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KATHY    LE   '97         PHUC    LE   '97 

Beyond  Memopy 

Vietnamese  Americans  Come  of  Age 


Martha    Mitchell 
University  Archives,  Copy 
8  of  10,  Box  A 


©19'^7  L'-iiiy   \  [>n  rMi'n  ofTmitln  Mnh'rSiilp\.  C.SA.,  Inr.  LeML\  rpminds  you  loobey  all  ^peed  laii^.  Driirr's.  front  pa.ssen^pr's  and  fmni  seat- mounled  sideimpacl  airha^s  are  'supplemental  reUratnts  only.  For  more  infnrmation.  call  800-872-5398. 


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Ivy  League  magazines  boast  a  million  readers  and  an  average  income  of  $132,000. 

Advertisers  find  new  upscale  audience 


By  Laura  Gardner 

ASSOCIATED  PRESS 

NEW  YORK  —  Lxxjking  for  new 
clients  with  money  to  invest,  Neu- 
berger  &  Berman  Management  Inc. 
found  a  ready-made  way  to  reach  af- 
fluent and  educated  readers:  adver- 
tise in  Ivy  League  alumni  maga- 
zines. 

The  investment  firm,  which  is 
based  in  New  York,  tapped  into  the 
Ivy  League  Magazine  Network,  a 
consortium  of  eight  nonprofit  maga- 
zines that  together  reach  about  one 
million  readers  with  an  annual  me- 
dian household  income  of  $132,300. 

The  magazines  reach  "a  lot  of  in- 
telligent people  who  are  smart 
about  their  money,"  said  Steve 
Klein,  media  director  of  Kirshen- 
baum  Bond  &  Partners,  who  placed 
the  ads  for  Neuberger. 

"Plus,  they're  magazines  people 
care  about." 

The  network  is  based  in  Cam- 
bridge. Mass.  It  was  founded  in  the 
mid-1970s,  and  it  has  grown  substan- 
tially in  the  past  two  years  through 
a  national  sales  push  that  has 
brought  in  such  names  as  British 
Airways  and  Cadillac. 

Sales  representatives  in  Cam- 
bridge, Detroit  and  New  York  sell 
ad  space  at  the  rate  of  $43,435  for  a 
full  page.  The  ads  then  appear  in 
publications  sent  to  the  alumni  of 
Brown.  Cornell.  Dartmouth.  Har- 
vard, Princeton,  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  Yale  and  one  non-Ivy, 
Stanford. 

Columbia,  the  eighth  member  of 
the  Ivy  League,  does  not  participate 
ill  the  sales  consortium. 

The  network  keeps  about  15  per- 
cent of  the  ad  revenue  to  cover  mar- 
keting and  operating  costs.  The  rest 
is  divided  among  the  magazines 
based  on  their  circulations.  The  rev- 


enue has  buoyed  some  of  the  publi- 
cations dunng  an  era  of  skyrocket- 
ing paper  prices  and  increased  post- 
age costs. 

Ad  sales  increased  20  percent  last 
year  to  S1.41  million,  and  another  20 
percent  gain  is  expected  in  1996, 
said  Laura  FYeid.  executive  director 
of  the  network. 

"The  demographics  in  a  lump  sum 
are  hard  to  resist,"  said  Caner  Wise- 
man, editor  of  the  Yale  Alumni  Mag- 
azine. 

Nearly  half  of  the  Ivy  readers 
have  done  postgraduate  study.  Only 
readers  of  the  Atlantic  Monthly 
have  higher  levels  of  education,  ac- 
cording to  Mendelsohn  Media  Re- 
search Inc..  in  New  York. 

And  the  median  income  of  read- 
ers tops  that  of  many  upscale  publi- 
cations, including  Worth,  Barrens, 
The  Wine  Spectator  and  Conde  Nast 
Traveler,  Mendelsohn  said. 

In  addition,  readers  are  "totally 
invested  in  this  magazine."  said 
Anne  Diffily.  editor  of  the  Brown 
Alumni  Monthly.  "They  are  much 
more  intimate  with  it  than  they  are 
with  a  newsstand  magazine." 

The  average  reader  spends  80 
minutes  with  an  issue  and  picks  it 
up  on  more  than  two  occasions,  ac- 
cording to  Mark  Clements  Research 
Inc..  in  New  York. 

Dartmouth  graduate  Betsy  Ben- 
nett said  she  opens  her  alumni  mag- 
azine as  soon  as  it  arrives  at  her  San 
Francisco  home.  "First.  I  read  the 
class  notes  to  see  what  people  in  my 
class  are  doing.  Then,  the  letters  to 
the  editors.  I  read  the  whole  thing 
and  save  back  copies."  Bennett  said. 

The  combination  of  upscale  demo- 
graphics and  reader  involvement 
has  lured  advertisers  of  luxury 
products,  including  Lexus  cars.  Ab- 
solut Vodka  and  Bermuda  tourism. 


BROWN  ALUMNI  MONTHLY  •  CORNELL  MAGAZINE  •  DARTMOUTH  ALUMNI  MAGAZINE  •  HARVARD  BUSINESS  SCHOOL  BULLETIN 
HARVARD  MAGAZINE  •  THE  PENNSYLVANL^  GAZETTE  •  PRINCETON  ALUMNI  WEEKLY  •  STANFORD  MAGAZINE  •  YALE  ALUMNI  MAGAZINE 


FOR    MORE    INFORMATION.    PLEASE    CALL 


Ed  Antes 

(617)  496-7207 

Cambridge,  West  Coast 


Tom  Schreckinger 

(212)  852-5625 

New  Yorfc 


Bob  Pierce 

(810)  64:5-8447.  e.xt  "503 

Daroa 


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THOSE  W/HO  APPRECIATE  QUALITY  ENJOY  IT  RESPONSIBLY 


BROWN 

ALUMNI  MONTHLY 


Under  the  Elms    12 

Today's  anxieties,  tomorrow's 
jobs . . .  liow  the  brain  works . . . 
mapping  campus . . .  the  power 
of  placebos . . ,  Tom  Brokaw. . . 
Jesse  Jackson  . . .  Pick  o'  the  Web 
. . .  and  more. 


The  Long  Road  Home 


22 


They  were  born  in  the  final  days  of  a  dying  country,  hi  January, 
Kathy  Le  '97  and  Phuc  Le  '97  returned  to  Vietnam  to  learn  about 
a  war  they  don't  remember  and  a  past  that  got  left  behind. 
By  WviiiiVi  Boucher 


DEPARTMENTS 

Here  &Now 

4 

Carrying  the  Mail 

6 

Sports 

18 

Track  and  Field's  Fab  Four 

Studentside 

19 

A  Public  Voice 

By  Amy  Larocca  'gj 

Books 

20 

Accidciiliilly.  Oil  Purpose 

by  Ken  Dornstem  '91 

Reviewed  by  Ross  Clicit 

The  Classes 

42 

Obituaries 

54 

Finally.  . . 

