbed him Knight of the Side-Hill
Wumpus. Henceforth, all the Hedgepigs called him Sir Quilliam, and they treated him
with great respect.
But glory did not spoil Quilliam. If you go to the holly hedge that separates the
pastures of Nusquam from the mountains of Nil, you will find that he still lives
modestly with his fellow Hedgepigs, and feasts, in season, on great, green,
grandiloquent gristly-bristly gooseberries.
Laura Stevenson has published several young adult novels, most recently All the Kings Horses
(Transworld, 2001). She has taught writing and literature at Marlboro since 1986. Ulla Valk,
a senior from Tallinn, Estonia, is studying print making and drawing at Marlboro.
“Dedicated to the gang of 15, with love.”
To purchase a fully illustrated copy of this story, contact the Marlboro College Bookstore.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
21
Plenty to protest
French politics in 2002 is a lot like Louisiana politics in 1991
Ethan Gilsdorf
T HE
Photo by
Ethan Gilsdorf
22
I
BEGAN WRITING THIS ,
I could
hear outside my window in Paris the steady chanting
and footsteps of yet another manif (short for “manifestation,” or demonstration). In a country where the
idea of political protest is second nature, it seems
the French always find something to dispute. Even
the lowering of the work week to a governmentmandated 35 hours last year was met with strikes.
But this crowd had
ample cause for dissent:
Jean-Marie Le Pen,
leader of the country’s
reactionary National
Front party, had just
eked ahead of Socialist
Prime Minister Lionel
Jospin, who was also
vying for the presidential
top spot along with
incumbent conservative
Jacques Chirac. That
meant Le Pen and
Chirac would go headto-head on May 5. If
elected, Le Pen pledged
to end legal immigration, eliminate dual nationality,
pull France out of the EU and give French citizens
priority for all jobs and public housing. Once he
outlawed the wearing of yarmulkes and Muslim
headscarves in schools, he’d only allow French citizens to teach. Then he’d expand and give new
rights to the police force and create 200,000 new
prison beds. This from the man who claimed the
Nazi gas chambers were “a detail in history.”
Within 12 hours of the polls closing, newspaper headlines declared séisme (“earthquake,”
“upheaval”) in enormous type. Graffiti appeared
everywhere: Le Pen à la benne, (“Le Pen in the
dumpster”), Le Pen dehorSS (“Le Pen Get Out,” the
last two letters capitalized to highlight the candidate’s Nazi-like policies). In the Metro, I saw
scrawled across ads for lingerie and the Ile-deFrance regional train map “Je suis français et j’ai
honte” (“I am French and I am ashamed”), or simply
the monosyllable “Non.” Protests continued every
night for a week. I watched a slouching teen buy a
NIGHT
newspaper with Le Pen’s face emblazoned across the
front, draw his finger like a gun and aim point
blank into page one. Pan! Boum!
France in 2002 reminds me of Baton Rouge in
1991, when I was a grad student at Louisiana State
University during the gubernatorial race. Emboldened
by a second-place finish in the 1990 U.S. Senate
race (with 43.5 percent, and a surprising 60 percent
of the white vote), candidate David Duke, an LSU
alumnus and former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard,
returned to campus to rally like the good old days
(although as a student in the 1970s, he preferred to
parade around in a Nazi uniform). In the free-for-all
first-round gubernatorial election, (more like
France’s wide-open first round than the two-party
primary process used in most of the United States)
Duke ousted struggling incumbent Buddy Roemer
to win a runoff spot against three-term former
Governor Edwin Edwards, an indicted criminal.
“Vote for the Crook—It’s Important” announced
bumper stickers of the electorate’s grim choices.
Some protests came to LSU and the state, but not
on the massive scale that would visit France. The
crook defeated the threat.
Nonetheless emboldened by his latest secondplace showing, Duke pursued the 1992 Republican
presidential nomination, the governor’s mansion
again in 1995, and the Senate in 1996. His relatively
poor showing in these races led many to count him
out, but in 1998 he drew 19 percent of the first-round
vote for Bob Livingston’s congressional seat—good
enough for third place. The same year, Duke reverted to overt racist and anti-Semitic views when he
published his 700-page autobiography My Awakening.
Abandoning Duke’s previously coded rhetoric, the
polemic baldly claims blacks are genetically inferior
to whites, while suggesting Jews (who control everything) and gentiles are “in a state of ethnic war.”
Around the same time that Duke founded the
White Youth Alliance at LSU in 1972, Le Pen created the National Front. As a member of parliament,
Le Pen slowly pushed his party’s share of the national
vote up from less than 1 percent in 1974 to 14 percent in 1988 and 15 percent in 1995. This year,
many who voted for Le Pen immediately retracted
their support, professing the need to “shake up the
recession, the privileged classes worry which ethnic
group will snatch up their jobs. Louisiana, with the
second-highest poverty rate in the country, rarely
enjoys bountiful times.
In the United States these days, terrorism from
abroad defines the native fear, not black vs. white
talk. But in the long-standing American tradition,
it’s only a matter of time before a new group, such
as Muslims, becomes the demon du jour to hate and
fear. Which brings us back to France.
One of the odd effects of living in Paris as a
foreigner is that political events can be easily, foolishly, dismissed. I could sit in my flat and listen to the
marchers shuffling by and think, “I’m not French. This
isn’t my country.” Of course, that’s horse merde. As an
expatriate, especially an expat American writer, I can’t
stick my head in the Seine. Dissenting Americans
are needed to counteract the bad rep the U.S. gets
as it backs out of widely agreed-upon international
partnerships on landmines, global warming, a World
Court, missile defense, nuclear testing, small arms
trafficking, even racism. The list grows daily.
Compared to Le Pen—and Duke—President
Bush seems enlightened. But the danger is that the
seeds of Bush’s base belief—a kind of Solo World
Order—could blossom with the David Dukes of the
United States into a national reactionary movement on the scale of Le Pen’s. After his strong
showings of the 1990s, I wonder, did Duke embolden racists in Louisiana or elsewhere to commit the
black church burnings throughout the South? Did
Le Pen and Duke’s rise in the late 1980s and 1990s
help the cause of Pat Buchanan and Pat Robertson’s
presidential bids? Will Le Pen’s present success in
France legitimize far-right groups throughout Europe
and the wilds of America?
It’s hard to track cause and effect, but when
skinhead violence erupts in former East Germany, a
reactionary is invited into Austria’s coalition government and the Netherlands are ruled in part by a
bizarre anti-immigration party, the phenomenon of
international racism begins to mimic chaos theory
or viral marketing. Ignorance travels as fast as fear.
Cross-pollination can be volatile. Mutant varieties
spread and no anti-virus software can stop them. No
country seems safe. Unwilling to fade away, David
Duke spent three months in Russia last year where
he held a rally and met with anti-Semitic groups
and members of parliament. Which should give us
all plenty to protest.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
P E R S P E C T I V E
system” during a disillusioned electoral season of
incumbents perceived as out of touch and corrupt.
A sizable portion of the French electorate harbors
real fears of urban crime infecting rural areas and a
Republic becoming less white and beret-wearing.
When ethnic tensions rise, extremists like Le Pen
exploit nostalgia for the old France, much like populations in former Soviet states feeling wistful for a
return to law and order under Communism. Le
Pen’s tactics, like Duke’s, play into ongoing white
middle-class anger and paranoia of crime, the welfare state, immigration and the loss of “Western”
culture. Just two years ago, as if to connect the two
movements, and continents, David Duke, calling
himself a “civil rights activist,” complemented his
National Association for the Advancement of White
People (NAAWP) by founding the National Organization for European American Rights (NOFEAR).
As it turns out, Chirac crushed Le Pen in the
May 5th run off, taking 82 percent of the vote and,
later, securing 399 of 577 parliamentary seats with
his center-right union that denied the National
Front a single spot. In the days to come, as the
shock fades, the French may see their earthquake as
a blessing. Even the mere threat of Le Pen’s election
might prove to vying groups—immigrants of North
African descent, Jews, and West Africans—that a
blow against one is a blow against all. (The recent
rash of French synagogue torchings and Jewish
cemetery trashings were seen as Arab acts of twisted
solidarity with the Palestinian cause, unlikely committed by Le Pen’s people who, theoretically, would
despise both Jews and Arabs.) In any case, Jews
ought to see eye-to-eye with African Muslims on the
Le Pen issue, and strangely, his hateful, xenophobic
proposals could help unite long-opposed minorities,
and jump-start a much needed debate on how to
integrate France’s Arab population of 5 to 8 million.
But given France’s chronic sense of superiority, the
hope of racial reconciliation offers but small comfort in the face of international electoral shame.
States like Louisiana, poor and still largely segregated, will always struggle with issues surrounding
race. Unlike in France, racism in much of America
is so familiar it is easily ignored, making it unlikely
any single incident—even a nearly successful bid by
a bigoted politician—will inspire an epiphanous
moment of racial healing. And ultimately it is economics, not politics, that drives tolerance. In bountiful times, citizens share their civic spirit; in a
Ethan Gilsdorf worked
as Marlboro’s public
relations and student
activities director from
1996 to 1999. His work
can be found in, among
other publications, The
Boston Globe Magazine,
Poetry and Poets and
Writers. He now lives
in Paris as a freelance
journalist, and can
be reached at
egilsdorf@yahoo.com.
. Potash Hill
23
O N
&
O F F
T H E
H I L L
“I want to retire from big thoughts.”
O N
An interview with Jet Thomas
&
T. W i l s o n
O F F
James E. “Jet” Thomas arrived at Marlboro in the fall of 1973, an ordained Baptist minister with a divinity
T H E
degree from Harvard and a Ph.D. from Claremont, having spent the previous dozen years as an administrator and instructor at Harvard. At Marlboro Jet quickly emerged as a charismatic campus leader, teaching
religion and philosophy and holding many roles, including dean of faculty and most recently liaison to Huron
H I L L
University in London. T. Wilson, a writing and literature instructor and good friend of Jet’s, sat down
with him and a tape recorder and had the following conversation.
T: I mentioned to my mother that I was doing this interview with you, and she said, “Why?” and I
said, “Because Jet’s retiring.” She said, “Retiring? He hasn’t been around here anywhere near long
enough to retire.”
J: Well, that’s one reason I’m ready to retire, I don’t want to stay too long. I think it’s time for me
to do something else.
T:
You’ve been here since 1973. In that time, you’ve been dean, you’ve been involved in
various efforts at planning and committee work and, all the time, teaching. I wonder what
sorts of things you look back on with the most satisfaction.
J: Well, of course, I would have to answer that question on a number of levels, and on
each level I have something to be deeply satisfied with. From an administrative standpoint, I did things that I think were important, but not necessarily more important to me
than some things I did with students on Plan.
The work we’ve been able to do together as a faculty at Marlboro has always been
extremely satisfying. I’ve been proud of our faculty and the sense of collegiality that has
affected the history of the college, such as the time we voted to take a salary cut rather than lose a
position on the faculty, because it would have diminished the curriculum to have done so.
On the other hand, Marlboro is not just an institutional structure and a curriculum and
committees and groups, it is all the one-on-one interactions among people that make Marlboro
important. It’s always delighted me at the college that the staff from top to bottom are part of the
community and talk at Town Meeting. I was delighted to have Don Capponcelli, the carpenter of
the college, sit in on my Reading the Bible classes. The freedom for all of us to talk about things
and share our ideas has always been particularly valuable to me. I would have a hard time, I think,
picking out big events that really stand out.
Above: T. Wilson.
Left: Emily Anderson
and Jet Thomas.
Photo by
Dianna Noyes ’80
T:
We sometimes tend to underestimate the ongoing texture of the day-to-day. One of the things
that surprises me often is that people who come from other places are here for a day and they
already sense it, they already say, “You people are awfully fond of each other!”
J: It would be hard for them not to do so. I would extend that, because I think of faculty as a collegial body, and that collegiality extends outward in circles around it, so that we have the same
kinds of relationships with students, and the same kinds of relationships with our trustees. One of
the most interesting parts of being at Marlboro all these years has been getting really to know the
board of trustees. That doesn’t happen in other places, I don’t think.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
25
T: No, I’m sure not, and I’m sure that changes from time to time. I mean, in the early days I gather
the trustees met almost on a weekly basis with the faculty and students to see whether they could
keep going for another week.
J: Well, I must say I take tremendous satisfaction in the solid condition of the college. I credit the
faculty, again, and the staff, who created an institution that could garner the kind of support that
Paul and the board of trustees have been able now to bring to us. That couldn’t have happened if
we hadn’t struggled through those faculty meetings and through some of the mistakes we have made.
T: I’d like to back up a bit: What brought you to Marlboro? It is unusual, after all, for someone
already well into a career. Most of us have come straight out of graduate school.
J: Yes, it is. Well, as you know, I was doing a lot of mostly administrative work at Harvard and some
teaching. During the ’68–’69 school year things got very heated at Harvard. I was involved, myself,
in war resistance. I was the only person in the Harvard administration who was opposed to the war in Vietnam publicly and
went protesting and things like that. Harvard was a conservative
place in that regard, in those days. Then when the administration building was taken over by the students, who occupied it
eventually, including my office, of course, and they came out and
said, “You have to leave.” I said, “Why should I leave?” and they
said, “Because this building’s occupied,” and I said, “Well, obviously it’s occupied, you’re here, I’m here, I don’t object to your
being here, why would you object to my being here?” So I had a
big argument with them. Finally, I said, “I’m sorry. I’m opposed to
the war too, but I think that you are placing the university
between you and the government. It is the government that we
should be protesting against, and so I’m not going to get up and
walk out. I am so opposed to the war in Vietnam that I am not
going to support a bad tactic, which you are bullying me to do. If
you want me to leave, you’ll have to carry me out.” And they did.
They carried me out the door and put me down.
“I’ve been at Marlboro
for almost 30 years, and
I enjoy Marlboro just
as much as I did
when I first came.”
T: They didn’t put you on a bus that stopped at Marlboro?
J: No, but my coming to Marlboro was the end of this process. I became ultimately so at odds with
the Harvard administration when they called in the police and so on. I became increasingly alienated from this big, corporate institute. I had become very good friends with [Harvard sociologist and
friend of Marlboro] David Riesman and I told him I just wanted to go where I could spend more
time teaching. He wanted me to become secretary of education or something like that. The other
job that I seriously considered was the vice-chancellor at Washington University in St. Louis,
because Bill Danforth was chancellor there. But David knew that I wanted to go to a small place
where I could teach and get to know the students. The next thing I knew Tom Ragle called me up and
in typical Tom Ragle fashion, managed to get me to pay for our lunch at the Harvard faculty club.
T: That’s not fair!
J: Well, back in those days—I didn’t disapprove at all: I had a job, at least, so I could pay. At any
rate, he said, “We know you would like to teach religion and philosophy and it happens Marlboro
is looking for a religion teacher.” I came up and I met Corky Kramer and Bob Skeele. I felt right at
home at Marlboro except for, a real difference between me and you, and that’s the dining hall. I
can remember when I first came here from Harvard I was shocked by the dining hall. Just shocked!
And I continued to be.
26
O N
At Harvard I had these oak bookshelves and red carpet on the floor, fireplace in my office,
and I didn’t mind leaving all that, but the dining hall seemed to be to be just sort of like a summer
camp or something. But I was so comfortable with everyone I met and with the ambiance at
Marlboro when I came up here, that I didn’t have to think very much about it.
What’s really wonderful about Marlboro over the years is the consistency between our academic
&
standards and our community standards and our institutional standards. After I had been dean of
faculty here for eight years, I was very tired and became disillusioned, both depressed and alienated,
O F F
and I thought seriously about just leaving Marlboro. I looked around at a couple of other places
and other jobs, and I wasn’t really impressed by any of it. I talked to Stephen Graubard, who was
T H E
the editor of Daedelus, who knew Marlboro through the Music School. He said, “You know, you
could probably find a good job somewhere else teaching and administering in that combination—
H I L L
But,” he said, “you will never find another place where your personal values and the values of the
institution where you are working match up in the way they do at Marlboro. You think about that a
long time before you go somewhere else.” He suggested I stop being dean and go back to teaching.”