56 

Passing  the  Torque  Wrench 
By  John  M.  Roderick  '74  Ph.D. 


Return  of  the  Natives 

Long  neglected  in  favor  of  more  exotic  species.  North  American 
plants  are  back  m  tashion.  Sort  of.  I^liotoi^rdplis  by  John  Foraste/ 
Text  by  Xoniuui  Boucher 


32 


Healing  Words 


34 


Will  reading  literature  give  doctors  a  more  compassionate  bedside 
manner?  Psychiatrist  Lynn  Epstein  thinks  so.  By  Gerald  S.  GoUisteiu 


Portrait:  New  World  Winemaker 

Ted  Lemon  'No  learned  oenology  from  French  masters.  Now  West 
Coast  connoisseurs  all  want  a  piece  of  his  palate.  By  Chad  Gahs 


40 


cover:  Kathy  Le  '97  (left)  and  Phuc  Le  '97. 
Photograph  by  John  Foraste.  Paratroopers 
near  Ben  Cat.Vietnam,  1965.  Photograph 
by  AP/ Wide  Worid  Photos. 


Volume  97  •  Number  8/  May  1997 


Here  &  Now 


War  and 
Remembrance 

On  May  25,  Brown  will  dedicate  a 
memorial  to  its  men  and  women 
who  died  in  the  armed  services  since 
World  War  I.  The  Navy  Band  will  play. 
And  several  generations  of  veterans  will 
remember  their  times  of  war. 

Remembering  war  is  a  complicated 
thing.  Among  combat  survivors,  the 
memories  can  stir  a  roil  ot  feelings  - 
pride,  sorrow,  revulsion,  even  a  latent 
adrenaline  rush.  It's  different  for  those 
who  stayed  home.  Unless  we  lost  some- 
one dear  to  us  and  bear  the  resulting 
psychic  scar,  our  memories  inevitably 
tap  into  the  national  mythos  that  evolves 
after  a  major  war  ends.  While  our  recol- 
lections may  be  trivial  —  broccoli  from  the 
victory  garden,  giggles  as  we  flashed  the 
peaceniks'  sign  to  our  buddies  —  a  war's 
reinvention  by  the  news  and  entertain- 
ment media  casts  our  experiences  onto  a 
broader,  more  meaningful  stage. 

Thus,  when  1  think  of  my  freshman 
year  at  Brown,  1969-70, 1  see  a  pastiche  of 
protests,  speeches,  and  strikes,  all  laden 
with  significance.  Those  things  happened 
on  College  Hill,  and  I  was  indeed  here, 
resplendent  m  bellbottoms  and  even, 
once,  a  black  armband.  But  1  know  that  at 
the  time  I  was  only  modestly  mindful  ot 
the  Vietnam  War. 

The  November  1969  BAM  tells  me 
that  12,000  people  attended  an  anti-war 
rally   at   the    Rhode    Island   State    House 


on  October  15,  the  date  of  the 
nationwide  Vietnam  Moratorium. 
Where  was  I?  Smiling  over  an  A- 
on  an  English  paper,  doing  a  per- 
spective drawing  for  art,  worry- 
ing about  my  date  for  Saturday's 
football  game,  and  opening  a  bo.x 
of  apples  from  my  mom. 

Later  that  year,  in  May,  a  stu- 
dent-organized strike  shut  down 
Brown  classes  in  the  wake  of  the 
Kent  State  shootings  and  the  U.S. 
invasion  of  Cambodia.  What  ensued  were 
several  weeks  of  oratory,  marches,  canvass- 
ing, and  even  a  concession  run  by  Pem- 
broke students:  for  fifty  cents  (proceeds  to 
the  antiwar  effort),  long-haired  Brown 
boys  could  get  a  trim  before  setting  out  to 
proselytize  Joe  and  Jane  Average  Citizen. 

I  went  along  with  some  of  this  for  the 
ride.  "I  spent  all  of  yesterday  going  to 
mass  meetings,"  I  reported  in  a  May  6 
letter  to  my  parents,  "and  it  is  really  amaz- 
ing how  fired  up  everyone  is."  Mostly 
I  seemed  to  have  spent  my  time  playing 
tennis,  finishing  a  French  paper,  and  eat- 
ing in  a  Ratty  fraternity  dinmg  room. 

"After  lunch,"  1  jotted  in  turquoise 
Flair  pen  in  my  1970  diary,  "I  went  with 
Becky,  Dave,  and  Janet  to  watch  the 
protest  march  downtown." 

To  ivatdi.  Witnessing  history  from  a 
safe  distance,  in  my  mind  I  was  looking 
ahead  to  a  weekend  jaunt  to  the  Cape 
with  friends. 

When  I  read  Managing  Editor  Nor- 
man Boucher's  article  about  seniors  Kathy 
Le  and  Phuc  Le  (page  22),  my  third-hand 
"Vietnam  e.xperience"  seemed  unbearably 
puerile.  Born  as  the  war  ground  to  its 
denouement,    these    young    women    en- 


i* 


ilHHi 


.11  vino 


■iil^ 


May  1970:  Students  wage  war  on  war. 

dured  girlhood  travails  incomprehensible 
to  most  of  us. 

Through  their  parents'  profound  sac- 
rifices, each  has  made  her  way  to  Brown. 
Through  a  research  project  of  Brown's 
Witson  institute,  both  had  the  chance  this 
year  to  return  to  Vietnam  tor  the  first 
time  since  leaving  as  refugees  in  crowded 
boats.  Fully  American  yet  fundamentally 
Vietnamese,  Kathy  and  Phuc  embody  the 
power  of  history  actually  lived. 

Speaking  at  Brown  last  month,  film- 
maker Ken  Burns  (page  14)  extolled  the 
often-overlooked  personal  histories  which 
have  informed  his  documentaries.  "I  am 
. . .  drawn  to  those  voices,  those  stories  and 
moments,"  he  said,  "that  suggest  an  abid- 
ing faith  in  the  human  spirit." 

Please  liihi).  as  Burns  urged  his  audi- 
ence, to  history.  Listen,  m  these  pages,  to  a 
war  story  begotten  of  suffering,  shaped  by 
peace,  and  animated  by  the  human  spirit. 


Anne  HinmAn  Di 
Editor 


FiLY    73 


BROWN 

ALUMNI         MONTHLV 

May  lyyy 
Volume  97.  No.  S 


Editor:  Ahik-  Hinman  Dilfily  '73 
Managing  Editor:  Norman  Boucher 
Art  Director:  Kathryn  de  Doer 
Assistant  Editor:  |enmfer  Sutton 
Editorial  Associate:  Chad  Gahs 
Business  Manager:  Pamela  M.  Parker 
Contributing  Writers:  Peter  Mandel 
'Ni  A  IVl,,  K.iren  Wargo 
Photography:  John  Foraste 
Design:  Sandra  PelanN',  Sandra  Kenney 
Administrative  Assistant:  Sheila 
Cournoyer 


Board  of  Editors 

Chair:  [ohn  Monaghan  's.S 

Vice  Chair:  Dana  B.  Cowin  '82 

Tom  Bodkin  '75,  Anne  Azzi 
Davenport  '85,  Rose  Engelland 
'78,  Eric  Gertler  '85,  Edward 
Marecki  '65.  Martha  Matzke 
Vjfi,  Cathleen  McGuigan  '71, 
Carolyn  Cardall  Newsom  '62, 
Stacy  Palmer  '82,  Eric  Schrier 
'73,  Ava  Seave  '77,  Lisa  Sing- 
hania  '94,  Benjamin  Weiser  '76, 
BiUWooten  'fiS  Ph.D. 


Local  Advertising 

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National  Advertising 
Representative 

Ed  Antes,  Ivy 

League  Magazine 

Network 

7  Wiirc  Street, 

Cambridge,  Mass. 

0213S 

(617)  496-7207 


C  lyy?  by  Brown  AUnmtt  Moiilhly 

Published  monthly,  except  January,  June, 
and  August,  by  Brown  University,  Provi- 
dente.  R.I.  Printed  by  The  Lane  Press, 
P.O.  Box  130,  Burlmgton.Vt,  05403.  Send 
ch.inges  of  address  to  AJumni  Records. 
PO,  Box  1908.  Providence.  R.. I.  02912; 
(401)  86J-2307;  alumrojbrownvm. brown. 
cdu.  Send  editorial  correspondence  to 
BAM,  Box  i8S4,  Providence.  R,l.  02912; 
{401)  863-2873:  FAX  (401)  863-959y; 
e-mail  BAM@browiivm.brown.edu. Web 
page;  www.brown.edu. /Administration/ 
Brown_Alumni_Monchly ' 

Address  correction  requested 

PHINl  El)   IN  THE  U.S.A. 


4    ♦    MAY     1997 


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The  modesty  of  steel. 


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Despite  its  remarkable  tensile  strength,  the 

luster  of  platinum  is  so  subtle  it  doesn't 

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is  just  one  more  of  its  distinctive  attributes. 


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ROLEX 


Carrying  the  Mail 


The  Real  Belize 

It  was  distressing  to  sec  that  Brown  is 
doing  biological  research  in  my  homeland, 
Belize.  Like  so  many  others  who  write 
about  biological  research,  writer  Norman 
Boucher  has  glamorized  what  takes  place 
m  this  country. 

For  centuries,  Belize  (which  is  located 
in  Central  America  and  not  the  Carib- 
bean, as  Boucher  stated)  was  a  British 
protectorate.  When  the  British  had  raped 
it  of  minerals  and  anything  else  they 
thought  useful,  they  gave  the  country  its 
independence.  British  Honduras  became 
Belize,  named  after  the  capital  city. 

Now  Brown's  biology  department 
appears  to  be  benefiting  from  everything 
Belize  has  to  offer.  But  at  what  cost? 
Pharmaceutical  companies  and  universi- 
ties are  forever  conducting  research  m 
Belize  to  benefit  organizations  and  busi- 
nesses. In  many  cases,  research  conducted 
in  Third  World  countries  would  never  be 
allowed  in  the  United  States  under  fed- 
eral laws. 

What  does  Belize  get  out  of  it?  Does 
Brown  ofter  the  country  any  sort  of  profit 
from  the  research?  Does  Brown  give 
scholarships  to  residents  of  Belize?  I  saw 
no  mention  in  the  article  even  of  a  cul- 
tural exchange  in  which  local  students 
could  participate  in  the  research,  thereby 
offering  both  Belizeans  and  Brown  stu- 
dents firsthand  knowledge  of  each  other's 
way  of  life  and  culture.  In  fact,  I  saw  no 
Belizeans  in  any  of  the  photos  or  even 
mentioned  in  the  article. 


How  quaint  that  Brown  students  can 
do  research  in  aThird  Worlcf  country, 
in  the  section  that  is  a  tropical  paradise, 
and  not  associate  with  residents  in  the 
Belize  that  is  impoverished  and  desperate 
for  aid.  I  find  it  rather  Elizabethan  that 
biology  professor  Mark  Bertness  encour- 
ages scientists  to  rampage  through  Belize 
to  discover  what  scientists  have  already 
destroyed  in  their  own  countries. 

I'm  glad  1  graduated  from  Brown 
when  civil  rights,  ethics,  integrity,  and 
humanity  were  some  of  its  distinguishing 
characteristics.  If  this  biodiversity  pro- 
gram is  a  reflection  of  what  Brown  has 
become,  well  —  as  the  police  say  to 
the  survivors  —"I'm  sorry  for  your  loss." 

Skyc  Dent  '76 

Los  Angeles 

skyciitrck(cUaol  .coin 

Managing  Editor  Norman  Boucher  replies: 
Skye  Dent  could  not  have  known  how 
the  group  I  described  aided  Belize's  citi- 
zens because  I  focused  my  te.xt  entirely 
on  the  trip's  scientific  projects.  In  fact, 
it  was  Belize's  culture  and  the  warmth  of 
Its  people  that  first  drew  Professor  of 
Biology  Mark  Bertness  to  the  country 
thirteen  years  ago.  Thanks  to  Bertness's 
friendships  and  contacts,  the  group 
in  January  worked  closely  with  local  resi- 
dents, who  were  also  paid  guides.  Bert- 
ness also  made  sure  the  students  visited 
cultural  and  archaeological  sites  to 
learn  about  Belize's  heritage. 

Although  Belize  has  made  great  strides 
111  overcoming  its  colonial  past,  there  is 
still  much  work  to  be  done  to  raise  the 
living  standard  of  its  people. This  makes 
all  the  more  remarkable  Belize's  decision 
to  avoid  cashing  in  on  the  kind  of  short- 
sighted logging  and  mining  that  marked 
the  colonial  period.  Far  from  "encourag- 
ing scientists  to  rampage  through  Behze" 
for  the  benefit  of  outsiders,  Bertness  led 
studies  of  basic  ecology  that  are  useless 
to  pharmaceutical  companies.  Instead,  the 
research  can  help  resource  managers  bet- 
ter understand  how  Belize's  natural  rich- 
ness works,  enabling  them  to  develop 
such  sustainable  industries  as  ecotourism 
while  preserving  the  priceless  biological 
diversity  that  has  characterized  Belize 
far  longer  than  did  British  rule. 