He was absolutely right on both counts, of course. As you know, having had the same experience,
it’s like getting out of jail, in a way, to be just teaching. We say “Just teaching.” We say that at
Marlboro. I don’t think there’s anyplace else that would say that.
T: What are you going to miss the most? Do you feel ready to move on?
J: Yeah, and I don’t exactly know why, because it’s not because I’m unhappy about things. I love
Marlboro—now, I cannot say that about Harvard. I learned a lot about Harvard, and I respect
Harvard. But by the end of 11, 12 years there, I was really ready to leave, because I had become
alienated from the institution. I’ve been at Marlboro for almost 30 years, and I enjoy Marlboro just
as much as I did when I first came.
We both know, T., that the curriculum at Marlboro allows for the most unbelievable kinds of
scholarly teaching on the undergraduate level, that happens almost nowhere else. By scholarly
teaching, I mean teaching that results in us learning new things. Not just teaching the things you
already know. You can’t do Plans at Marlboro without opening yourself up. I mean, we all get
assignments from our seniors. This is a reversal of roles here; it is really unusual in American higher
education. They are assigning us things to read!
T: Yes, it’s true: “Can you read all this by Wednesday?”
J: So of all the people who have gone to Marlboro during the 29 years that I’ve been here, I think
I’ve learned the most: I’ve had 29 years of being taught by my students.
I will miss the trail right out behind the little house I’ve lived in since I first came here—that
had been John MacArthur’s mother Olive’s. But I also feel like I’ve been institutionalized in a way,
too, almost all my life. And I am sort of ready to be deinstitutionalized. I think most of all, T., I
really would like to have my time to myself. I’ve always been sort of a serious person. My mother
says I was a little old man from the age of two.
T: My mother says much the same.
J: I’m not sure in either case they mean it as a compliment.
T: No, my mother definitely does not.
J: I do know that I am the kind of person who has lived his whole life always making commitments
ahead of time. And then I do the things I say I’m going to do, so for most of my adult life, I could
tell you at least a year ahead pretty much what I’m going to be doing almost every day. And I’d like
now to have some time, at least, when I get up in the morning, I have no commitments. That won’t
be possible, but I want to have more of that. I’m certainly not going to just walk away from Marlboro
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
27
College. Huron University very kindly asked me to serve on the Board of Academic Governors,
which means I’ll go there a couple times a year, whatever happens between Marlboro and Huron.
My base is really Norfolk, Virginia, and I have not lived there for a long time. My mother is
still there, and my brother and his wife have a house near there, and I have an aunt and cousins
there. It is where I grew up. Of course I will still have all of my friends and connections here in
Marlboro, and the farm in Maine. So I’m really looking forward to all of that.
T: What about the wider world? What’s your sense of how the world that students come to
Marlboro from has changed, and how have they changed?
J: I have thought a lot about that. When I first came to Marlboro, I felt that one of my responsibilities as a teacher was to help people call into question the opinions they already had. To consider
them within some sort of relatively formal intellectual context. That’s a deconstructive move, in a
way. I don’t think that was inappropriate for then. Students who came to Marlboro back in those
days had opinions. Those were the days of student
activism, and, boy, did they have opinions. Some right,
some wrong, but they had them. Today it seems as if students don’t really trust their intellectual opinions. So
often discussions end up not with “I think,” but with “I
feel,” because students seem to believe their feelings are
all they can absolutely know for sure. The only indubitable thing is not the “I think” but the “I feel.”
T: But “I feel” is not really much of a claim on the world.
It’s entirely …
J: It’s just internal. That’s quite different. The real respon“The real responsibility
now is to help people
know how to construct
points of view…”
sibility now is to help people know how to construct
points of view, rather than to call into question points of view that people have. It may be that
students who come now are really much more open to multiple points of view, which of course is
one of the goals of liberal education, to open you to that, whereas before, perhaps they were not.
T: That’s certainly an interesting response, but it’s also a more philosophical response, which I
suppose I should have expected. But I wonder about the political shift that’s taking place in association with that philosophical shift. We were talking earlier about the role that students played as
activists, not only within our institution and within institutions across the country, but also within
the larger political sphere. I mean, students were a political force. You can’t say that they were terribly well organized, but they were certainly part of the domestic and foreign policy dialogue in a
way that they are not now.
J: Oh, I certainly agree with that.
T: So I wonder what you think about the direction of the country, and beyond that, the world.
J: Well, I don’t know, that’s a big question.
T: Yes, I didn’t say I was going to ask you easy questions!
J: I’m retiring so I don’t have to think about these questions anymore. You know, people laugh:
a lot of my friends think I don’t work at all. They think I read books and then tell people about
them. I say, “You know, I get paid to think big thoughts, for one thing, and carry them around, and
carrying them around is very tiring. All these big thoughts.” I think I want to retire from big
thoughts.
T: But you haven’t yet!
J: No. No I haven’t.
28
“Patient, detailed and vast”: Jaysinh Birjepatil retires
O F F
T H E
H I L L
SUMMER–FALL 2002
&
O N
“Coming to Marlboro was a real accident,” Jaysinh “Birje” Birjepatil remembered as he prepared to
retire after teaching literature for 15 years. In 1987, he attended a dinner party for a friend who
was leaving Brown University, where Birje himself recently completed a two-year teaching contract. There he met a friend of Willene Clark—Marlboro’s medievalist and art historian at the
time—who knew of a job opening at Marlboro, and there the connection was made. Before Birje
could catch his breath, Marlboro College was his new teaching post.
With his background at the University of Manchester (U.K.), Yale and Brown, “Marlboro was
a tremendous contrast to all the places where I had studied and taught before,” Birje recalls, “but I
was ready to be somewhere where there was not so much pressure to produce research.”
Birje was my freshman advisor, but the first time I experienced his teaching was when he
presented in a World Studies Colloquium. When he finished speaking, my head was spinning. I
had never heard so much information put together at once. In the years since, as I’ve known and
studied with Birje, I have come to realize that his knowledge as a scholar and professor can only
be described as vast. That word materializes in nearly every conversation about the man, in every
conversation with the man. From the Greeks to Shakespeare to Joyce to postcolonial works from
New Zealand and Africa, Birje draws connections and cohesive analyses. When around Birje, one
cannot help but feel like a swimmer in the vastness of history, literature and culture.
Even with his wealth of knowledge, Birje still listens and learns from his students; those just
stumbling into a world in which he has been immersed for so long. “Teaching and learning go
together. One learns such a lot from interacting with students,” Birje says. “Students should learn
to disagree and engage the professor in a dialogue.”
Nearly all Birje’s Plan students have gone on to do graduate work, at such places as Harvard,
Columbia, Tulane and Brown. “All of my students have been wonderful,” he says, eyes sparkling
with pride. “The ones I was most proud of were the B, B plus students. They were very committed,
very honest and willing to work hard.”
Birje’s interests don’t end with literature. Trained as an actor in England with certificates from
the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, his theatrical experience is multifaceted. At
Marlboro, Birje directed The Crucible and Waiting for Godot. He also team-taught several
courses on theater, such as a course on acting, analyzing and performing Shakespeare
with Paul Nelsen, and a class on philosopher Walter Benjamin with Jet Thomas
and Eric Bass. He also regularly team-taught a course on poststructuralism
with Jet Thomas. “Where else can you teach such courses?” Birje reflects
after years of creative collaboration.
At a crucial point in the development of the World Studies Program,
the India-born, U.K.-educated instructor brought a multicultural perspective
to Marlboro’s campus. Well-connected internationally, Birje also brought to
campus such scholars as Stephen Greenblatt, Cleanth Brooks and Brian Cox
and poets such as Tony Conner. Although he hoped for a break from research by
coming to Marlboro, he still found time to complete two books and is creating a
collection of his own poetry.
But when speaking of Birje, what students and colleagues comment on most
is not his prestige, his elaborate explanations of literary texts or his connections to famous scholars. What one most appreciates about Birje is his
kindness, thoughtfulness and honorable modesty says Geraldine Pittman
Illustration of Birje
by former Marlboro art
instructor Frank Stout.
. Potash Hill
29
de Batlle. Terence Purtell ’03 says his first and lasting impression of Birje is as a “sweet, down-toearth person who really loves what he does.” Geraldine, reflecting on Birje’s character and intelligence, considers the antithesis of a quotation by Samuel Johnson: “‘You sir, speak for victory and
not for understanding.’ I can easily say that Birje speaks for understanding, not for victory.”
After 15 years at Marlboro—Birje’s longest stint at any one educational institution—“retirement” means cutting back on his teaching load, directing some theater in Brattleboro, writing
another book, perhaps taking a music class “if Luis will allow it.” He will likely continue to see
every new movie in town and annually return to England and India. With classes planned for the
fall, local people can expect to continue seeing Birje, dressed in brown, walking along the road to
the college. —Lauren Beigel ’02
“Working with Birje is a bit like spending
time in the Louvre: you just get lost.
There are maps to show you where
things are, but it’s up to you to pick out
your interests and find your way there.
While I was studying with him I often lost
my way. I got caught up in the mop closets, ventured into the renovation sites,
and studied the art on the bathroom
walls. As I finished with each of my
personal detours, I’d find the painting
awaiting me. Birje allowed me to indulge
my itinerancy, that I would better understand the fold upon my return. He is
patient, detailed, and vast.”
—Ian Garthwait ’01
“My favorite Birje story—and it may be a myth, though I think I first
heard it from Birje himself: Birje’s grandmother was an upper caste
aristocrat and as a devout Hindu she took her ritual responsibilities
very seriously. Among those responsibilities is a morning ritual requiring
ritual bath. So Birje’s grandmother would spend an hour or more in her
room going through the various cleansing rituals preparing herself to
be pure for the performance of the rite. Little Birje—picture a miniature
Birje of about 4 or 5 years old—would hide behind a couch or chair and
when Grandmother emerged from her ablutions and in a state of ritual
purity dear little Birje would spring out, touch her with one unwashed
little finger, and thereby render her ritually impure. . . . Poor Granny
would have to go back into her room and take another ritual bath.
And he’s still doing it . . . poking just enough (though intellectually this
time) to break through the pretensions to ‘ritual purity’ of canonical as
well as critical works of literature. And those bright eyes no doubt have
the same sparkle they had when little Birje touched his grandmother
with that ‘unwashed’ little finger.”
—Jet Thomas, religion instructor
30
Eric Bass moves on
O N
Eric Bass, a visiting theater instructor at Marlboro since 1996,
will not return to teach in the fall. As an internationally acclaimed director of puppet theater he
brought a new dimension of performance to campus. Eric incorporated puppets into many of his
campus productions, which included classics by William Shakespeare and William Butler Yeats as
well as his own plays inspired by the work of such writers as Walter Benjamin and James Joyce.
Those who manipulated puppets in Eric’s performances were not pulling strings out of sight,
but in full view on stage, shaping puppets’ movements and often acting as characters themselves.
Students studying with Eric had the opportunity to learn the art of puppetry as well as take courses
with him in acting, directing, theater history and literature.
While a part-time faculty member at Marlboro, Eric maintained a busy professional life, touring internationally with the Sandglass Theater, which he founded in Munich with his wife Inez
Zeller-Bass and has operated in Putney since 1986. He will maintain a connection to Marlboro
through his annual Sandglass at Marlboro Summer Theater Institute, which he initiated on campus last year in association with the college.
“Eric is a gifted teacher,” says Aaron Rajeev Kahn ’98. “He was an advisor-Plan sponsor for me
as I began directing and has continued to be an important collaborator and critic of my work.”
“His spirit of collaboration was amazing,” recalls Dan Restivo ’99. “Every member of the cast
and crew had a chance to have creative input.”
While neither Dan nor Aaron used puppets in the plays they directed, both cited their experience with puppets in Eric’s productions as an opportunity to gain a new perspective on theater.
“He saw potential in me that I hadn’t a clue about,” concludes Dan, “and he drew it out with
positively dramatic consequences.” —Kevin Kennedy
&
O F F
T H E
H I L L
In addition to the spring break trips to China and Cuba described in this
issue, Carrie Weikel, Marlboro’s director of community service and
career development, led a community service expedition to South
Carolina while Outdoor Program Director Randy Knaggs took a dozen
students to Costa Rica. There Randy and company rafted the Pacure
River, climbed Vulcan
Turrialba and worked in
a variety of community
service settings while living
with local families. Junior
Erin Barnard helped out
at an orphanage in
Turrialba, where she
captured this image.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
31
Postcard from Havana
Dan MacArthur (center),
a student in “Cuba:
1898 to Present,” looks
for cars to fix in downtown Havana.
Photo by Carol
Hendrickson
32
He inquired the obvious after hearing where I was from:
“First time in Cuba?”
“No, no,” I answered, and tried to explain with as much humility and humble Americanism as
possible that although strict government rules forbid me from traveling to his country, this was not
my first visit to Havana, but my second.
When he pressed for details, I declined. After all, how could I tell him the truth? How could
I tell him about my first visit to Cuba, studying with the University of Pittsburgh when, on our last
day in town, Castro threw us all a huge party and we devoured what was probably more than the
monthly rations of the entire city of Havana. He even served up a barbecued horse. And who
could forget the open bar flowing endlessly with Havana Club Rum. Oh, the injustice.
Anyway, I didn’t mention that.
“You must really like Cuba,” he said, and I laughed, answering that
yes I liked it, but that’s not why I come. I come to study. “Study what?”
Then I told him about this great place called Marlboro College in Vermont
where I’m taking a class called “Cuba: 1898 to the Present.”
“You all must be rich,” he said. I shook my head no, yet I didn’t
tell him about our plane tickets, paid for by a grant from The Atlantic
Philanthropies or the mini travel grants many of us received to cover the
rest of our expenses.
Instead I told him about my professors: Carol Hendrickson, so easily
amused, sketching and coloring in the city, and Kate Ratcliff, with her
ever-present smile, peering out over our third-story balcony at the
Havana streets.
I told him about our individual research projects: Dan MacArthur
handing out spark plugs and making car conversation with the neighbors,
Franklin Crump and Kim Fox visiting the National Theater and Sonja
Reitsma’s examination of women’s roles in Cuban society. I went on about
Jodie Nemser-Abrahams distributing food for Passover to Cuban Jews, Britta
Nelson gathering insights from Havana’s gay community, Matt Beckham
conversing with Cuba’s best athletes, Megan Littlehales talking of gardens, markets and the countryside and Anthony Schein investigating the effects of the embargo. I finished off with stories of
ceramics professor Michael Boylen’s fascination with Havana’s art production, Tyler Martin listening
to the message of Cuba’s youth through their hip-hop lyrics and Jessica Flannery visiting the city’s
clinics and hospitals. Then I talked to him about my own project, a study of Che Guevara.
“So what do you think?” I asked.
He said, “It all sounds like a very good idea.”
I agreed and began to ask my own questions, taking a long sip of my mojito and leaning my
head back toward the warm Havana sun. “Where would you go if you could go anywhere in the
world?”
And then he responded, with one of those huge, charming smiles: “Cuba.”
I couldn’t have agreed more. —Regan Chewning ’03
O N
&
O F F
T H E
H I L L
A Plan of planes
It is not often that a student’s Plan of Concentration project is featured
in Fine Woodworking magazine, particularly since Gib Taylor, Marlboro’s longtime woodworking
instructor, retired. But photographs of 2002 graduate Merrall MacNeille’s wood-infilled hand planes
are set to grace the publication’s upcoming “Tools and Shops” issue. Merrall did manage to work
with Gib during the instructor’s final semester, and when Marlboro’s woodworking program ended
with Gib’s retirement, sculpture instructor Tim Segar took MacNeille on. “Tim was quite supportive
and was very helpful,” says Merrall. But he needed someone with woodworking expertise.
A past article in Fine Woodworking turned Merrall on to the work of Carl Hotley, an Englandbased master plane maker. He wrote to Hotley asking if it would be possible to intern with him.
In less than a week, Merrall was invited to apprentice and live with Hotley and his wife. “The
apprenticeship influenced my Plan greatly,” he says. “Working eight to 10 hours a day on woodworking, learning things I hadn’t been able to figure out on my own, using machine tools for the
first time, and watching Carl approach his work with a level of perfectionism really influenced my
own approach.”
In March, Merrall filled the Drury Gallery with the products of his Plan of Concentration
project: hand planes, furniture, shop drawings, a slide show and photographs documenting the
plane-making process. In addition to the exhibit, he wrote three papers on the history of hand
plane manufacture and on his experiences working with Carl Hotley.
Merrall and his wife Monica ’01 recently bought a “structurally challenged” house in nearby
Jacksonville, which they plan to renovate into a home and woodworking shop. —Lauren Beigel ’02
Thanks to support the college received from the Freeman Foundation, The
Atlantic Philanthropies and the federal Title VI program, Marlboro funds
an array of joint faculty-student fieldwork projects. Among them was a trip
to Egypt by senior Kate Little (pictured here) and her Plan sponsor, art history instructor Felicity Ratté. The pair spent two weeks researching the roles
of religion and culture in the urban design and development of Tell elAmarna, comparing it to comparable research Kate had already conducted
on Versailles.
Photo by Felicity Ratté
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
33
Worthy of note
ined authors from Mark Twain
provided instruction in over 50
Longtime Marlboro physics pro-
to Margaret Atwood to Elie
languages in the last 10 years.
fessor Jim Mahoney is enjoying
Wiesel, using the writers as
With our new focus on East
the honor of being the first
models for students to draw
Asia, the faculty decided it was
faculty member chosen to hold
from in their own writings.
time to put more resources into
the Lillian Farber Chair in the
Gloria holds a doctorate in
Asian languages.” Haiyan holds
Liberal Arts and Technology. The
English and American Literature
a master’s degree in Japanese
endowed Farber Chair, named
from the University of
from Beijing Foreign Language
for the longtime trustee, board
Massachusetts at Amherst.
University.
Prompted by religion professor
Author, advocate and visiting
Jet Thomas’ contagious enthusi-
faculty member Margaret Mott
asm for Marlboro during a
looks forward to spending even
chance meeting on a transat-
more time on the hill with her
lantic flight a year ago, Heather
tenure-track appointment to
Clark applied for the tenure-track
teach political science. A famil-
literature position that opened
iar face on Marlboro’s campus
with J. Birjepatil’s retirement.
since 1999, Meg will continue
Shortly after Clark got the job
teaching political theory by
she successfully defended her
encouraging classroom partici-
doctoral thesis—which focuses
pation, open discussion and crit-
on poetic collaboration in
ical thinking. She is politically
Northern Ireland—at Oxford
involved at home as an advo-
University. A regular contributor
cate for domestic violence legis-
to the Times Literary
lation and has also traveled
Supplement, Clark’s interests
much of the Spanish-speaking
include American and European
world studying democracy. The
literature, critical theory and
author of a book and several
world literature.
articles examining the relation-
chair and ardent Marlboro
College supporter, was funded
through a grant from the John
D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation and a gift from
Marlboro trustee Jerome
Moving into Jim’s physics posi-
Aron and his wife Elizabeth
tion is Travis Norsen (above),
McCormack. Just a year ago, Jim
who comes to Marlboro from
decided to take on the computer
Seattle, where he earned his
science faculty position vacated
master’s and doctoral degrees in
by Mark Francillon, who became
physics at the University of
director of the internet engi-
Washington and taught as
neering program at Marlboro’s
an adjunct instructor at the
Persons School (until recently
DigiPen Institute of Technology
known as The Graduate Center)
in Redmond, Washington. A
in Brattleboro. As Marlboro’s
recipient of many honors,
computer science instructor car-
including a three-year National
rying out the mission of the
Science Foundation fellowship
Farber Chair, Jim will offer courses
in theoretical physics, Travis’
and tutorials across the curricu-
interests range from astro-
lum using technology as a tool
physics to atomic physics, and
to investigate problems that
he hopes to delve into such top-
face humanity. More specifically,
ics as theoretical nuclear astro-
A desire to learn about the
he plans to work with students
physics and quantum mechanics
world is what Haiyan Hu hopes
and other faculty on such topics
with Marlboro students.
to share with students as she
ship between religion and politics, Meg holds a doctorate in
political science from the
as bioinformatics, linguistics,
brings her experiences and
digital photography, computer-
many languages to the college
generated music and dance
as Marlboro’s first Asian lan-
choreography.
guages fellow. Born in a small
University of Massachusetts.
Chinese town, she began learning English at age 12 and has
since mastered Japanese and
three Chinese dialects. Haiyan,
who will teach Chinese and
Japanese, says her motivation to
learn languages springs from an
eagerness to better understand
the people who speak them.
This spring Gloria Biamonte,
(above), a visiting faculty member at Marlboro since the fall of
1996, began a newly created,
tenure-track position teaching
literature and writing. Gloria’s
“Even large universities offer
In February Marlboro trustees,
instruction in very few of the
following recommendations
world’s hundreds of languages,”
from the committee on faculty,
says Dean of Faculty John
voted tenured status for Cathy
Hayes. “At Marlboro, we have
Osman and John Sheehy (above).
Cathy has taught painting and
courses at Marlboro have exam-
34
Massachusetts, Lydia taught for
“The mission of a liberal arts
March saw the campus premiere
According to Dean of Faculty
several years at Landmark
education is preparing students
of The WreckAge, a one-man
John Hayes, Cathy “has done
College and has worked as a
for civic responsibility and leader-
show by graduating senior Tim
wonders working with other
research assistant in a variety of
ship in an increasingly complex,
Collins. Developed as the center-
arts faculty to restore and
educational and clinical settings.
interdependent and pluralistic
piece of his Plan of Concen-
enhance Marlboro’s visual arts
Jeremy Holch, a longtime
world,” says Kathleen McMahon,
tration, the show consisted of
program.” John Sheehy arrived
Landmark College professor,
Marlboro’s new dean of students.
four hilarious and poignant
at Marlboro in 1998 from the
replaces Lydia as the new direc-
Such a sentiment is not surprising
monologues presented from
University of Washington to
tor of academic support services.
to hear at a small, less-than-
the point of view of an array
teach writing and literature.
conventional college such as
of characters, all played by
Since then, he has “become a
Marlboro, but Kathleen honed
Tim. The WreckAge played
backbone of Marlboro’s Clear
her philosophy as a doctoral
to packed houses at the
Writing Requirement,” says
student and assistant dean at
Whittemore Theater and
Dean Hayes, who describes John
UCLA. One project she devel-
other venues in Vermont and
as an “exemplary professor.”
oped for the university’s 25,000
Maine. By summer he began
undergraduates was a seminar
touring his latest creation, All
to help students develop their
New Material, throughout New
skills as collaborative leaders.
England, also finding time to
“The theoretical basis from
teach at Bennington College’s
which I come is that everyone
summer program and perform
has the potential to be a leader,
at Marlboro film instructor Jay
and it’s a matter of recognizing
Craven’s Fledgling Films summer
your ability to bring about social
camp. Just cast in the independ-
Marlboro’s new tenure-track
change.” A veteran mediator and
ent film Red Belly, the future
theater instructor comes to
psychological counselor, Kathleen
may find Tim on the big screen
Marlboro after six years of
has worked in conflict resolution
in addition to the stage.
directing and producing at her
for the city of Los Angeles and
own theater company while
as a clinical counselor in Mass-
earning a master of fine arts
achusetts and New Hampshire.
Nacional Autónoma de México
in Mexico City, has conducted
extensive field work in plant
systematics and reproductive
biology in Central America.
With a bachelor’s degree from
the Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México and master’s and doctoral degrees from
H I L L
botanist from the Universidad
T H E
scientist. Mario Sousa-Peña, a
O F F
fellow is the first to be a natural
&
Marlboro’s third World Studies
O N
drawing at Marlboro since 1997.
“The respect, support and love
degree at Columbia University.
I felt from people there for the
“I’m impressed by the student-
practice of awakening and for
led learning environment at
my own abilities and successes
Marlboro,” says Holly Derr
brought great joy. Periods of
(above), noting that as an
terrifying loneliness, discourage-
undergraduate at a big state
ment, and heartbreak brought
university she craved the indi-
the most valuable kind of per-
vidual attention she sees
sonal transformation. My time
Marlboro students receiving
there was intense,” says Jake
The college community once
from faculty. Directing and pro-
Davis ’03 of the 15 months he
again bid adieu to former aca-
ducing productions ranging
spent in Burma as an ordained
demic advising director (and
from Shakespeare’s Cymbeline
monk in the Theravada Buddhist
former alumni director and
to Eve Ensler’s The Vagina
tradition. He immersed himself
graduate) Hilly van Loon ’62,
Monologues, Holly says she is
after she spent a year as interim
attracted to theater that
Jon Franklin ’03 (above) spent his
Burma, studying Buddhist texts
associate dean of academic
addresses political and gender-
spring semester at the Biosphere
in the Pali language in which
advising. The college named
related issues; “anything that
2 Center in southern Arizona
they were written, and engag-
Lydia Greene to the permanent
breaks down social hierarchies
participating in Columbia
ing in long periods of intense
position, which oversees the
and makes them visible.”
University’s Universe Semester.
mindful meditation. The unusu-
academic needs of Marlboro’s
The semester consisted of a series
ally extensive internship was
300 students. Lydia most recently
of astrophysics classes, an obser-
part of Jake’s Plan of
served as Marlboro’s director of
vational class, and an independ-
Concentration, which focused
academic support services for
ent research project in which Jon
on the tradition of meditation
students with attention deficit
studied the formation of spiral
propagated by the Mahasi
disorder, dyslexia and other
galaxies by modeling their for-
Sayadaw of Burma and its trans-
learning challenges. A graduate
mation using a cellular autonomy
mission to the United States,
of Wesleyan, with a master’s
program he wrote himself in
based on his own experience.
degree from Harvard and doc-
the computer language C.
the University of Connecticut,
Mario will teach courses in
botany in addition to a World
Studies course entitled “Global
Perspectives,” which examines
current events from a non-U.S.
perspective.
in the language and culture of
torate from the University of
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
35
Commencement 2002
Marlboro’s 55th
Commencement
platform party:
Dean of Faculty
John Hayes, Vermont
Commissioner of
Education Raymond
McNulty, Population
Council President Linda
Martin, Marlboro
Board of Trustees
Chair Andrew Hilton,
President Paul LeBlanc,
Senior Speaker Emily
Anderson, The Reverend
James E. Thomas,
Emily Kunreuther.
SUNSHINE
on May 19, but so did four inches of snow, making it
the first white commencement in anyone’s memory. Fortuitously the big tent—another first for
Marlboro—that had been erected to protect against the anticipated rain ended up sheltering guests
from the chilly day. Marlboro’s 71 seniors—its biggest graduating class—endured the weather,
enjoyed an address from the leader of a global reproductive health care organization and received
their degrees with classmates, who included the college registrar. Also bestowed was a posthumous,
honorary doctor of science degree for Fred Kunreuther, a treasured friend and trustee who died
in March.
G R E E T E D G R A D U AT E S
Photo by
A. Blake Gardner
From the president’s address
These students have grappled with complex and
important questions: how to create meaning, justify knowledge and live morally; the effect of hiphop culture and media on urban youth; the problem of measurement in quantum mechanics; the
harvesting of wild plant species as a strategy for sustainability in the tropics; the politics of sisterhood and the problem of difference in the American feminist movement; the challenges of
moving from a planned to a market economy and the role of privatization—and much more. These
weeks just ended have seen an incredible outpouring of creativity, imagination and intellectual
achievement. —Paul LeBlanc
From the commencement address
As Kofi Annan, the Secretary General
of the United Nations stated last year, “… the world’s people … are telling us that our past achievements are not enough. They are telling us we must do more, and do it better.” So we are counting
on you. Whether you end up being a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker—a teacher, an artist, a
periodontist—you all have contributions to make either directly or indirectly. Simply by being
someone who thinks globally even if you act only locally, you can do your part.… So all of us here
today wish you very well in the great adventure of life on which you are embarking. I’ll say it
again—we and the world are counting on you. —Linda Martin, President, The Population Council
36
O N
From the senior speaker’s address
&
We must turn our minds onto the
world and see ourselves as a nation whether we like it or not. It is intimidating to realize that we
are responsible for our fellow Americans rather than just the people of the Marlboro community.
Do not let yourselves become comfortable or self-absorbed the way we have been here; our comfort
let us stand by during a presidential coup, our absorption let us stand down as we attacked
Afghanistan. Every day, people become hungrier and poorer, corporations get larger, forests are broken down and more babies are born…. Today we are sharing an achievement. We did something
great and worthwhile. Now we can take the dedication and passion we put into our Plans and
direct it towards all of our future endeavors. —Emily Anderson
O F F
T H E
H I L L
From Linda Martin’s citation
Elizabeth McCormack, chairman of the board for
the Population Council and a dear friend of Marlboro praises you, saying: “The Council is incredibly
fortunate to have Linda. Her knowledge, wisdom and good judgment make her a powerful leader.
Her kindness and empathy means we will always engage people most in
need and tackle the toughest problems. That’s as it should be.” As our
students prepare to leave this campus and make their contributions, you
stand out as a model of conscience and action.
From Frederick Kunreuther’s citation
With
good humor and sharply held opinions, he was a fierce defender of
Marlboro’s mission who fulfilled and exceeded the expectations of
board membership. With Emily, he opened his house and heart to all
comers, forming close friendships with academics and carpenters, musicians and stonemasons. Although in truth Fred never really settled
down, to us he was a Vermonter pure and simple and a member of our
community in life and death.
Linda Martin receiving
her honorary degree
from Marlboro President
From Raymond J. McNulty’s citation
Paul LeBlanc and Board
When Governor Dean turned to you
last year as his new commissioner of education, we all said “Too bad for Brattleboro, but great for
Vermont!” You had served as superintendent of schools for Windham Southeast for 11 years and
gained community-wide praise for your leadership. You said, in a departing letter before moving to
Montpelier, that communities that achieve and grow like those in Windham County exhibit an
“attitude of expectancy.” It is just that attitude that you yourself exhibit, that defines your leadership style, that made you right for us, and makes you right for Vermont.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
of Trustees Chair
Andrew Hilton.
Photo by
Sarah Lavigne ’98
. Potash Hill
37
Prizes
T HE S ALLY AND VALERIO M ONTANARI
T HEATRE P RIZE is awarded annually to a
graduating senior who has made the greatest
overall contribution to the pursuit of excellence in theater production. Tim Collins ’02
T HE R OBERT H. M AC A RTHUR P RIZE was
established in 1973 in memory of Robert
MacArthur, Class of 1951, and recently rededicated to Robert and also to John and
to John and Robert’s parents, John and Olive
MacArthur, who founded the science program
and Marlboro College. The contest for the
prize is in the form of a question or challenge
offered to the entire student community. Tim
Collins ’02
T HE AUDREY A LLEY G ORTON AWARD ,
given in memory of Audrey Gorton, Marlboro
alumna and member of the faculty for 33 years,
to the student who best reflects the Gorton
qualities of passion for reading, an independence of critical judgment, fastidious attention
to matters of style, and a gift for intelligent
conversation. Katie Hollander ’02
T HE WALTER AND J ANE W HITEHILL
P RIZE , awarded by the humanities faculty
for the best Plan of Concentration in the
humanities, one that represents the greatest
intellectual challenge in conception, design
and execution. Skye Allen ’02
T HE H ELEN W. C LARK P RIZE , awarded by
the visual arts faculty for the best Plan
of Concentration in the studio arts.