20/20  Vision 

1  am  a  feminist.  I  work  more  than  forty 
hours  a  week  toward  gender  equity  —  in 
educafion,  in  the  workplace,  and  at  home. 
1  lobby  both  Tallahassee  and  Washington 
to  support  programs  that  promote  equity 
for  all  women  and  girls.  As  a  member  of 
the  Equity  Program  tor  the  Hillsborough 
County  Public  Schools,  I  participate  in 
programs  mentoring  young  women  and 
give  se.xual  harassment  workshops  to  stu- 
dents and  faculty. 

The  hair  stood  up  on  the  back  of  my 
neck  while  I  watched  the  [March  2Sj  seg- 
ment on  ABC's  20/20  about  how  Brown  is 
dealing  with  date  rape.  Indignation  won't 
cut  it,  especially  when  it  is  coupled  with 
fi-enzied,  irrational  behavior  and  an  embar- 
rassing inability  to  articulate  the  problem. 

I  hope  that  the  students  who  sacrificed 
a  unique  opportunity  to  present  a  very 
serious  problem  to  the  public  will  garner 
their  outrage  to  work  toward  eliminating 
sexual  harassment/assault  on  campuses. 
They  should  begin  to  lobby  the  college 
administration  for  effective  controls  on 
alcohol  and  drugs,  the  two  major  causes 
of  date  rape.  A  student/faculty  commis- 
sion should  be  established  to  take  the 
message  into  dorms  and  fraternities  —  not 
only  that  nonconsensual  sex  has  serious 
consequences,  but  that  student  ostracism 
is  even  more  brutal.  Freshman  orienta- 
tion should  include  a  strict  warning 
against  one-night  stands  and  a  discussion 
of  the  blurred  line  between  consensual 
and  nonconsensual  sexual  encounters. 
A  hotline  (consisting  of  women  and  men) 
should  also  be  set  up  to  help  students 
deal  with  the  problem. 

Most  important  in  the  prevention  of 
sexual  harassment  and  date  rape  is  educa- 
tion. I  hope  these  same  students  will  lobby 
Congress  and  their  state  legislatures  to 
require  all  public  schools  to  include  sex- 
ual-harassment workshops  m  the  middle 
and  high  schools,  and  bul-lying  workshops 
on  the  elementary  level.  It  is  much  more 
ditTicult  to  change  a  pattern  of  behavior 
than  to  stop  it  before  it  ever  begins. 

Leslie  Michael  Henderson  '6g 

Tampa,  Fla. 

tilila@iiol.coni 
The  ivriler  is  Florida  slate  director  for  pro- 
grams, the  American  Association  of  Ihiirersity 
Women.  -  Editor 


MAY    1997 


In  retcicnce  Co  tlic  -'('/jc  segment  by 
reporter  lohn  Stossel.  I  read  your  article 
("TV  Tempest."  Elms,  March)  about  what 
you  say  happened  and  what  the  Bivwii 
IXtlly  Hcnihl  editors  thought  Mr.  Stossel 
would  report  on. 

I  don't  care  about  what  Mr.  Stossel 
said,  but  I  can't  believe  what  I  stiw  on  TV. 
It  has  been  some  time  since  I  have  seen  a 
more  ignorant  bunch  ot  college  students 
-  not  much  different  than  what  happened 
in  Germany  under  Hitler.  Brown  is  prob- 
ably the  only  place  in  America  where 
one  female's  allegations  can  convict  you. 

Dofi  Gautreaux 

Lafayette,  La. 

I  hope  |ohn  Stossel's  "inflammatory  brand 
ot  journalism"  (//(/"obscure  the  truth" 
about  the  Adam  Lack  incident  and  its 
aftermath,  as  the  Brown  Diilly  Herald  pre- 
dicted in  its  editorial  reprinted  m  the 
March  BAM.  I  hate  to  think  the  20/20 
segment  as  it  aired  was  more  or  less  accu- 
rate in  its  greatly  embarrassing  portrait 
of  the  University  today. 

While  It's  ditticult  to  measure  every 
detail  ot  the  Adam  Lack  affair  froin  a 
distance,  it's  not  hard  to  get  a  picture  ot 
a  campus  where  reason  is  no  match  for 
topical  hysteria.  "This  is  one  of  the  nation's 
great  universities?"  is  a  question  that  no 
doubt  passed  the  lips  of  any  number 
of  viewers  tuned  to  ABC  that  night.  I'm 
sure  some  of  the  images  ot  cant  and 
intemperance  were  sharpened  by  Stossel's 
skills  as  a  savvy  media  merchant,  but  he 
didn't  actually  hire  a  cast  of  callow  extras 
to  impersonate  all  those  Brown  under- 
graduates, did  he? 

Scan  R.  Mitchell  '70 

Pasadena,  Calitornia 

seanriley@carthlink.  net 

As  you  would  expect,  I'm  sure  the  20/20 
report  will  create  quite  a  stir  nationwide. 

In  an  educational  institution,  admin- 
istrators and  students  need  to  have  open 
minds.  One  group  thinking  that  its  views 
are  the  only  right  views  leads  to  a  divi- 
sive atmosphere  that  causes  mistrust  and 
hate.  The  statement  on  the  air  by  a  Brown 
student  that  a  burden  of  proof  isn't  nec- 
essary for  the  clismissal  ot  a  student  is 
ludicrous. 

Maybe  the  policies  and  rules  gov- 
erning student  conduct  don't  require 
due  process  in  a  court  of  law.  However, 
the  media  and  administrators  need  to 
be  aware  that  their  actions  wiU  impact 
the  lives  ot  individuals  beyond  the  scope 
of  the  case  at  hand.  [The  Brown  Daily 
Herald's]  publicizing  the  accused  person's 


name  and  not  the  accuser's  name  was 
irresponsible. 

Does  it  occur  to  anyone  that  the  per- 
son who  got  so  drunk  that  she  got  sick, 
lost  her  memory,  and  made  sexual 
advances  is  a  person  who  commits  sexual 
misconduct  herself?  She  continued  the 
engagement  and  left  a  phone  number. 
Could  It  have  been  that  she  took  advan- 
tage of  the  man? 

Matt  Miller 

Cedar  Rapids,  Iowm 

nuller@/:edar-rapids.nct 

The  Stalinesque  witch  hunt  at  Brown 
is  representative  of  a  totalitarian,  mind- 
controlling,  antediluvian  policy  that  has 
gone  far  too  far.  What  is  wrong  with 
you  people?  I  am  enraged  and  ashamed 
that  I  graduated  from  Brown. 