Jodi Meehan ’02 and Thomas MacMillan ’02
THE DR. LOREN C. BRONSON MEMORIAL
AWARD FOR E XCELLENCE IN C LASSICS ,
established by the family of Loren Bronson,
Class of 1973, to encourage undergraduate
work in classics. Sean Mullin ’05
T HE F REDERICK J OHN T URNER P RIZE ,
awarded to a student who demonstrates excellence in the natural sciences, who uses interdisciplinary approaches and who places his or
her work in the context of larger questions.
Philip Pool ’04
Kate Hollander.
Photo by
Sarah Lavigne ’98
THE HILLY VAN LOON PRIZE, established by
T HE F RESHMAN /S OPHOMORE E SSAY
PRIZE , given annually for the best essay written
for a Marlboro course. It is awarded by the
English Committee. Shannon Cook ’05 and
Saari Koponen-Robotham ’05
38
the Class of 2000 in honor of Hilly van Loon,
Marlboro Class of 1962 and staff member for 23
years, is given to the senior who best reflects
Hilly’s wisdom, compassion, community
involvement, quiet dedication to the spirit of
Marlboro College, joy in writing and celebration of life. Melanie Gottlieb ’02
Class of 2002 graduates and their Plans of Concentration
O N
&
O F F
T H E
H I L L
Skye Harvest Allen
Bachelor of Arts, LITERATURE/Russian
A study in literature focusing on the works of Fyodor
Dostoevsky and Albert Camus with supporting work on
the philosopher Richard Rorty. An exploration of ethical
and moral questions within selected works, with emphasis
on the question, “If there is no God and no absolutes, how
then can the individual survive to create meaning, justify
knowledge and live morally?”
Project: A paper in three chapters exploring the limits of
faith in Dostoevsky’s novels The Idiot, The Brothers
Karamazov, and Demons. Supporting papers on Albert
Camus and Richard Rorty.
Sponsors: Geraldine Pittman de Batlle, James E.
Thomas, John Sheehy
Outside Evaluator: Peter Hawkins, Boston University
Emily Elizabeth Anderson
Bachelor of Arts, History/African Studies
Building a Nation from Graves: An investigation of four
centuries of power struggles created by the colonization of
South Africa, focusing on issues relating to the Khoikhoi
nation.
Project: Three papers: The first examines the destruction
of the Khoikhoi nation by the Dutch as a specific case of
“first contact” between Europeans and indigenous people.
The second examines the development of the Afrikaans
language and the turmoil that resulted from denying the
indigenous contribution to its development. The third discusses the disappearance of the Khoikhoi nation as a result
of false labeling, racial hierarchies and as an attempt to
continue resisting colonization.
Sponsors: Timothy F. Little, Lynette Rummel
Outside Evaluator: Sean Redding, Amherst College
Edward Augustyn
Bachelor of Arts,
Anthropology & Dance/Ethnographic Studies
A broad study of the social sciences and humanities with
an emphasis on current ethnographic methods and writing
in anthropology, as well as an exploration of choreography.
Project: A paper that explores the embodiment of identity
within beginning and retiring dancers through theoretical
studies of “place,” Bordieu’s “habitus,” and Lave and
Wengers’s “situated learning.” Original choreographic work
and a personal essay.
Sponsors: Carol E. Hendrickson, Dana Holby, Gloria
Biamonte
Outside Evaluator: Jeffrey Bliss, Artist/Educator
Anna Lubiner,
Heather-Jean MacNeil,
Tom MacMillan.
Photo by
Cullen Schneider ’04
Colin Winters Bayly
Bachelor of Arts,
LITERATURE & WRITING/Creative
A study of narrative in American literature with a focus
on the novels of Henry James.
Project: A major paper that examines the center of consciousness in selected novels of Henry James; a supporting
paper on Ivan Turgenev and his influence on James. A
paper that explores the influence of Henry James on James
Merrill, which introduces a collection of original poetry.
Sponsors: Geraldine Pittman de Batlle, T. Hunter Wilson
Outside Evaluator: David Littlefield, Middlebury College
Lauren Elise Beigel
Bachelor of Arts, ENVIRONMENTAL
STUDIES/Agroecology & LITERATURE
An ecological and literary examination of agricultural land
use in the American tropics with an emphasis on Guatemala.
Project: Two papers: The first examines the ecological
principles of agroforestry systems in the American tropics
with a case study on Peten, Guatemala. The second
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
39
explores spiritual and physical interaction with the land in
Miguel Angel Asturia’s Hombres de Ma¡z.
Sponsors: Jennifer Ramstetter, Geraldine Pittman de
Batlle
Outside Evaluator: Beth A. Kaplin, Antioch New
England Graduate School
Erich Otto Bennar
Bachelor of Arts, SOCIOLOGY/Gothology &
COMPUTER SCIENCE
An exploration of the social-psychological significance of
gothic subculture using subculture theory, developmental
psychology, reflexive sociology, media and communication
studies, history, fashion theory and film, music and literary
criticism.
Project: Three papers: A methodological analysis, an autobiography, a theoretical exploration of the subculture; a
research Website.
Sponsors: Gerald E. Levy, Mark Francillon
Outside Evaluator: William Brooke-deBock, Kaplan
College
Kelly Jean Bergstrand
Bachelor of Arts in International Studies
POLITICAL SCIENCE & ECONOMICS
Ivan Ludmer carries the
basketball President
Paul LeBlanc presented
him as a means of
apology for giving him
a concussion during a
basketball game two
A study of political science and economics with a focus on
the international political economy.
Project: A two-part examination of the Bretton Woods
institutions, their historical development and contemporary challenges. The first paper investigates the Bretton
Woods Conference and the creation and early history of
the International Monetary Fund and the International
Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The second
paper examines issues of trade and the environment in the
World Trade Organization.
Internship: London, United Kingdom
Sponsors: Lynette Rummel, James A. Tober
Outside Evaluator: Gregory White, Smith College
weeks before his
oral exam.
Photo by
Sarah Lavigne ’98
Jennifer Lynn Bilodeau
Bachelor of Arts, PSYCHOLOGY &
DANCE/Movement Analysis
An integration of movement analysis and dance studies
with a psychological perspective on the mind and body’s
gestures, habits and patterns in human development.
Project: Two papers: The first is an overview of gestures,
habits and patterns of the developing “self” from a psychological perspective. The second is on dance studies in support of movement analysis. The third part of the project is
teaching and writing on Contact Improvisation and facilitating a self-generated and documented workshop titled
“Moving Amalgamation.” The fourth part is a presentation/lecture-workshop presented in a documented video
format on movement analysis as a process for performance
and understanding developing self-concepts.
Sponsors: Dana Holby, Thomas L. Toleno, Snow Johnson
Outside Evaluator: Heidi Ehrenreich, Dance Movement
Therapist
Bruce Cole Bryan
Bachelor of Science, BIOLOGY/Evolutionary Biology
An investigation into evolutionary processes focusing on
systems and mechanisms that display genetic conflict.
40
Project: Three papers: The first presents original lab work
investigating meiotic drive mechanisms in Drosophila simulans with specific emphasis on their relation to hybrid
male sterility. The second reviews the origins, evolution
and implications of uniparental inheritance of organelle
genomes. The third examines the concept of natural units
in relation to the concept of natural populations.
Sponsors: Todd Smith, Robert E. Engel
Outside Evaluator: Richard Lewontin, Harvard
University
Rebekah Frances Cantor
Bachelor of Arts, ART HISTORY/Public Art
An examination of public art using an expanded notion of
site-specificity, including integrating themes of historical
consciousness and collective identity, that serves to clarify
the important cultural context of the public art process.
Project: A paper exploring public art with concepts that
allow understanding of the cultural context in which public art exists.
Sponsors: Felicity Ratté, John Willis
Outside Evaluator: Patricia Phillips, SUNY, New Paltz
Heather Marie Carter
Bachelor of Arts, THEATER
A study of theater arts that investigates physical theater
methods by focusing on the ideas and practices of theatricians Jacques Lecoq and Anne Bogart. Special attention
through research and performance is given to non-textbased modes of generating what is acknowledged as
“meaning.” Secondary studies of technical theater culminate in three lighting designs for Marlboro College productions and an analytical paper of the design process.
Project: The performance of a production-based adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s Act Without Words I, entitled
“Just Play,” which uses physical theater methods to develop the presentation style. The performance is based on the
construction of meaning kinetically, without the use of
text or vocalization to communicate.
Sponsors: Paul D. Nelsen, Eric Bass
Outside Evaluator: Mara Sabinson, Dartmouth College
Erin Jade Casey
Bachelor of Arts, VISUAL ARTS & WRITING/Fiction
An exploration of themes of identity and communication
in visual art and creative writing with supporting research
on visual poetry.
Project: A portfolio of artists’ books and fiction writing
and a research paper on visual poetry, focusing on the
Canadian poet B.P. Nichol.
Sponsor: Cathy Osman
Outside Evaluator: Kenneth D. Leslie, Johnson State
College
Carrie Kathleen Cleveland
Bachelor of Arts, HISTORY
A study of the roots of fascism.
Project: A series of essays looking at the origin of fascism
in Italy with emphasis on the debate between ideology and
circumstance, and on the roles that World War I and the
myth of national regeneration played in the development
of fascism.
Sponsor: Timothy F. Little
Outside Evaluator: Daniel Connerton, Massachusetts
College of Liberal Arts
Hannah Elizabeth Clutterbuck
Bachelor of Arts, HISTORY/Irish
O F F
Mark Joseph Folino
Bachelor of Arts,
FILM/VIDEO STUDIES/Screenwriting
T H E
An exploration of the subjective experience of soldiers in
Vietnam through the writing of a documentary research
paper and the development and production of an original
screenplay. Also, the writing of two screenplays exploring
themes of love, hate, violence and humor as experienced
by contemporary characters.
Project: The development, writing and production of an
original screenplay about soldiers in the field during the
Vietnam War, an independent feature film, a documentary
paper on the effects of the war on Vietnam veterans and a
short screenplay.
Sponsors: Jay Craven, Timothy F. Little
Outside Evaluator: Ken Peck, Bennington College
H I L L
A broad study of American educational history, exploring
the themes of progress, industrialism and morality through
the mediating link between school and society.
Project: The shifting uses of the intellectual and societal
forces are explored in the history of schooling from the
moral ideology of the early common schools to the corporatism of post-Civil War school management and university
building. A technical notion of progress emerges in a sociology of the technological system in modern American
schools. A liberating example is offered in the design of a
school intending to re-qualify progress and society as human.
Sponsors: Timothy F. Little, Gerald E. Levy
Outside Evaluator: James Nehring, Francis W. Parker
Charter Essential School
&
John Alexander Coakley
Bachelor of Arts,
HISTORY/Education & SOCIOLOGY
An exploration into the rise of hip-hop culture and media
and its effect on urban youth.
Project: A series of media pieces that focuses on expressions of cultural ideals centered around hip-hop music and
culture.
Sponsors: Jay Craven, Felicity Ratté
Outside Evaluator: Matt Soar, Hampshire College
O N
An exploration of Irish republicanism and Irish nationalism
in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.
Project: Two papers on various aspects of Irish republicanism
and nationalism. The first examines three centuries of
Irish history, studying the ways in which British policy
created Irish nationalism and physical force republican
groups. The second is a more detailed look at republicanism in the 19th and 20th centuries, focusing on the Home
Rule Party, the Fenians, and Sinn Fein.
Outside Evaluator: Paul Cullity, Keene State College
John Fedorowicz
Bachelor of Arts, FILM/VIDEO STUDIES/Media
Studies and Hip-Hop Culture
Timothy James Collins
Bachelor of Arts, THEATER
The creation and performance of solo theater, from writing,
directing and performance to marketing and publicity.
Project: The WreckAge, a one-hour show consisting of
four original monologues. Two papers: “Solo Voices in
Urban Darkness,” a study of three solo artists in the late
1990s, and “The Creation and Performance of Solo
Theater,” a study of the execution of solo performance.
Sponsors: Jay Craven, Paul D. Nelsen
Outside Evaluator: Deborah Lubar, Independent Artist,
Actor, Writer, Freelance Teacher
Rachel Bannister DuPont
Bachelor of Arts, BIOCHEMISTRY/Immunology
A study of the human immune system examining bacterial
infections, the overuse of antibiotics and the increasing
development of antibiotic resistance. Emphasis is given to
bacteriophages as an alternative therapy for bacterial infections and as candidates for future vaccine development.
Project: Two papers: The first examines the history and
process behind the development of bacteriophage therapeutics. The second describes laboratory work at the
University of Pittsburgh to develop a bacteriophage-based
vaccine for M. tuberculosis.
Sponsors: Todd Smith, Robert E. Engel
Outside Evaluator: Anthony R. Poteete, University of
Massachusetts Medical School
Rachael Ann Frank
Bachelor of Arts,
FILM/VIDEO STUDIES/Genre Theory
A study of genre theory with particular focus on the
importance and influence of audience and consumerism.
Project: Three papers and one screenplay: One paper
explores genre theory as it applies to film; one explores
female characters in horror films; and the other explores
the horror genre in depth. The screenplay demonstrates an
active awareness of its genre, horror, through metanarrative.
Sponsors: John Sheehy, Jay Craven
Outside Evaluator: Stephen Bissette, Comic Book
Artist, Film Critic
SUMMER–FALL 2002
Shura Baryshnikov ’03,
Bruce Bryan ’02,
Aaron Kisicki ’02,
Jen Fleming ’00.
Photo by
Sarah Lavigne ’98
. Potash Hill
41
Rebecca Marie Gembarowski
Bachelor of Arts, DANCE & WRITING
An investigation into the process of creating moving visual
images and personal essays using family history to generate
material.
Project: A mixed-media dance performance; personal and
expository essays.
Sponsors: Dana Holby, Gloria Biamonte
Outside Evaluator: Wendy Dwyer, Franklin Pierce
College
Elizabeth Ann Gillett
LANGUAGES/German and Swedish & CULTURAL
HISTORY
Megan Gray ’02.
Dianna Noyes ’80
A study of German and Swedish cultural practices through
languages, folktales and children’s education.
Project: Translation of representative tales in German and
Swedish with supporting papers on the theory and practice
of translation, fairy tales as moral instruction and fairy tale
illustrations as expressions of national identity.
Internship: Gottingen, Germany, and Enkoping, Sweden
Sponsors: Edmund M. Brelsford, Dana P. Howell, John
Sheehy
Outside Evaluator: Catherine O’Callaghan, Community
College of Vermont
Eleanor Margaret Gillis
Bachelor of Arts, PHYSICS & PHILOSOPHY
A study of the problem of measurement in quantum
mechanics and its relation to philosophy of science
through the 20th century.
Project: Two papers: The first is an examination into the
measurement problem and its relation to the shift in philosophy of science between the first and latter halves of
the 20th century. The second is an investigation into specific instances of the measurement problem in quantum
mechanics.
Sponsors: James H. Mahoney, James E. Thomas
Outside Evaluator: Travis Norsen, University of
Washington
Melanie Gottlieb
Bachelor of Arts, AMERICAN STUDIES &
HISTORY/Higher Education
An exploration of the growth of the American system of
higher education with a focus on federal influences and
curricular change.
Project: Two papers discussing pivotal points in the history
of higher education in the United States. The first examines curricular expansion in the 19th century. The second
explores federal influence on higher educational access,
curriculum and goals during the post-World War II era.
Sponsor: Kathryn E. Ratcliff
Outside Evaluator: Marcia Roe, University of
Massachusetts, Amherst
Megan Pearson Gray
Bachelor of Arts, MUSIC
A study through performance of French song from the
medieval period through the 20th century, and an ethnomusicological exploration of Tibetan Buddhist ritual
chanting and throat singing.
42
Project: Two voice recitals and one paper: The first recital
comprises art songs of Reynaldo Hahn and Gabriel Fauré.
The second comprises medieval and Renaissance French
songs. The paper focuses on ritual chanting in Tibetan
Buddhist culture and secular throat singing.
Sponsors: Luis C. Batlle, Bataa Mishigish, Stanley Charkey
Outside Evaluator: Robert Merfeld, Pianist
Shana Kathleen Hall
Bachelor of Arts, VISUAL ARTS/Photography
An investigation of personal history, memory and identity
through photographic and written work.
Project: A photographic exhibit focusing on familial relationships. A paper examining the photograph as a tool to
document personal history and recall memory.
Sponsors: John Willis, Meg Mott
Outside Evaluator: Abigail Heyman, Independent Artist
Megan Hayward Hamilton
Bachelor of Arts,
AMERICAN STUDIES & LITERATURE
A study of U.S. women writers, with attention to their
social and historical contexts.
Project: An exploration of several works by 20th century
U.S. women writers with emphasis on representations of
marriage and community.
Sponsors: Kathryn E. Ratcliff, Gloria Biamonte
Outside Evaluator: Randall Knoper, University of
John Chamberlain Harker
Bachelor of Science, PHYSICS
A study of quantum physics using original computer simulations and historical readings.
Project: Computer simulation of solutions of the twodimensional Schrodinger equation. Computer simulation
of elementary scenarios in quantum field theory.
Sponsor: James H. Mahoney
Outside Evaluator: Travis Norsen, University of
Washington
Theodore Noel Hellmuth, Jr.
Bachelor of Arts, FILM/VIDEO STUDIES
Jeremy Joseph Kacik
Bachelor of Arts,
FILM/VIDEO STUDIES & THEATER
An exploration of performance dynamics on stage and
screen and the critical choices registered by actor and
director in entertaining and instructing an audience.
Project: Two scripts, one filmed and one staged, linked to
Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Macbeth, exploring the relationship between performer and audience.
Sponsors: Paul D. Nelsen, Jay Craven
Outside Evaluator: Leonard Berkman, Smith College
Rachael Darlene Kassner
Bachelor of Arts,
POLITICAL SCIENCE & ECONOMICS/Labor
A study of political economy with a focus on the postWorld War II Labor Movement in the United States.
Project: Two papers: An exploration of the effects of deregulation on U.S. labor and an examination of labor as a
H I L L
An exploration of theater as a medium for examining and
expressing representations and mediations of “identity” in
the post-modern world, with supporting work in sociology.
Project: An original adaptation and production of George
Orwell’s 1984 (and other historical sources) and a series of
papers exploring the “manipulation of conflict” since 1948.
Sponsors: Paul D. Nelsen, Gerald E. Levy
Outside Evaluator: Leonard Berkman, Smith College
An in-depth study of psychology focusing on development
and motivation expressed both in children and adults. In
addition, the luxury leisure market used as a model environment in which developmental and competitive trends
are illustrated.
Project: Four Papers.
Sponsor: Thomas L. Toleno
Outside Evaluator: Jan E. Dizard, Amherst College
T H E
Gretchen S. Jaeger
Bachelor of Arts, THEATER & SOCIOLOGY
O F F
A collection of original poems drawing on an exploration
of the interaction of imagination with history, language,
politics and empathy through a study of the roles of the
imagined and the actual in the poetry of Randall Jarrell
and through a study of conceptions of history and revolution in Germany’s Weimar Republic.
Project: Two papers and a collection of poetry: The first
paper examines Jarrell’s use of imagination, vernacular and
empathy in poems using the personae of children, women
and soldiers to achieve what Seamus Heaney terms “a
redress of poetry.” The second paper focuses on the interaction between social democratic ideology and action. The
collection of poems draws on elements from both studies
to move into places of imagination, empathy and political
life as both “participant” and historian.
Sponsors: T. Hunter Wilson, Timothy F. Little
Outside Evaluator: David Huddle, University of
Vermont
Patricia Brooke Kerschbaumer
Bachelor of Arts,
PSYCHOLOGY/Organizational Behavior
&
Katherine Ariel Hollander
Bachelor of Arts,
WRITING/Poetry & LITERATURE & HISTORY
O N
An examination of the unique possibilities of changing
cinematic mediums.
Project: A 16mm film utilizing various cinematic styles,
storytelling methods and film stocks, accompanied by live
original music.
Sponsor: Jay Craven
Outside Evaluator: Ted Lyman, University of Vermont
grassroots movement. A supporting paper on international
political economy.
Sponsors: Lynette Rummel, James A. Tober, Meg Mott
Outside Evaluator: Valerie Voorheis, School for
International Training
Aaron James Kisicki
Bachelor of Arts,
POLITICAL SCIENCE/Legal Studies
A study of U.S. federalism through an examination of historical and contemporary constitutional issues.
Project: Three papers: The first outlines the history of the
commerce clause in relation to federalism and judicial
activism. The second examines the Anti-Terrorism Act of
2001 and its implications on civil rights. The third discusses
the legal pragmatism of Oliver Wendell Holmes and its place
in contemporary jurisprudence. The project also includes a
comprehensive constitutional law written examination.
Sponsors: Meg Mott, John Sheehy
Outside Evaluator: Christopher Serkin, Davis, Polk, &
Wardwell
Anna G. Lubiner
Bachelor of Arts,
AMERICAN STUDIES & SOCIOLOGY
A historical and sociological study of social welfare in the
United States.
Project: Two papers: The first is an examination of the
roots of the modern welfare state in the New Deal Era.
The second explores the 1996 Welfare Reform Act and its
consequences.
Sponsors: Kathryn E. Ratcliff, Gerald E. Levy
Outside Evaluator: Valerie Voorheis, School for
International Training
Ivan Michael Ludmer
Bachelor of Arts, HISTORY/Europe & POLITICAL
SCIENCE/Political Theory
An inquiry into the nature of the sovereignty exercised by
the European Union.
Project: A series of investigations into the theoretical
underpinnings and forebears of the European Union.
Specific topics include: the Second World War and
European reconstruction, the European Union’s internal
sovereignty: biopower and the public sphere, European
Union: expansion through networks, and the imperial
tradition of the European Union.
Sponsors: Timothy F. Little, Meg Mott
Outside Evaluator: Nicholas Xenos, University of
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
43
Thomas Ryan MacMillan
Bachelor of Arts,
VISUAL ARTS/Photography and Painting
An examination of the way images communicate in art
and media culture using original artwork and media theory.
Project: An exhibition of photographs and paintings
investigating the use of visual language as a means of understanding identity and experience. A paper analyzing the
use of news photographs in the construction of ideology.
Sponsors: John Willis, Cathy Osman, Carol E.
Hendrickson, Felicity Ratté
Outside Evaluator: Tom Young, Greenfield Community
College
Project: A paper and several original compositions for film
and theater. The paper examines the influence of Richard
Strauss’s tone poem “Don Quixote” on Erich W. Korngold’s
early work for solo piano “Don Quixote.” The original
compositions include one score for a silent experimental
film, scores for narrative films with dialogue and sound
design for the spring theater faculty production of Ulysses.
Sponsors: Stanley Charkey
Outside Evaluator: Paul Dedell, Composer
Mark Carl Malool
Bachelor of Arts, PHILOSOPHY
A study of faith in the philosophies of Kant and Nietzsche.
Project: A series of papers addressing the reactions of Kant
and Nietzsche to skepticism’s effects on morality and religious faith.
Sponsor: Neal O. Weiner
Outside Evaluator: Bret Halpern, Bennington College
Daniella Forest Martin
Bachelor of Arts, ANTHROPOLOGY
An exploration of topics in medical anthropology with an
area focus on Mexico.
Project: Two papers: The first examines traditional medicine in Mexico. The second considers nutritional and
cultural aspects of pre-Columbian food.
Sponsor: Carol E. Hendrickson
Outside Evaluator: Abigail Adams, Central Connecticut
State University
Kate Merrill accepts
congratulations from
her grandmother and
Lee Collyer ’03.
Sarah Lavigne ’98
Heather-Jean MacNeil
Bachelor of Arts in International Studies,
BIOLOGY/Ethnobotany
A study in the biological sciences with a focus on ecology
and plant biology as it relates to applied ethnobotany and
sustainability in tropical ecosystems.
Project: Two papers: The first examines the ecological
implications of extraction on tropical ecosystems. The second investigates harvesting wild species as a conservation
strategy for sustainability in the tropics.
Internship: Esmeraldes Province, Ecuador
Sponsors: Jennifer Ramstetter, James A. Tober
Outside Evaluator: Tim Keating, Greenpeace &
Rainforest Relief
Merrall III MacNeille
Bachelor of Arts, VISUAL ARTS/Woodworking
A study of the wood infilled metal hand plane.
Apprenticeship with Karl Hotley, Finmere, England.
Project: Four hand planes: plough, two shoulder planes,
and a smoother.
Sponsor: Timothy J. Segar
Outside Evaluator: Garrett Hack, Author, Craftsman
Christopher Loureiro Mahoney
Bachelor of Arts,
MUSIC/Composition for Film and Theater
A study of music composition with a primary emphasis on
film scores.
44
Jodina Shary Meehan
Bachelor of Arts,
VISUAL ARTS/Painting & WRITING/Fiction
A study of the division of consciousness between inner
and outer perceptions represented in painting and writing.
Project: An exhibition of paintings. A collection of short
fiction. A paper discussing division of consciousness represented in fiction and painting.
Sponsors: Cathy Osman, T. Hunter Wilson
Outside Evaluator: Grant Drumheller, University of
New Hampshire
Kate Hanley Merrigan
Bachelor of Arts,
AMERICAN STUDIES/Gender Studies
A study of organized feminism in the United States with
an emphasis on the politics of sisterhood and the ongoing
problem of difference.
Project: Three papers: The first examines the political
strategies of radical feminism with attention to internal
organizational conflict. Two supporting papers continue
this exploration in later years of the women’s movement,
focusing on the feminist sexuality debates.
Sponsor: Kathryn E. Ratcliff
Outside Evaluator: Joyce Berkman, University of
Kate Antoinette Tardif Merrill
Bachelor of Arts, VISUAL ARTS
An analysis of subject and object in photography, film,
drawing and installation, consisting of an exhibition and a
paper on the influence of photographer Francesca Woodman.
Kyle Ellen Nuse
Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, DANCE &
ANTHROPOLOGY
An exploration of dance, race and gender in Brazil, drawing on materials from an internship in Salvador, Bahia.
Project: A multimedia performance art collaboration with
dancers, artists and musicians, influenced and inspired by
firsthand experiences of Brazilian politics and society while
on internship.
Internship: Salvador, Brazil
Sponsors: Dana Holby, Carol E. Hendrickson
Outside Evaluator: Elsa Borrerro, Photographer,
Videographer, Dancer
Marshall C. Pahl
Bachelor of Arts, HISTORY/Caucasus Studies
A study of the history of the North Caucasus region, focusing on colonial wars between the North Caucasians and
Imperial Russia, and on the recent conflicts in the breakaway republic of Chechnya.
Project: Two papers on the history of political organization
in North Caucasian society. One focuses on early political
organization, and one focuses on contemporary Chechnya.
Sponsor: Dana P. Howell
Outside Evaluator: Stephen F. Jones, Mount Holyoke
College
Jacquelyn Elizabeth Pillsbury
Bachelor of Arts, PSYCHOLOGY & WRITING
H I L L
A study of the methods and concepts of the social scientist
Max Weber directed toward the analysis of Ayn Rand and
the Objectivist Movement.
Project: Two papers and a Website: The first paper is a
Weberian analysis of Ayn Rand and the Objectivist
Movement of contemporary American society. The second
is a consideration of Rand’s narrative of Frank Lloyd
Wright in the context of 20th century architectural history.
The Website examines Frank Lloyd Wright’s influence on
Rand’s Howard Roark in The Fountainhead.
Sponsors: Meg Mott, Gerald E. Levy
Outside Evaluator: C. J. Churchill, St. Thomas Aquinas
College
T H E
R. Andrew Murray
Bachelor of Arts, POLITICAL SCIENCE
O F F
An exploration of imagery from media, news and advertising.
Project: A body of artwork exploring appropriation of
media imagery and placing it in a different context. A
paper analyzing visual imagery in advertising as well as the
artwork of Cindy Sherman.
Sponsors: John Willis, Felicity Ratté
Outside Evaluator: Justin Kimball, Amherst College
A broad exploration of conservation biology focusing on
the ecology of edge effects and reserve design for biodiversity conservation in fragmented forest landscapes.
Project: Two papers: The first explores the ecology of edge
effects in fragmented tropical rainforests with a case study
in tropical northeastern Queensland, Australia. The second examines reserves and reserve design, including a case
study of a GAP analysis of northeastern Queensland.
Internship: Queensland, Australia
Sponsors: Jennifer Ramstetter, Robert E. Engel
Outside Evaluator: Rosalind Yanishevsky, Ecologist
&
Carolyn Jean Murphy
Bachelor of Arts, PHOTOGRAPHY/Cultural Studies
Heidi Mae Peters
ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES/Conservation Biology
O N
Project: A multi-media gallery exhibit that displays photographs, installations, works on paper and experimental film.
Sponsors: John Willis, Cathy Osman, Timothy J. Segar,
Felicity Ratté
Outside Evaluator: Ann Fessler, Rhode Island School
of Design
A study of psychology and rhetoric with applications in
both academic and autobiographical writing.
Project: A psychological autobiography including (a) a
narrative of life history material; (b) an analysis of this
material from two distinct traditions in psychology, family
systems therapy, with an emphasis on David Schnarch’s
Crucible Approach, and the character structure formulations of Karen Horney; and (c) a theoretical and philosophical discussion of the theories employed, exploring the
limits of the particular theories and of psychology in general and inferring the positions of the various authors on
topics such as individuality, will and ethics.
Sponsors: Thomas L. Toleno, John Sheehy
Outside Evaluator: Janine Roberts, University of
Leslie Creighton Plank
Bachelor of Arts, HISTORY
An examination of higher education in the United States
since 1944 with an emphasis on small colleges with nontraditional curricula and governance structures.
Project: A paper that relates the history of the first 10
years of the community of Marlboro College and the way
in which this community was shaped by its members, using
original sources, as available.
Outside Evaluator: Daniel Toomey, Landmark College
Daniella Martin is
congratulated by
Zana Prutina
Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, POLITICAL
SCIENCE/International Relations & ECONOMICS
Ulla Valk ’03.
Photo by
A. Blake Gardner
A study of politics and economics focusing on the questions of American foreign policy and economic transition
in the case study of Bosnia.
Project: Two papers: The first examines theoretical
approaches to the making of foreign policy, explains
decision-making processes of American foreign policy, and
analyzes U.S. policy of intervention in Bosnia. The second
examines the economic transition from plan to market,
focusing on the theory and practice of privatization and its
application to the case of Bosnia.
Sponsors: Lynette Rummel, James A. Tober
Outside Evaluator: Steven Burg, Brandeis University
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
45
Kerenza Anne Reid
Bachelor of Arts, SOCIOLOGY/Education
A study of the sociology of urban education, using sociology,
psychology and educational theory to explore education’s
relationship with race and urban areas.
Project: An ethnography exploring the role of race, social
theory and educational reform as they affect an alternative
summer school program in Baltimore, Maryland.