Arthur  Dresdale  '72 

Blue  Bell,  Pa. 

adresdal@ix.  iietconi.  com 

Alcohol  and  Responsibility 

Perhaps  the  disciplinary  policy  that  cov- 
ers the  Adam  Lack/Sara  Klein  incident 
could  benefit  from  a  review  of  the  expe- 
rience with  drunk  driving. 

Up  to  the  late  1970s,  courts  regularly 
tbund  that  the  presence  of  alcohol  in  the 
blood  ot  drivers  mitigated  their  responsi- 
bility' for  vehicle  crashes,  even  when 
death  and  permanent  disabilitv'  were  the 
consequences.  The  drunk-dnving  toll 
was  staggering. 

As  a  result  of  the  etTorts  ot  Mothers 
Against  Drunk  Driving  and  other  groups, 
drivers  began  to  be  held  responsible  tor 
their  decision  to  drmk  and  get  behind 
the  wheel.  Stiff  laws  were  placed  on  the 
books  and  enforced.  Instead  of  a  mitigat- 
ing tactor,  alcohol  m  the  blood  became 
an  aggravating  circumstance.  Conse- 


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quently,  drunk-dnving  deaths  and  crashes 
decreased  significantly  in  absolute  terms, 
despite  growth  in  population  and  miles 
driven. 

Brown's  disciplmary  policy  holds  that 
the  presence  of  alcohol  in  a  sexual-assault 
plamtiff's  blood  mitigates  her  responsi- 
bility for  what  happened.  As  we  learned 
with  drunk  driving,  this  approach  does 
not  encourage  responsible  drinking  behav- 
ior. Perhaps  Brown  would  prevent  future 
incidents  such  as  the  Lack/Klein  case  if  it 
were  to  redraft  its  disciplinary  policies  to 
hold  drinkers  responsible  for  their  drink- 
ing behavior. 

Kciiiiani  T.  lViii^>  '78 

Havertown,  Pa. 


Worrisome  Trends 

As  a  Brown  graduate  and  a  lifelong  Rhode 
Island  resident,  I  have  followed  with 
concern  several  worrisome  trends  at  the 
University. 

The  first  is  an  apparent  increase  m 
violent  crime  in  and  around  the  Univer- 
sity. I  find  the  scope  and  content  of  the 
violence,  which  includes  sexual  and  phys- 
ical assault,  appalHng.  I  am  further  wor- 
ried that  this  has  not  been  brought  to  the 
attention  of  faculty  and  alumni.  It  is  my 
strong  opinion  that  the  University  has  an 
overwhelming  responsibility  to  provide 
a  violence-free  campus  for  its  students. 

My  second  concern  relates  to  a  grow- 
ing tide  of  pohtical  correctness,  which 
threatens  to  infringe  upon  students'  civil 
liberties  and  to  distract  attention  trom 
the  increase  in  violence.  As  a  student, 
I  chose  Brown  because  of  its  reputation 
tor  fostering  intellectual  curiosity  and 
defending  intellectual  freedom.  It  was 
my  assumption  and  my  experience  that  a 
student's  right  to  hold  and  discuss  politi- 
cal views  was  protected,  regardless  of  how 
unpopular  such  ideas  might  be.  Having 
read  newspaper  accounts  about  the  Adam 
Lack  [sexual-assault]  case  and  the  cam- 
pus's hostile  response  to  faculty  and  stu- 
dents who  voiced  support  for  Lack,  I 
can  only  conclude  that  these  protected 
freedoms  are  in  jeopardy  at  Brown. 

Given  the  vital  role  the  BAM  plays 
in  keeping  graduates  abreast  of  campus 
happenings,  I  am  hopeful  that  upcoming 
issues  will  provide  a  frank  exploration 
and  discussion  of  these  matters. 

Robert  S.  Cmusnuvi  '$_',,  'Sg  M.M.S., 
M.D. 

Pawtucket,  R.I. 
Sec  the  fcdturc  article,  "Taking  the  Stand,"  in 
the  April  BAM.  -  Editor 


Despite  effusive  praise  for  departing  Pres- 
ident Gregorian,  not  all  is  well  on  cam- 
pus. The  next  president  must  address  con- 
cerns often  discussed  in  campus  and  local 
media,  but  rarely  in  the  B/4M. These 
include: 

•  Sexual  conduct.  Brown  punished 

a  student  for  having  sexual  relations  with 
a  woman  who  initiated  the  encounter 
while  intoxicated,  in  the  absence  of  evi- 
dence offeree  or  intimidation.  This  has 
raised  controversy  about  whether  the 
University  should  adjudicate  cases  of 
alleged  criminal  activity,  the  definition 
of  sexual  assault,  and  its  prevention. 

•  Limits  on  free  expression.  Adminis- 
trative actions  hostile  to  free  speech  - 
e.g.,  threatening  only  politically  incorrect 
graffiti  artists,  considering  "flagrant  disre- 
spect" a  crime  —  may  be  why  students 
are  uncomfortable  expressing  unfashion- 
able views. 

•  Crimes  against  Brown  students  and 
personnel. These  include  incidents  of 
violence  or  brandishing  deadly  weapons. 

•  Postmodernism.  A  computer  science 
professor  recently  lamented  the  English 
department's  disinterest  in  clear  exposi- 
tory writing  while  it  remains  infatuated 
with  postmodernist  thinking. 

•  Balkanization  and  politicization 
of  the  University.  The  University  is  in- 
creasingly divided,  and  academic  deci- 
sions are  driven  by  gender,  ethnicity,  race, 
religion,  and  sexual  preference  (e.g., 
controversies  over  ethnic  studies  and  the 
recruitment  of  gay  and  lesbian  students). 

Roy  M.  Poses  '/j,  'y8  M.D. 
Barrington,  R.I. 


Lasting  Bonds 

Describing  my  approach  to  community 
building  ("The  Energizer  Man,"  February), 
Jennifer  Sutton  correctly  begins:  "Once 
people  are  successful  with  small,  enjoy- 
able ventures,  they  feel  confident  enough 
to  tackle  knottier  challenges  such  as  job 
creation,  environmental  preservation,  or 
substance  abuse  prevention."  She  contin- 
ues: "Bercuvitz  doesn't  stick  around  to 
help  work  out  these  root  problems." 

Although  part  of  being  a  community 
animator  is  to  serve  as  a  motivator  and 
catalyst,  helping  to  create  initiatives  that 
grow  over  time  is  central  to  my  work. 
Indeed,  "rippling  out"  is  one  of  the  cor- 
nerstones of  my  approach.  I  only  work 
with  a  community  if  I  can  establish  part- 
nerships with  local  people  and  organiza- 
tions to  continue  our  work. 