Sponsor: Gerald E. Levy
Outside Evaluator: C. J. Churchill, St. Thomas Aquinas
College
Leyea Rajavi Risley
Bachelor of Arts, DANCE & PSYCHOLOGY
The study of the meaning of movement through dance
and the study of emotion through psychology.
Project: A performance examining emotion through dance
and movement. Two papers. One is an examination of
emotion; the other is a study of dance/movement therapy.
Sponsors: Dana Holby, Thomas L. Toleno
Outside Evaluator: Heidi Ehrenreich, Dance Movement
Therapist
Alexander Stefan Rogalski
Bachelor of Science, MATHEMATICS
Kit Wray and friend.
Photo by
A. Blake Gardner
A survey of the natural sciences with a focus on mathematics.
Project: Two papers. The first paper reviews Galois theory.
The second examines homology and homotopy groups of
topological spaces.
Sponsors: Joseph C. Mazur, James H. Mahoney
Outside Evaluator: James Callahan, Smith College
Alan Bernard Rosenblith
Bachelor of Arts, MUSIC
A study of the history and techniques of music synthesis,
music composition and sound design.
Project: A series of compositions and performances in the
electronic medium. A supporting paper on the history and
development of electronic music.
Sponsor: Stanley Charkey
Outside Evaluator: Richard Boulanger, Berklee College
of Music
Michael Anthony Rudokas
Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, VISUAL
ARTS/Mixed Media & PHILOSOPHY
An exploration of the interface between language and silence
that employs both the written word and a visual language.
Project: Three elements: First, a paper that examines
emerging discourses post-September 11, incorporating
Ludwig Wittgenstein’s philosophy of language; second, a
collection of poetry; and third, a mixed media art exhibit
introducing notions of silence through the language of
form and materiality.
Internship: Thailand
Sponsors: Timothy J. Segar, Meg Mott, John Willis,
James E. Thomas
Outside Evaluator: Kendall Baker, Caldwell College
Andrew Sandlin
Bachelor of Arts,
AMERICAN STUDIES & PHOTOGRAPHY
A study of the remembrance of the American Civil War
through the use of monuments by southern memorial groups.
46
Project: A paper on the background of southern memorial
groups and a case study of a recent monument in
Nashville, Tennessee. An original artist book of photographs and text. A photography exhibit.
Sponsors: Kathryn E. Ratcliff, John Willis
Outside Evaluator: Anthony Gengarelly, Massachusetts
College of Liberal Arts
Brian Schechter
Bachelor of Arts,
AMERICAN STUDIES & PHILOSOPHY
An exploration of progressive movement building, with a
focus on theoretical and pragmatic factors.
Project: One non-fiction narrative and two papers. The
first paper presents an anatomy of the movement against
the prison industrial complex based on field research in
Los Angeles. The second paper uses Kantian philosophy to
reconcile the ongoing political debate between structural
determination and individual agency.
Sponsors: Kathryn E. Ratcliff, Neal O. Weiner, Meg Mott
Outside Evaluator: Michael Meeropol, Western New
England College
Joanne Lynn Schumacher
Bachelor of Science,
BIOLOGY & PHILOSOPHY/Ethics
Cellular biochemistry and immunology: the treatment and
identification of harmful genetic mutations.
Project: Four papers: The first examines a congenital disease in the canine breed Dalmation. The second reviews
nonmyeloablative hematopoietic stem cell transplantation
for correction of congenital disorders. The third describes
original research into the nitrogen metabolism and saxitoxin synthesis of a harmful algal bloom species. The
fourth is an introductory exploration of fundamental
philosophical questions that pertain to the ethics of treatment and prevention of harmful genetic mutations.
Sponsors: Robert E. Engel, Todd Smith, Neal O. Weiner
Outside Evaluator: Thomas Spitzer, Massachusetts
General Hospital
Julia Catherine Slone
Bachelor of Arts, THEATER/Performance Studies &
CULTURAL HISTORY
An exploration of liminality and transformation in performance, and the process of creating theater.
Project: The collaborative creation of an original physical
theater piece, with supporting performance work in
women’s choral direction, and a paper exploring liminality
and transformation in creative theater process.
Sponsors: Eric Bass, Susan Klein, Dana P. Howell
Outside Evaluator: John Fiscella, University of
Nikki Denise South
Bachelor of Arts, AMERICAN STUDIES/Literature
A study of the popular novel in the United States from
the 19th century to the present with an emphasis on gender and the formation of reading communities.
Project: An examination of the novels and readers of Oprah’s
Book Club, with a supporting study of 19th century popular
novels by women.
Sponsors: Kathryn E. Ratcliff, Gloria Biamonte
Outside Evaluator: Lise Sanders, Hampshire College
Clara Wootton
Bachelor of Arts,
VISUAL ARTS & PHOTOGRAPHY/Book Arts
O N
An examination of how image and format function within
the discipline of photography and the book arts.
Project: A series of photographs and handmade books,
complemented by papers on Dorothea Lange’s photograph
“Migrant Mother” and the evolution of cameras.
Sponsors: Cathy Osman, John Willis
Outside Evaluator: Ann Fessler, Rhode Island School
of Design
&
O F F
T H E
Russell Barron Wootton
Bachelor of Arts, VISUAL ARTS
An exploration of the cultural construction of gender in
Latin America, with a focus on machismo and feminist
movements.
Project: Two papers: The first considers changing concepts
of machismo. The second compares feminist movements in
Chile and Nicaragua.
Sponsors: Carol E. Hendrickson, Gerald E. Levy
Outside Evaluator: Abigail Adams, Central Connecticut
State University
Jessamyn Stylos-Allan
Bachelor of Arts,
LITERATURE/Storytelling and Oral Tradition
An exploration of storytelling and the hero within two
oral traditions: The heroic epic tradition and the
American folk music tradition.
Project: An exploration of the way in which Homer uses
different narrative perspectives to discuss issues and nomoi
of his society while keeping the plot rooted in the hero
and his life.
Sponsors: Laura C. Stevenson, Emily Pillinger
Outside Evaluator: Michael Hutcheson, Landmark College
Carlye Maude Woodard
Bachelor of Arts, PHOTOGRAPHY
The photographic documentation of an alternative religious community and the challenges and difficulties of this
visual representation.
Project: An exhibit of photographs and text exploring a
communal religious lifestyle, and a book of accompanying
photographs and text.
Sponsor: John Willis
Outside Evaluator: Bill Burke, School of the Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston
H I L L
Paula Carleen Sperry
Bachelor of Arts,
ANTHROPOLOGY & SOCIOLOGY
A comparison of visual storytelling through the ages,
through an examination of art forms such as painting,
sculpture, and illustration from different eras, including the
modern art forms of film, motion graphics and animation.
An in-depth examination of 3-D animation to determine
its place in the art world in relation to other mediums.
Project: A short animated film titled “Actalan,” which
comments on how different cultures interact. The film
is presented along with prints of promotional art and an
exhibit of the steps involved.
Sponsors: Timothy J. Segar, Jay Craven
Outside Evaluator: Tom Haxo, Hampshire College
Music instructor Stan
Charkey with Plan student Chris Mahoney.
Sarah Lavigne ’98
Christopher John Wray
Bachelor of Arts, VISUAL ARTS & RELIGION
A study in the visual arts and religion exploring images of
the goddess as used in popular devotion, both in the
ancient Mediterranean and in India today.
Project: An exhibit of paintings depicting different goddess forms based on sketches done while traveling to sites
in India, Nepal, Turkey and Greece. A supporting paper
considering the significance of feminine divinity in
ancient Greek culture and in India, with particular attention to the Tantric tradition. A review of original paintings in relation to contemporary interest in the goddess.
Sponsors: Timothy J. Segar, James E. Thomas
Outside Evaluator: John Gibson, Smith College and
Rhode Island School of Design
Shaina Kate Zura
Bachelor of Arts, PSYCHOLOGY
An examination of gifted children and their experience in
contemporary American society.
Project: Three papers: The first is a psychological analysis
of the gifted child in relation to familial, educational and
societal structures. The second explores the gifted child’s
developmental experience through theoretical evidence
and practical observation. The final paper examines the
Montessori method as a means to psychological well being
for the gifted child.
Sponsors: Thomas L. Toleno, Snow Johnson, Carol E.
Hendrickson
Outside Evaluator: Talu Robertson, Antioch Graduate
School
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
47
A L U M N I
N E W S
’49
JOHN KOHLER wrote in March, “saw
JIM SHINGLE, once in Hawaii and once
in San Francisco. What a pleasure it is to
see old friends!”
Of toad in the hole, angels on horseback and Audrey Gorton
’51
instructor AUDREY GORTON ’55, published in 1960 by Stephen Greene Press in
FRITZ GREETHAM emailed the following to Gussie and BOB BARTLETT, who
shared it with Potash Hill: “We have two
boys, both engineers and employed. The
youngest, Peter, is working on Navy sonar
acoustic digital signal processing and is in
the same department that I worked in at
G.E. before I retired. I worked in digital
signal processing for the last 20 years; now
that technology is appearing in the commercial world. Another byproduct of the
Cold War, I guess. Our other son, Dallas, is
a quality control engineer manufacturing
wiper systems and electric motors for automobiles at Rochester, New York. Say hello
to the Marlboro Pioneers.”
her book includes such culinary gems as Cornish pasties, Northumberland crusties,
A L U M N I
year was a copy of In Defense of British Cooking, by former Marlboro literature
Brattleboro. Subtitled 200 Wonderful Recipes that Prove the English CAN Cook,
Richmond maids of honour, Bath buns, angels on horseback and lambs wool—a hot
toddy-type drink “reported to have been educated at Oxford.”
N E W S
LARRY SMITH writes, “Thanks again for
hosting Alumni Weekend! I hope more
from the ‘early years’ will attend next year.
Warm regards to all.”
Tucked into a box of holiday goodies from WENDY MONTANARI KILPATRICK ’77 this
As suspected, the real enjoyment in the book comes not only from reading the
amusing names, ingredients and directions for such goodies as Scotch eggs or crumpets
and pikelets, but from the voice, sometimes humorous and sometimes sentimental,
but always Audrey. In introducing the recipe for spring soup, for instance, Audrey
wrote, “I think that I include this soup because of the promise of spring suggested
by the tender vegetables—particularly the ‘white heart of a young cabbage.’ And
there is color, too: green, white, gold and orange. It is winter as I write these words.
The thermometer is only a few degrees above zero; the snow sparkles in the frosty
air, and the miracle of spring seems a long way away. I tell myself that when the long
New England winter is over, I shall make this soup, remembering that I wondered whether spring would ever come again.”
Life in rural Vermont plays a role in Audrey’s cookbook,
as in this introduction to “scones and cakes”: “An hour ago I
was half-chilled and wholly ravenous. I had been piling
wood… and came into the house, proud of my wood-piling
and hungry as a bear. It was too late for lunch, not quite tea
time. Suddenly I knew exactly what I wanted to eat. I put the
soapstone griddle (in Scotland they call it a girdle) on the
stove, the burners turned very low. I looked to be sure there
was honey in the cupboard and Earl Grey tea in the caddy.
Then I stirred up a recipe of oatcakes. While I waited for them
to crisp on the griddle (they should not brown), I replenished
the fire with logs I had carried in myself, then hunted out the
right book, choosing John Buchan’s autobiography Pilgrim’s
Way. Now the oatcakes slip off the griddle, hot and crisp. I
Doris Miller, traveling to New England from
pour out my tea, butter an oatcake and recklessly add honey,
Audrey Gorton ’55
knowing that it will undoubtedly drip on to Lord
Photo by
Tweedsmuir’s adventures and not really caring.”
Joy Coviello ’69
Not surprisingly, literature makes more than one appear-
her home in North Carolina, stopped by
ance in the book. The chapter on fish starts out with the Sir Epicure Mammon section
Marlboro to drop off photographs her late
of the Ben Johnson poem “The Alchemist” and a reminder that “A pair of soles (Dover)
husband Julius ’52 had taken while a student here. Among them was this image of
a pajama-clad group of students gathered in
a Mather House bedroom. Left to right they
are: Howie Whittum ’55, Bill “Rocky”
Toomey ’53, Bob Hickey ’51, Bob Hamner
’52, Bob Bartlett ’52, Frank Perenick ’53,
Arnie Levitt ’51.
’52
“Marlboro has never been out of my
mind,” writes CHARLES ROSS. “I look
at the view from the field directly in front
of the old farmhouse out to Hogback
once served as a marriage gift in Madame Bovary. And remember those barrels of
oysters in Dickens!” Indeed, “Picnic Fare” opens with an excerpt from Emma,
Trollope introduces “Raised Buns and Breads,” and Samuel Johnson starts out the
chapter on savories: “For I look upon it, that he who does not mind his belly, will
hardly mind anything else.” And then there is the recipe for Treacle Posset:
1/2 pint milk
1 tablespoon treacle
Treacle, of course, is molasses all the time, but it sounds more Alice-inWonderlandish to call it treacle. Heat the milk and add the molasses.
Don’t let the milk boil. No one should ever have to undergo the ordeal
of skin on milk.
—Dianna Noyes ’80
Left: Mather in the 1940s, contributed by Doris Miller.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
49
Mountain every day and night. It is an oil
on canvas I painted while there. I studied
piano with Rudolph Serkin but mainly
with Marcel Moyse and fondly remember
the six- or seven-foot snow cutout walkways to the ‘barn’ where warm coffee and
glazed donuts always greeted us before class.
I envy you all as I love snow and miss the
warmth of roaring fires in the hearth. I can
still hear the snow melt dripping off the
eaves and smell the oatmeal cooking in the
commissary. My room was on the ground
floor of the farmhouse, to the left of the
entrance door. Because time has a way of
fading the memory that far back, one individual whose name I cannot recall, always
left the window open at night at the foot
of his bed and his blanket was covered
with an inch of snow when we all got up
at the crack of dawn. Who was it? I live in
Florida and despise the heat. No curving
roads and white clapboard farmhouses with
six over sixes and wonderful antique wavy
glass in windows here! I am a residential
design consultant here and refused to be
retired.” Charles’ email is crrwdc@cs.com.
’65
PEGGY and LARRY DUNHAM hosted
a mini-reunion of Marlboro friends at
Larry’s mother’s house in Branford,
Connecticut in August 2000. “JACK
Left to right: Larry Dunham ’65, Peggy Dunham, Tim Little ’65, Jack
Russell ’65, Sandy Wilcox, Ron Whitehorne ’65.
Photo by Patty Aikin
’69
RUSSELL and his wife Sandy Wilcox
outdid themselves by providing gourmet
meals. RON WHITEHORNE brought
his guitar and there was much singing of
songs he first taught us in 1962. TIM LITTLE brought his good cheer and his great
memory of our years at Marlboro, and
much news of Marlboro since that time.
We hope to do this again,” Peggy writes.
“Daughter Alexis in medical school, son
Joshua at Penn,” writes GIL PALLEY.
“I’m in new purely clinical emergency
medicine practice in Chester, Pennsylvania.
Robin and I still live in center Philadelphia.
Love to hear from anybody who remembers me.”
Alumni in Education: Bruce Droste ’72
The course titles themselves are enough to make one wish that they had been available at one’s own high school: “Learning to
Invest in the Stock Market,” “Ethics and Environmental Chemistry,” “101 Ways to Write a Short Story,” and “Same as it Never Was:
Viewpoints on What Really Happened Throughout the Course of History,” to name a few. But thanks to the Virtual High School, for
which Bruce Droste ’72 is the program director, innovative and challenging electives like these are available to high school students
at participating schools around the world.
Billed as a “classroom without walls” the Virtual High School is a hub for classes offered online in all the major high school level
disciplines. The school relies upon the collaboration of participating high schools, which offer courses in return for enrolling students.