I  don't  reside  where  I  work,  but  I  do 


MAY     1997 


stick  around  and  stay  in  touch  with  .)// 
the  communities  I've  worked  with.  For 
example.  I  began  work  in  Greenfield, 
Iowa,  more  than  ten  years  ago. The  com- 
muiiitv'  thought  big,  started  small,  and  has 
been  rippling  out  ever  since.  I  continue 
to  be  in  touch  with  Greenfield  residents, 
and  I  consider  these  long-term  bonds 
among  the  most  valuable  aspects  of  my 
professional  life. 
Jeff Bcrcuvit:  'S4 
Chapel  Hill,  N.C. 

lllOColf'llhlllCdVuil.COUl 


Leading  By  Example 

1  run  the  state  government  department 
in  Vermont  that  includes  the  state  energ\' 
office,  so  I  was  very  pleased  to  see  the 
progressive  nature  of  Brown's  attention 
to  energy  efficiency  as  revealed  by  your 
story  on  the  design  and  construction 
of  MacMiUan  Hall  ("The  Twenty  Percent 
Solution,"  October). 

Educational  institutions  need  to  lead 
by  example  in  these  areas.  Such  initiatives 
are  positive  in  the  long  run,  and  they  also 
expand  the  imaginations  of  architects, 
engineers,  and  procurement  managers.  In 
our  land-use  proceedings  for  some  new 
construction  in  Vermont,  the  law  directs 
use  of  the  best  available  technology.  It 
is  nice  to  see  a  university  embrace  this 
approach  rather  than  fight  it. 

Richard  Scdaiio  '79 

Montpelier,Vt. 

sedano@psd. state,  vt.m 


Fiction  or  Nonfiction? 

Reviewer  Chad  Gaits  is  incorrect  in  draw- 
ing a  strong  parallel  (Books,  February) 
between  Peter  Landesman's  novel,  Tiic 
Riircd,  and  Truman  Capote's  1965  work. 
In  Cold  Blood.  The  Raven  is  fiction;  In 
Cold  Blood  is,  111  fact,  nonfiction.  Landes- 
man  reimagines  a  long-past  incident; 
Capote  created  a  factual  account  of  the 
Clutter  murders  after  exhaustively  inter- 
viewing subjects  over  a  period  of  years. 

As  Gaits  notes  in  his  review.  Capote 
did  coin  the  phrase  "nonfiction  novel" 
to  describe  In  Cold  B/doi/.  With  this  curi- 
ous term,  he  managed  to  confuse  any 
number  of  subsequent  commentators. 
He  may  have  used  the  designation  to 
encourage  acceptance  of  the  book  by 
the  literary  community  of  the  day,  which 
regarded  reportage  as  a  poor  cousin  of 
the  novel. 

With  ///  Cold  Blood,  Capote  showed. 


Your  Room 


Daily  Housekeeping  Service  • 


Continental  Breakfast " 


Is  Read\ 


y 


The  Donald  L.  Saunders  's7  Family 


\ 


^Jnn  at  Brown  University 


Private  Bath  - 
Parking  • 
Telephone  • 
Color  Television 


Individual  Climate  Control ' 


It's  one  of  24  graciously  appointed  on-campus  rooms  available  for 
nightly  rental  to  guests  of  the  Brown  University  community. 

Located  on  the  top  two  floors  of  the  Thayer  Street  Quad, 

corner  of  Thayer  and  Charlesfield  Streets,  your 

spacious,  comfortable  room  puts  you  right  in  the 

center  of  campus  life.  You'll  enjoy  easy  access  to 

the  entire  Brown  Campus,  including  snack  bars 

and  dining  areas. 

(Additionally,  our  meeting  rooms  and  lounge 
are  available  for  group  rentals.) 


lOI      THAYER      STREET 
PROVIDENCE,     RI     O2912 


Call  (401)  863-7500,  FAX  (401)  863-7300 

for  infortTiation,  reservations,  era  tour. 


BROWN    ALUMNI     MONTHLY    ♦    9 


better  than  anyone  before  him,  that  a 
true  account  of  events  could  be  great  lit- 
erature. He  demonstrated  that  a  writer 
could  adhere  to  actual  happenings  while 
using  literary  approaches  and  devices 
most  nonfiction  authors  had  shied  away 
from,  such  as  dialogue,  interior  mono- 
logues, sophisticated  shifting  of  point  of 
view,  and  dramatic  scene-by-scene  con- 
struction. The  book  single-handedly 
invented  the  contemporary  "true  crime" 
genre.  It  also  helped  invent  the  New 
Journalism.  It  ranks  with  Tlie  Executioner's 
Son^  and  Tlie  Right  Stuff  in  the  top  tier 
of  that  demanding  and  exciting  category. 

Bob  Frost  'jj 

San  Francisco 


Creative  Currency 

It  is  good  to  see  Brown  University  in 
the  news.  I  was  surprised  on  February  24 
to  read  [Adjunct  Professor  ot  East  Asian 
Studies]  Arthur  Waldron's  letter  to  the 
editor  in  the  Wall  Street  Journal,  expand- 
ing upon  some  of  Milton  Friedman's 
currency  concepts.  I  was  especially  pleased 
since  the  professor's  letter  supported  some 
of  the  "creative  currency"  ideas  I  have 
published  in  my  book.  The  Visiomtry  I'/'cic- 
point  (Pencil-Power  Press). 

Brown  is  increasing  the  sphere  of  its 
influence  through  such  efforts  as  Waldron's. 

Frank  Rycykjr 

Jefferson  City,  Mo. 


The  Silent  Artists 

Your  recent  paean  to  gifted  artists  Michael 
Harper,  Judith  Stillman,  and  Wendy 
Edwards,  among  others  (Here  &  Now, 
February),  is  both  refreshing  and  pro- 
foundly troubling.  It  is  troubling  because 
of  its  breezy  assumption  that  art  can  or 
does  redeem  pain. 

There  is  a  pain  beyond  the  capacity  of 
the  artist  to  express,  pain  beyond  redemp- 
tion from  any  source,  earthly  or  heavenly. 
It  is  the  pain  that  cannot  fill  out  a  resume, 
can't  convince  editorial  boards  to  publish 
works,  doesn't  live  off  the  beneficence 
of  a  professorial  salary,  and  has  no  ability 
to  garner  federal  funds. 

A  true  paean,  truer  to  the  experience 
of  living,  would  be  for  the  editor  to  give 
over  the  column  to  those  who  are  ugly 
in  their  expression  of  pain,  repulsive  in 
their  reaction  to  loss,  who  indeed  are  the 
flotsam  and  jetsam  of  a  society  which 
has  the  perverse  capacity  to  fool  itself 
into  thinking  that  any  kind  of  art  can  be 


expressed  in  the  "posh  Westin  Hotel." 