Students read books and other materials both on- and off-line, participate in online discussions, and submit homework via the Internet.
Bruce says he always had an “educational bent,” one that was clinched for him when an assignment from a Marlboro psychology
course with Dick Orlando sent him into a schoolroom to test an original educational toy. There, he discovered that he “just liked kids.”
After earning a master’s in education at Harvard, Bruce founded and became the headmaster for the Atrium School, an independent
elementary school in Watertown, Massachusetts. A self-described environmentalist, he has worked on educational projects with
Senator John Kerry and with Earthwatch, the international environmental research advocate.
Bruce became director of the Virtual High School five years ago at the project’s infancy. With the school, Bruce says he “wanted
to level the playing fields, to reach a lot of kids with a lot of education.” He has continued his career-long focus on “cooperative
education— going to the student rather than expecting the student to come to me.” While the electronic medium has limits on accessibility, rural and less affluent schools, where intriguing electives can be tough to find, have benefited by keeping their students’
interest and raising standards with the virtual offerings.
Of his experiences as an educator, Bruce says, “It’s great to wake up in the morning and laugh out loud because I get to go
to work.”
—Tristan Roberts ’00 with Tricia Theis ’99
50
’70
DAN DALY writes, “Check out my new
Website! www.dalyart.com”
COLIN COCHRAN had a one-man
exhibit of his work at the Andre Zarre
Gallery in New York City last winter.
’75
WILL CHAPMAN sent the following
via www.potashhill.com: “Just thought I
would let everyone know that I moved to
Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico in January,
2001 planning on being a bum; it has not
turned out that way. I have started writing,
generally for my own pleasure and the sufferings of my friends who read them. In
addition, I am back in the used and rare
book business, currently selling a private
library for a family in Mexico City and in
discussions to open a bookstore/café here
(access to books in any language is difficult
here). I would love to hear from any old
friends passing through or online. Best
wishes to all.” Will’s email address is
will_wander@yahoo.com.
DIANE JUNG celebrated her 26th
anniversary with the National Park Service
on Round Island, a remote walrus sanctuary
in Alaska, last summer. “I love this state
and have had some incredible adventures
in my eight years here,” she writes.
“This is really going to be a busy summer
for me and my son,” writes MARY
LAGASSE AKELEY. “I received the
John Watson Moore grant from Duke
School for a book/travel project on the
Oregon Trail, which our 5th grade U.S.
history class studies. I will be compiling
information for a book project and also ‘hit
the trail’ to gather information and pictures to share with the students and school
community. This is the first year of the
project, and we’ll be away from June 6–24.
The next day we leave for New York City
where I will join an orchestra with whom I
have played on several occasions—we will
have a special concert in Carnegie Hall.
Yes, I’m still playing flute even though I
teach ‘regular’ school!”
’81
CHERYL LEGER wrote last winter from
San Francisco, “Greetings to all. I am writing on the heels of having completed the
Honolulu Marathon on the island of Oahu
in Hawaii. I ran the race as a fundraiser
on behalf of the San Francisco AIDS
Foundation. The experience was one I will
DON SAWABINI writes from
Madison, Wisconsin, “Greetings to my
old roomie MR. WADE ’82; always
glad to hear he’s having fun. And greetings to VERNON ’81 and SANDY ’83
STUDER—it’s been a long time—and
to VINCE RIBAS ’82, BOB POTTER
’83, and old friend ELYSSE LINK ’81.
I’m still teaching preschool in
Madison—only slightly younger than
the college types!
’82
Marlboro’s newest Alumni trustee, JOHN
CHAN, is the director of bioinfomatics
and a computational biologist at
engeneOS, a biomolecular engineering
firm in Waltham, Massachusetts.
’84
DAVID MAITLAND is living in a former high school in Magdalena, New
Mexico (population: 1,000), working as a
building contractor.
’85
PETER CHANDLER has a new CD
“Gotta Take Some Turns” released by Ski
Bum Music. “I’m living the good life here
in Jackson Hole,” Peter writes, “with my
Paula Stylos ’78 and daughter Jessamyn ’02
at the trustees reception on Commencement Weekend.
Photo by Sarah Lavigne ’98
ELLEN SCHON writes, “My oldest child
is off to college in the fall. This summer
I’ll be teaching in the ceramics program in
the Office for the Arts at Harvard. In the
fall, I’ll be adjunct faculty at the Art
Institute of Boston, which is now affiliated
with Lesley. T. and Geri will be happy to
know that A.I.B. requires a writing component even for hands-on studio courses, so
I’ll be grading papers as well as teaching
ceramics!”
’76
“I happened to read some letters I got at
Brattleboro Hospital in 1975,” writes
MARY COUGHLAN. “They reminded
me of some of my best Marlboro times and
buddies. Hey to PETER SAMUEL ’77,
LYNN PADELL, TOM DAVIES ’75 and
Cindy, ANNE BOURNE KEBBELL,
LONNIE LAMONT ’75, TOM GIBBO
SUMMER–FALL 2002
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51
N E W S
PETER GOLDSMITH wrote in March
that GRETCHEN GERZINA ’72 was at
Oberlin College that week to teach and
lecture—“how nice to see a Marlboro
friend out here in the Midwest!”
’80
never forget. Over 25,000 entrants, many
of whom ran, like myself, as participants of
teams in training.”
A L U M N I
’72
’77 and countless others. My legs still work
fine. Our girls Kelsey, 14, and Chloe, nine,
are a trip. PETER ZORN ’75 and I have a
great life in Arlington, Virginia. These
people must call us when in D.C.”
Alumni in Education: James Clark ’89
James “Bar” Clark ’89 names three callings that brought him to work at The Deck House School after graduating from Marlboro and hearing about the tiny Maine boarding school from graduate Tom Evans ’91. It gave him the chance to teach, to remain in a small educational
setting and to receive a regular paycheck.
The Deck House School was founded in the woods overlooking the Sheepscot River in Edgecomb by an educator who lamented
young men with potential falling by the wayside in mainstream schools for lack of self-esteem or motivation. With a maximum enrollment
of 12 boys, the school gives students the individual attention they need to succeed in the classroom and eventually out in the world.
“Obviously, I liked the idea of small schools,” Bar muses. He served as housemaster and English teacher there for two years
before taking a break to travel and get married. Returning to the Maine coast in 1996, he found The Deck House had “lost its way a
little bit” and briefly closed. He worked in marketing, public relations and admissions to help re-open the school. Rebuilt, the school
hired Bar as assistant headmaster, and then headmaster, his current position.
“Kids here have gotta have a unique perspective,” says Bar. In addition to studying a regular high school curriculum, students
carry out daily chores and work in the greater community. Students usually arrive at the school having expressed that “unique perspective” at a mainstream secondary school in behavioral problems such as substance abuse and poor grades. The strength of the
school is teaching kids more positive ways to express their individuality.
On top of duties as headmaster and English teacher, Bar exposes students to local theater. “I mean, it’s hard to really teach theater
because we don’t have enough students to put on a production,” says Bar, himself a theater student during his Marlboro days. “But I
bring them to see local theater and to show them what it’s all about and it’s a lot of fun. They’re learning.”
’89
LAURA FIKE-LEVY writes, “Drew and
I are living in rural-ish New Jersey with
our children Griffin, four, and Celeste,
18 months. CHRIS SCHERP, would love
to hear from you.”
’90
ED and THORA POMICTER write from
Shelburne, Vermont, “Ed will finally be
finished with his anesthesia residency in
June and will be working locally afterwards. Besides raising our two children,
we are both very involved in the sport of
triathlon and are training for the Ironman
U.S.A. in Lake Placid in July, among other
things.”
Biology instructor Jenny Ramstetter ’81 with
Plan student Heather-Jean MacNeil.
Photo by Sarah Lavigne ’98
wife Kathie and my stepdaughter Chalese
(13). I ski a lot, play music (solo, Tram
Jam and my new bar band 3 Feet Deep)
and give worship on Sundays at a residential treatment center for boys. My CDs are
available through www.cdbaby.com, or
they can be ordered by sending $15 per
disc to Chanman, PO Box 25, Teton
Village, WY 83025. I hope all is well at
Marlboro…holds a warm place in my
heart.”
52
’88
COLT MADDEN writes, “I don’t know
what happened… I woke up one day and
realized I had turned into a corporate
finance geek.” Colt was recently promoted
to Director of Planning for Plum Creek
Timber Company and moved to Seattle
with his wife Janice and their children
Daniel, James and Sara.
JOHN SURFACE has returned from
Poland and is at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Russian and
Eastern European Studies program. It’s an
“M.A. program with a Ph.D. track in polisci or public policy,” notes John.
’91
CAROL ORTLIP’s book We Became Like
a Hand: A Story of Five Sisters was published by Ballantine Books in March.
’92
CHRISTINA FUHRMANN received
her Ph.D. from Washington University in
St. Louis in May 2001. “Now I am assistant
professor of music at Ashland University
in Ohio. My husband and I are also proud
owners of a new Corgi puppy.”
’93
GINA DeANGELIS writes from
Virginia, “Hi everyone! My husband
David Bianco and I bought our (previously rental) house in November. Like
RANDY and HEIDI WELCH, I can
only say it was rather a drag of an experience, but turned out well. Audrey is a
whopping 11 years old and kickin’ some
reading butt in 6th grade. She got guinea
pigs from the SPCA for Christmas, and
since one is pregnant she’s going to have a
few more soon! I’m still writing kids’ nonfiction books—I’m on number 22 right now
with between 2 and 4 upcoming contracts.
That’s the news! Hi all and I hope everyone is well and happy.”
AMY CRAWFORD is living in Burlington, Vermont, “keeping busy working as a
contractor for IBM. Uncharacteristic for
me, I know, but at least I have my own
cubicle with walls and everything! Writing
a bit and designing Websites in my spare
time. Big hellos to everyone, especially
Birgé, who I remember often when I notice
a particularly silly cultural reference.”
MADELAINE DANIEL is “still happily
married and happy to be living in the quiet
hills of Vermont. We had our second little
boy, Allister, born September 9, 2001.
What a joy he is—happy and content and
sleeps very well! Doing some freelance
photography and loving it!”
An Olympic moment,
with Laura Frank ’92
“I’m writing today as the audience is arriving for the Opening
Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter
here for two weeks, programming state-of-the-art computers
that run visual effects on one of
Laura Frank ’92
systems ever assembled. We have
a lighting team of 35 people plus
dozens of stagehands who have
installed 800 robotic lights and
hundreds of lamps that line the
athlete’s walk and surround the
edge of the stadium. Of course,
every production department has
these stories: the scenic department has 18 miles of chiller pipe
under the ice and the choreogra-
LAURA HINERFELD writes, “My goat
Maisiebelle is due to give birth in late
May — my personal fast-track to grandkids
(HAH—I know, keep my day job…). I am
learning about cheese, and can’t wait to
make my own this summer.”
JESSICA and MATT ’94 O’PRAY write
from California, “No news! We’re still in
Los Angeles and all is well.”
phy department has a volunteer
cast totalling over 1000. Plus it’s
the first time I’ve been greeted at
work by the National Guard
standing at the gates with rifles
loaded. I’m sure tonight will be
one the most unique work experiences I’ll ever have.”
—Laura Frank ’92
RANDY WELCH writes, “Hello my fine
feathered friends! HEIDI, Brianna and I
have moved to Hillsboro, New Hampshire.
I am a school psychologist (scary, huh?) at
the local high school and Heidi is the
librarian at the local elementary school.
Brianna is in kindergarten (I’ve decided
she cannot get any older!). We just bought
a house. That was a painful experience.
Hope all is going well with everyone.”
’95
Olympic Games. We’ve been
the largest automated lighting
’94
CARRIE STUBBS WOLLSCHEID is
moving back to the United States after
five years in Germany. “My husband Bernd
got a job at a research institute in Seattle
and has already moved there,” Carrie wrote
in May. “I’m still in Germany finishing my
degree in painting at the Kunstakaedemie
in Dusseldorf. I plan to spend the summer
in Seattle and come back to finish in
February, and have an exhibit at the
DANIEL DOOLITTLE is attending
graduate school at the College of William
and Mary in Virginia. He recently spent
two months aboard a German research
vessel in the Weddell Sea in Antarctica
looking at fish population structure and
distributions.
KIRSTIN GEORGE recently completed
an M.A. in education at Goddard College
in Plainfield, Vermont. She is enjoying her
brother RANDY’s ’93 organic sourdough
bread from his Red Hen Bakery in Duxbury,
Vermont, while she works on developing
her dream education program. The Canoe
Expedition for Maine Girls, sponsored by
the Chewonki Foundation, aims to
enhance girls’ self esteem, deepen their
sense of place and increase their understanding of the North Woods ecology and
history. She would love to hear from long
lost Marlboro friends and can be reached
at kirstingeorge@hotmail.com.
GREG SARACINO writes “I miss everybody!! Please email/write/call!” Greg’s
email address is xtn13@aol.com .
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
53
N E W S
“I’m alive and well and happy and would
love to hear from old friends,” writes
KATHLEEN SIBLEY. “My email is
k_sibley@hotmail.com and my home
number is 619-297-4695. I’d really love to
hear from PAUL COX ’98, DIANE
Andreas Bruening Gallery in Dusseldorf
in March 2003. It’s also possible that I will
be a part of a group exhibition at the
Frankfurt Airport in August.”
A L U M N I
MARGARET GRAPEL writes, “I have
been working for the Law Guardian Division
of the New Jersey Office of the Public
Defender. I spend days interviewing children whose families have become involved
with the state for some horrible reason or
another. On the side, I still have my radio
show at local station WRAT. For those of
us who know LOLLIE WINANS ’93 I
was very glad to hear they finally caught
the man responsible for not allowing her
to meet the Marlboro students of today.
Congratulations to SCOTT WILLIAMS
’93 and his wife for the birth of Rowan.”
ECHLIN ’91, JOHN SURFACE ’90 and
all the others I’ve lost track of. I’m working for the Office of the Public Defender
in San Diego and trying to get back to my
counseling career (I got my master’s in
1996). I miss everyone!”
Alumni in Education: Jonathan Taylor ’98
When Jonathan “J.T.” Taylor ’98 graduated from Marlboro, having studied
photography and literature and having designed and edited the student newspaper citizen, he started looking for visual arts job opportunities in Vermont. He
found a job at the Burlington Tech Center, preparing students for careers in the
visual arts.
J.T. teaches “Careers in Design & Illustration” at the vocational high school,
job in comics. I’m drawing a five page Kal
Jerico story for a book called Warhammer
Monthly. I’m not sure when it will be coming out, though. Hopefully it’s just the
beginning.”
’97
MIKE AUERBACH and his wife, Jesyka,
have a son, Conrad Elijah Auerbach, who
was born on January 13, 2002.
helping students develop foundational skills that are common across the visual arts,
including familiarity with widely used design software. Their testing ground for
skills—and career options—is the real world. J.T. helps students execute freelance
community service jobs and navigate design internships, in areas from illustration
to photography to print, Web and industrial design. Class discussion of art school
and portfolio preparation helps usher many of J.T.’s students into degree programs,
while some students are confident enough to seek well-paid jobs right out of high
HEATHER HUBBARD writes from New
York City, “came to live in the one city I
swore I never would live in. Found there
are as many wonderful people here as anywhere—maybe more by sheer number.
9/11 showed me the strength and kindness
of New York.”
school.
J.T. has taught the program, which often as a waiting list of 40 students, for
three years. He is planning to expand the lab size and is reviewing applications for
an additional teacher.