The  true  artists  may  be  those  who  are 
silent  amid  stupefying  realities. They  are 
not  so  concerned  with  squeezing  mean- 
ing out  of  an  empty  tube  of  life.  They,  the 
silent  ones,  hold  the  key  to  our  speech. 
They,  the  unlettered  ones,  hold  the  key 
to  our  writing. 

Rev.  Bill  Long  '74,  'S2  Ph.D. 
Salem,  Ore. 


Pre-meds  in  India 

Once  again  Brown  is  on  the  cutting  edge 
of  higher  education  with  programs  focus- 
ing on  experiential,  hands-on  learning. 
I'm  writing  to  inform  readers  about  a 
journey  that  eight  Brown  premeds  will 
undertake  this  coming  tall  as  part  of  a 
medical  mission  to  a  rural  clinic  in  Ker- 
ala, India.  We  will  engage  in  a  variety  of 
clinical  activities,  ranging  from  assisting 
Indian  physicians  to  researching  the 
spread  of  AIDS  and  HIV  through  labora- 
tory testing.  In  addition,  we'll  be  involved 
in  the  construction  of  roads  and  latrines. 

This  trip  is  the  beginning  of  what  we 
hope  will  become  an  established  premed- 
ical  education  program.  If  you  would  like 
to  receive  more  details,  we  are  eager  to 
hear  from  you. 

Kedar  Mate  'gg 

Campus 

Kedar  Mate(a)brown.edu 


Here  Comes  the  Millennium 

I  was  saddened  to  read  your  pronounce- 
ment (Mail,  February)  that  the  new  mil- 
lennium begins  "strictly  speaking"  in 
2001  .You  were  affirming  some  reader's 
contention  that  the  next  millennium 
does  not  begin  with  the  dawning  of  the 
year  2000. 

One  of  the  great  mathematical  tri- 
umphs of  our  species  is  the  invention  of, 
and  broad  understanding  of,  the  concepts 
of  zero  and  place  notation.  Have  you  ever 
tried  to  multiply  or  divide  using  Roman 
numerals? 

The  Roman  calendar,  modified  by 
Julius  Caesar  in  46  B.C.,  was  incredibly 
complicated.  This  Julian  calendar  was 
the  predecessor  to  the  Gregorian  calen- 
dar, adjusted  by  edict  of  Pope  Gregory 
XIII  in  1582.  Once  the  calendar  was 
written  with  Arabic  numbers  and  the 
years  counted  in  Arabic  numbers,  then 
the  mathematical  rules  governing  those 
numbers  were  in  control. 

To  dismiss  these  truths  by  some  limp 


assertion  that  "of  course  there  was  no 
Year  Zero"  is  to  be  imich  too  casual. 
With  the  calendar  and  the  Arabic  num- 
bering system  we  use  today,  the  new 
millennium  begins  in  the  first  micro- 
second of  the  year  2000.  At  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  2001,  it  will  be  one 
year  old. 

When  your  baby  is  born,  do  you 
claim  it  is  not  ahve  until  it  is  a  year  old? 
Nonsense.  The  time  of  birth  is  noted, 
and  the  life  begins.  On  its  first  birthday, 
it  is  already  a  year  old. 

When  you  start  on  a  trip  and  push 
the  reset  button  on  the  trip  meter  m 
your  car,  it  resets  to  000.  If  it  didn't,  it 
wouldn't  accurately  measure  how  far  you 
went  on  that  trip.  If  you  don't  traverse 
that  first  mile,  you'll  never  get  there. 
Haven't  yon  heard  of  zero? 
It  has  no  value  really 
But  without  it,  don't  you  know 
That  all  those  other  inimhers 
Would  not  know  where  to  go. 

Juanita  H.  IVagner  '^g  Ph.D. 

Camano  Island, Wash. 

billy@u'hidhey.  net 


Doctors  and  Patients 

Re: "The Youngest  Doctors"  (December): 
"Sometimes  I  wonder  why  I'm  treating 
a  person  who  just  wants  to  be  left  alone. 
At  the  same  time  I  feel  compelled  to  do 
everything  I  medically  can."  (Dr.  Preetha 
Basaviah  '91,  '95  M.D.,a  resident  at 
Beth  Israel  Hospital) 

Whoa!  This  is  the  1990s. There  is  the 
Patient's  Bill  of  Rights,  there  are  advance 
directives  (do  not  revive,  no  extraordi- 
nary measures),  there  are  living  wills,  and 
there  are  health-care  proxies.  Under 
no  circumstances  is  a  doctor  to  proceed 
without  a  patient's  or  a  proxy's  okay. 
Physicians  have  been  sued  for  less. 

Is  this  what  Brown  wishes  Beth  Israel 
to  promote  among  Brown's  young 
doctors? 

Very  troubling,  indeed. 

Joan  HoosI  McMaster  '60 

Bristol,  R.I. 


Physician  Fatigue 

I  am  relieved  to  hear  from  Dr.  Marantz 
(Mail,  March)  that,  unlike  airplane  pilots, 
railroad  engineers,  nuclear  power  plant 
operators,  truck  drivers,  and  persons  in 
other  occupations  where  hours  on  the 
job  are  limited  by  law  for  safety  reasons, 
physicians  are  not  subject  to  the  debilitat- 


10  ♦   MAY    1997 


iiig  effects  of  fatigue.  However,  given  Dr. 
M.irantz's  failure  in  his  letter  to  provide 
anv  references  to  stuciies  supporting  his 
claim,  1  think  I'll  pass  on  being  treated  by 
a  resident  who  has  been  on  the  job  for 
twenty-six  hours  without  sleep. 

Geary  Mizuno  '77 

Bethesda,  Md. 

gsm@nrc.gov 

Hurricane  Watch 

1  read  with  interest  your  story  on  Loui's 
Family  Restaurant  ("Louis'  Loui's,"  Elms, 
February),  in  which  you  note  that  prices 
have  remained  fixed  since  Hurricane 
Gloria  passed  through  m  19S4. 

I  have  many  distinct  memories  ot 
that  hurricane:  taping  our  freshman  dorm 
windows  in  anticipation,  hurriedly  pack- 
ing sandwiches  at  the  Ratry,  and  sitting 
on  the  grass  behind  Hope  College  with 
friends,  eating  Oreo  cookies  m  the  gath- 
ering winds. 

But  what  I  remember  most  clearly  is 
that  I  didn't  arrive  at  Brown  until  1985. 

Bryan  IValperl  'Sg 

Baltimore 

u>alps@u'ani.iiind.cdti 

Build  an  Ark 

Dr.  Rob  Sokolic's  comment  (Mail, 
March)  that  "It  has  been  a  long  time  since 
Brown  was  a  Christian  university,  and 
those  days  are  appropriately  and,  I  hope, 
permanently  behind  us"  has  incited  me 
to  make  a  tew  observations. 