J.T. credits Marlboro photography instructor John Willis with giving him the
advice that got him through his first three years at the Burlington Tech Center. “He
told me to just be totally honest. Don’t pretend to be something I’m not. So I just
went in and said, ‘I’m young, I know I’m not this master designer who’s gotten
awards, but I do have a lot of experience to offer.’ Then I just formed relationships
with my students, and that’s how I’ve gotten through.” In addition to teaching CDI,
taking certification classes, and working as his own technical support, J.T. has his
hands full. But he says, “there’s definitely the pay-off of seeing these mixed-up,
silly teenagers leave after two years with a plan and with direction. I try really hard
to be different and to help these kids avoid all I hated about high school.”
’96
RICH BOULET is living in Blue Hill,
Maine, where he is the director of the
Blue Hill Library.
CAROL HAMMOND and ED LUTJENS
were married in Maine on September 15,
2001. “MARK LAMOUREAUX ’95,
KITTY ELLYSON ’94, and RACHELLE
ACKERMAN were part of the wedding
party, and ERIK OLSON ’94 officiated.
Other Marlboro folks who attended were
WENDY LEVY ’97, SEAN COLE ’93,
JANAN COMPITELLO ’96, BRENDA
SWEENEY KENNEDY ’99, her husband,
Kevin, their daughter, Mesa and son,
Liam,” Carol writes. “We bought a house
in Portland where we live with our dog
Bessie and our cat Pink. Ed is building
boats and sculpting life-size Jesus’ for the
Catholic diocese of Maine and designing
houses. I’m freelance writing and doing
public relations for Audubon. We miss
54
SUSIE JACOBY, BRIAN MOONEY ’90
and VAUGHN TRACHTMAN ’89, and are
trying to track down LAURA FRITZ ’97.”
PARRISH KNIGHT wrote via potashhill.com in late January, “Things are going
pretty well for me here in the metro D.C.
area. I’m still with the marketing firm
and have been assuming ever-increasing
responsibilities in the I.T. department. I
achieved my first I.T. certification, the
CompTIA A+ cert, just a couple of weeks
ago, and am being tested for the CompTIA
Network+ in about a month. My mediumterm goal is to become an M.C.S.A. by the
end of 2002. I’m still living in a rather
shabby apartment in Silver Spring but hope
to move to Crystal City in about a year
after I’m on firmer financial footing. Please
feel free to write: zanthras26@mac.com.
I hope that everyone is doing well.”
In April, DAN LAPHAM also wrote in
via potashhill.com: “I finally got my first
MEGGAN SLACK writes via
www.potashhill.com, “Hey there HEIDI,
RANDY, ROBERT, BRIAN, HELENE,
APRIL, THEO, BECKY and all the others. Please use this site to get back in
touch. I miss all of the fun times at
Marlboro—Randy, I could go for some
pasta!!!! Loaf of bread, Heidi? Talk to you
soon!”
AARON TIEGER sends thanks to all the
alumni who attended Jacket Weather’s
debut concert last fall. “Despite some
sound problems we had a great time! We
have finished mixing our first demos, if
anyone’s interested. Also, if there are any
keyboarders out there, drop a line.”
BARBARA WHITNEY has been admitted
to the American Repertory Theater/Harvard
graduate program in dramaturgy.
’98
MATT DEBLASS noted in a
potashhill.com message, “I was reading
the January issue of Smithsonian and saw
an article on John MacArthur’s wife,
Margaret, concerning her playing of a
rather obscure form of folk harp. And here
I am, one state away playing a completely
different yet still somewhat obscure form of
folk harp. I happened across this article
just about the time I stumbled across an
old Marlboro friend and renewed contact
with the school. Seems my history is subtly
stalking me.” Matt lives in New York state
and works as a bicycle mechanic.
DOYLE HUELSMAN writes from
Anchorage, Alaska, “I am currently working at a runaway shelter for teenagers as a
case manager. I was married last April and
find myself feeling happier every day.”
EDDIE AUGUSTYN is pursuing his
M.F.A. at Mills College.
TIM COLLINS is taking his one-man
show Cuts on the road.
KERENZA REID will be working for
Teach for America in New York City.
A true legacy: Russ and Clara Wootton enjoy the moment with mom Lulu
Wootton ’85, dad Will Wootton ’72 and Russ’ girlfriend Linda Reyes ’99.
Photo by Cullen Schneider ’04
JAMISON LEACH received his master
of science degree in geography from
Virginia Tech in 2001.
format B&W so far, but moving onto more
large format and 35mm in this upcoming
term. Feels like I have had an epiphany….
MICHAEL [D’ANGELO ’02] and I will
both be done with school (he from the Art
Institute of Boston, me from New England
School of Photography) in June 2003.
Then it’s off to battle that frothing-at-themouth money demon (yet again) who
preys on young artists in NYC…I’d love to
hear any advice. And if you need a photographer, let me know!”
’99
’00
JOSH RENZEMA writes, “I finally
became a member of the dot.bomb crowd.
I’m looking at joining the Peace Corps and
going back for my M.B.A. In the meantime, I’m hoping to lead camping tours
across the U.S.A. this summer. With love
from sunny San Diego!”
BRIAN SCHWARTZ is studying for
his master’s degree in Buddhist studies in
Boulder, Colorado.
SHAW ISZIKSON writes via the alumni
Website “American Feed Magazine still goin’
strong! Over the past few months, we have
had tons of readers and contributors to the
magazine. If your work needs exposure,
then stop by: http://www.americanfeedmagazine.com.”
SARASWATI ROGERS returned to the
United States briefly after her trip to
Southeast Asia last winter. Now she is in
Dublin, Ireland, working in “a big pub,”
and still planning on traveling to India
next year.
TRICIA THEIS wrote via potashhill.com
in April, “Just finished my first 10 weeks of
photography school…only 50 more to go!
I am lovin’ it, been working with a large
ALEX ROGALSKI will be studying
mathematics at the University of
Connecticut.
JULIA SLONE, who founded and directed the Marlboro College Women’s Chorus
as part of her Plan of Concentration, will
be staying in the area and continuing to
direct the chorus.
KIT WRAY has been accepted to the
School of Figurative Art at the New York
Academy of Art.
F ORMER F ACULTY /S TAFF :
PAUL ELBOURNE (Classics Fellow
1993–1995) is at New York University
teaching linguistics.
’01
While working at the Taub Institute for
Research on Alzheimer’s Disease and the
Aging Brain at Columbia University,
LORI BENNETT co-authored a paper
“Presenilin-dependent Y-Secretase-like
Intramembrane Cleavage of ErbB4” at JBC
Online in February, 2002.
’02
SKYE ALLEN will be attending the
University of Chicago’s Ph.D. program
with the Committee for Social Thought.
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
55
N E W S
JODI MEEHAN opened an art gallery
and studio space on Main Street in
Brattleboro.
A L U M N I
JOHN (JACE) HARKER worked as a
team leader for the Colorado Fourteeners
Initiative (www.14ers.org) this summer.
He did conservation work and trailbuilding at high altitude—“what fun!”
IN MEMORIAM
Frederick Kunreuther,
trustee
A remembrance
Frederick Kunreuther, a longtime trustee of the
college, died in February. Fred was born in
Germany in 1916, and in 1934, amid the growing political dangers of the Third Reich, emigrated
to the United States with his family. He worked
in a Baltimore whisky distillery before entering
MIT, where he earned a degree in chemical
engineering and business administration in 1941.
That same year, he married Emily Hollander,
with whom he raised six children. Fred worked
for Shell Oil in refinery design and troubleshooting
until 1970, founded his own petrochemical consulting firm, and, in 1988, joined the Marlboro
56
College board of trustees. He served on the board
until his death and is remembered as a staunch
defender of Marlboro’s ideals.
At the end of every sabbatical, faculty
members are asked to submit a report as to
what they did. I’ll send that report to John
Hayes soon: a list of books read, lectures
delivered here and in Uruguay. What will not
be included will be my attempt to deal with
the death of Fred Kunreuther. I am not alone
in that endeavor; the Marlboro faculty and
many, many friends share my sense of grief
and loss.
I spent a sabbatical in Uruguay thinking
about this civilized and wonderful man,
attempting to understand just why I felt even
M E M O R I A M
meticulous care with which he did his work,
of what Wordsworth called “those daily
unremembered acts of kindness and of love.”
He spoke sparingly of his own childhood, but
from his accounts of the garden, of the house,
of the superiority of the white asparagus he
had as a child to that “green stuff” from my
garden, of his love for the countryside near
his home, I felt that he had had a wonderful
one. I suspect that his parents created an
idyllic world at home for him and his brothers
as a refuge from the growing political horror
around them. Whatever the source of his
civility, those of us who were privileged to
share time with him can say what George
Eliot wrote of Adam Bede and others like
him: “They are men of trust and when they
die before the work is all out of them, it is as
if some main screw had got loose in the
machine.” And we can all echo her question,
“Where shall I find again [his] like?”
We will all miss his love of principle, his
fierce integrity, his boundless energy, his
sense of outrage against cruelty and stupidity,
his sense of humor. And those who loved him
dearly will miss his gestures, his presence, will
miss hearing that characteristic “How about
that?” from a man who refused to accept
injustice but who allowed nothing to alter his
deep love of life and the civility with which
he lived it.
I N
more devastated than I thought I would, why
I felt a grief comparable to my sense of loss
and desolation when my own father died.
The final answer, of course, has not come, for
who can understand the depths of affection,
respect, love?
Fred, invited one night for dinner, had
one of his prized tennis games in town and
asked if he could shower and change at our
house. The answer was, of course, yes. I
showed him the closet with the towels. He
appeared some 20 minutes later, laughing.
The linen closet, he said, reminded him of
the night the German Gestapo came to arrest
his father. After their search of the house and
as they were taking his father away for his
mercifully short detention one of them said
to his mother: “Mrs. Kunreuther, I must congratulate you. You have a wonderfully neat
linen closet.” Fred closed that horrific
vignette with a laugh and his typical phrase:
“How about that?”
Yes, how about that. How is it that he
could have endured such loss: loss of a home
that he loved; loss of a grandmother to a concentration camp; loss of a financially secure
life; of hearing his mother tongue…what
gave this human being, this Fred Kunreuther,
the capacity to overcome, to go on and build
a new wonderful world in another country, to
open that wonderful world of his home, his
heart, his life so completely to others? What
gives a parent the fortitude to lose a beloved
child and continue to live with such commitment to principle, to joy and to an
ethical life?
At his memorial, several people spoke of
his love for his “dearie,” for Emily. And that
marriage stands as a model for us all; others
spoke of his compassion, of his boundless
curiosity, of his interest in people, of the
Geraldine Pittman
de Batlle has taught
literature at Marlboro
since 1969.
—Geraldine Pittman de Batlle
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
57
Tom Winship, trustee
A remembrance
Tom Winship, trustee of the college since 1997,
died March 13, with his family around him.
He was for 20 years the editor of The
Boston Globe, which he was instrumental in
building into the paper it is today, among the
best in the country. He did so in large part by
encouraging and supporting young reporters,
by diversifying the staff, by supporting international coverage and a wide spectrum of
columnists and op ed writers. His way of
expecting a lot of people was by a patient and
persistent curiosity. He was a reporter by
instinct. Wherever he went, he asked questions and really listened to the answers and
58
told people things and asked them what they
thought about them. He believed in the
power of sharing information and sharing
thoughts and feelings about information to
build a wider sense of community.
Graduating from Harvard in 1942, he
joined the Coast Guard and served as a combat correspondent for the invasions of
Normandy and southern France. After the
war, he was for 10 years a reporter at The
Washington Post, before moving to The Globe
in 1956 as a correspondent and then editor of
various sections of the paper, which prepared
him for becoming editor in 1965. He took
what had become a rather staid and conventional paper and made it an exciting place to
M E M O R I A M
loved to pull out his guitar and gather all the
kids around to sing the old-fashioned songs,
“The Fox Went Out” or “Careless Love.”
They know how the phone would ring and
you’d pick it up: he’d say, “Winship here. You
know, I’ve just read an article you’d be interested in. How are you, anyway?”
Tom had been interested in Marlboro for
many years before he became a trustee, and
once on the board, he did a lot. His committee
work included Media Relations, Nominating,
Development, the Graduate Center and the
Executive Committee as well as the Huron
Task Force. With a fellow trustee, he created a
scholarship to honor John Kenneth Galbraith,
an old friend of his and a longtime friend of
Marlboro. Everyone who had a chance to
work with him enjoyed his enthusiasm and
respected his thoroughness.
Tom didn’t get to know as many at the
college as he would have liked. He had been
fighting cancer for some time. This time,
though he had much still to do, the cancer
was too much. When he woke up after a long
doze near the end, he said brightly, “Damn,
I’m still here.” He was ready to go. But we are
not ready to be without him.
I N
work, with serious international and regional
reporting, challenging investigative reporting
and a willingness to risk controversy for principle. The paper took strong stands locally,
for instance in favor of busing to achieve
racial integration of Boston neighborhoods,
and nationally, as in the decisions to oppose
the American war in Vietnam and to publish
the Pentagon Papers, the government’s own
study revealing the criminality and ineffectiveness of its policy. The Globe won 12
Pulitzer Prizes, including three in 1980 alone.
Tom himself won the John Peter Zenger
Award and the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award
and served as the president of the American
Society of Newspaper Editors from
1980–1981.
When he “retired,” he worked unflaggingly as the chairman of the International
Center for Journalists, a program modeled on
internships he had established at The Globe
for young foreign reporters. The Center
brings reporters from all over the world to
study and work in this country, in the expectation that with all its faults, the culture of a
free press they are exposed to here will
improve the reporting, and the independence
of reporting, in other societies. He served on
The Globe’s board of directors and on numerous committees in support of journalists: the
African American Institute, the Freedom
Forum Foundation Media Studies Center, the
International Press Institute, and the
Committee to Protect Journalists.
These, and many other things, the world
knows about him. His friends know that
when climbing Mount Washington for spring
skiing, he kept up a steady stream of questions and conversation. They know how he
T. Wilson has taught
writing and literature at
Marlboro since 1971.
—T. Wilson
SUMMER–FALL 2002
. Potash Hill
59
David Riesman,
Council of Academic
Advisors Member
David Riesman, a longtime member of
Marlboro’s Council of Academic Advisors,
died on May 10, 2002 at the age of 92.
Although he was considered one of the
nation’s top social scientists, his only
advanced degree was in law. Graduating from
Harvard Law School in 1934, he clerked for
Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and
and then taught law at what is now the State
University of New York at Buffalo. Shifting
to social sciences, Professor Riesman taught
and conducted research at some of the country’s leading universities. His work at Yale led
to his co-authoring The Lonely Crowd, A
Study of the Changing American Character in
1950. Not only is The Lonely Crowd considered one of the great sociological texts of the
20th century, but it is a best-seller that
remains popular today. Professor Riesman
served on Marlboro’s Council of Academic
Advisors from 1959 to 1986, and remained a
friend of the college until his death.
60
Jon O’Daniel, ’57
Jon O’Daniel died on May 5, 2002 at the
Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, New
Hampshire. He was 72. Jon was born in
Painesville, Ohio and moved with his family
from Ohio to Newport, Rhode Island in
1944. In 1949, he graduated from Newport
High School and attended Marlboro College
for two years. He went on to Cambridge,
where he worked as a proofreader for a
recording and statistical company, then
worked as a railroad engineer in Schenectady,
New York until 1968. From there he moved
to Greenfield, Massachusetts in 1981 and
later to Harborside Nursing Home in
Winchester, New Hampshire. Jon is survived
by two daughters, his sister and several nieces
and nephews.
Parting Shot
Julia Slone celebrates finishing her Plan of Concentration orals in May.
Photo by Cullen Schneider ’04
MARLBORO COLLEGE
NONPROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
Marlboro, Vermont 05344
PAID
PUTNEY, VT
PERMIT NO. 1
C H A N G E S E RV I C E R E Q U E S T E D

The Magazine of Marlboro College .Summer-Fall 2002

Transcription

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