Christianity  has  sinned  numerous 
times  against  the  Jewish  people,  but  over 
the  long  haul  it  has  provided  American 
Judaism  with  its  greatest  buffer  against 
the  godless  ethnocentrism  that  has 
pursued  the  Jewish  people  since  the  days 
of  the  idolaters  of  Egypt  and  Babylon. 
Though  Jews  and  Christians  differ  over 
who  and  what  Jesus  was,  we  are  united 
by  our  reverence  for  God's  law.  Rather 
than  quibbling  over  whether  meetings 
should  infringe  on  Jewish  or  Christian 
religious  observances.  Christians  and  Jews 
at  Brown  should  be  laboring  to  indite 
the  Law  of  Moses  on  the  front  wall  ot 
every  campus  building. 

As  the  son  of  an  alumnus  and  the 
husband  of  an  alumna,  it  is  my  opinion 
that  Brown,  like  most  colleges  and  uni- 
versities today,  is  a  boot  camp  tor  the 
indoctrination  of  apostate  Christians  and 
lews.  A  mind  is  sterile  that  does  not 
know  God,  and  Brown  strikes  me  as  a 


Don't  you  think  your  kids  should  inherit 
more  than  just  your  good  looks? 


You  want  to  build  a  strong  future  fot  your  children.  However,  being  able  to  make 
the  most  of  your  assets  in  todays  volatile  investment  climate,  much  less  tomorrow's, 
IS  becoming  increasingly  complex.  Choosing  from  the  thousands  of  investment 
opportunities  to  meet  your  financial  goals  and  those  of  your  children  can  be  time 
Ldnsuming  and  challenging.  Fortunately,  there's  someone  who  can  offer  the  assist- 
.ince  you  need.  An  investment  advisor  from  Van  Liew  Capital. 

Van  Liew  Capital  will  help  you. 

By  working  with  one  of  our  investment  advisors  at  Van  Liew  Capital  you'll  receive  the  personal  attention 
you  deserve.  And  these  other  advantages  as  well: 

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Let's  face  it.  A  winning  smile  will  only  get  your  children  so  lar  in  lite.  Let  us  assist  you  in  planning  for 
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morally  sterile,  yet  selt-nghteous,  place. 

The  Ivy  League,  like  the  news  media, 
big-time  publishing,  and  LJnholywood, 
seems  to  be  clueless  about  what  is  really 
happening  in  America.  Out  here  in  the 
so-called  "desert"  of  the  Bible  Belt,  Jews 
and  Christians  are  building  an  ark  while 
Brown  and  countless  other  individuals 
and  institutions  are  trying  to  remake  the 
world  in  man's  image.  Quit  fighting  over 
who  owns  the  dung-heap,  and  start 
building  an  ark  that  will  float  gently  over 
the  vicissitudes  ot  time  and  the  flood. 

Samuel  S.  Citthherl 

Hagerstown.  Md.  c^ 


CORRECTION 

A  photo  caption  accompanying  the  March  obitu- 
ary for  Professor  Joseph  Loferski  incorrectly 
referred  to  "the  physics  department."  As  the  obit- 
uary itself  noted.  Professor  Loferski  taught  m  the 
Division  of  Engineering.  We  regret  the  error. 


BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦    II 


Under  the  Elms 


FEW  THINGS  influence  our 
checkbooks  more  than 
the  national  economy,  yet  tew 
subjects  elicit  more  yawns 
than  economics.  Interest  rates, 
monetary  policy,  market  share, 
gross  domestic  product,  levels 
of  full  employment  -  the 
language  of  economics  often 
seems  designed  to  keep  its 
inner  workings  obscure. 

No  wonder  economists 
see  the  world  differently 
than  the  rest  of  us.  On  the 
one  hand,  parents  are  no 
longer  optimistic  that  their 
children  will  be  financially 
better  off  than  they  are. 
Middle-class  managers,  ner- 
vously watching  their  neigh- 
bors lose  their  jobs  to  down- 
sizing, wonder  whether 
they  have  the  job  security  or 
the  savings  to  cover  their  kids' 
college  education.  Econo- 
mists, on  the  other,  applaud 
downsizing  as  a  necessary  effi- 
ciency tor  a  more  competi- 
tive time.  They  look  at  the 
economy  and  see  growth  that 
is  robust,  healthy,  and  pro- 
longed. Who's  right? 

This  year's  Pnvidotcc  Jour- 
nal/Brown University  Public 
Affairs  Conference  bravely 
tackled  this  economic  credi- 
bility gap. Titled  "Updating 
the  American  Dream:  What 
to  Expect  from  Tomorrow's 
Economy,"  the  March  event 
brought  to  campus  dozens 
of  economists,  journalists, 
bankers,  corporate  e.xecutives, 
union  leaders,  and  public-pol- 
icy wonks.  For  six  afternoons 
and  evenings  they  expounded 
differing  views  on  such 
subjects  as  tomorrow's  work 
force,  growing  economic 
inequality,  and  corporate  citi- 
zenship. Along  the  way  they 
offered  both  a  clear  description 
of  the  rapid  changes  underway 
in  our  economy  and  profound 
disagreement  over  the  impli- 
cations of  those  changes. 


Over  the  Horizon 

How  to  prepare  for 
tomorrow's  economy  today 


Despite  the  anxiety  many 
workers  feel,  the  economic 
data  are  undeniably  rosy. 
Robert  Lernian,  director  of 
the  Urban  Institute's  Human 
Resource  Policy  Center, 
pointed  out  that  the  United 
States  economy  continues  to 
generate  massive  numbers  of 
jobs.  In  1995,  he  said,  95  per- 
cent of  the  U.S.  work  force 
was  employed,  a  percentage 
that  IS  the  envy  of  Europe: 
"And  they're  not  all  McDon- 
ald's jobs,  as  some  in  Europe 
would  like  to  believe."  Claudia 
Goldin,  a  Harvard  economic 
historian,  argued  that  fear  over 
the  economy  is  misplaced. 
"You  shouldn't  feel  bad,"  she 
said.  "You  should  feel  good." 
The  U.S.  economy  is  not 
slowing  down,  she  added;  the 
economies  of  the  rest  of  the 
world  are  simply  catching  up. 

But  beneath  the  data  are 
some  troubling  trends.  Real 


wages  continue  to  fall,  said 
Marc  Tucker  '61,  president  of 
the  National  Center  on  Edu- 
cation and  the  Economy. 
Given  the  central  role  high 
technology  now  plays  in  the 
U.S.  economy,  the  pressure  on 
workers  to  keep  up  is  greater 
than  ever.  "It  used  to  be  that 
if  you  had  a  high  school 
diploma,"  said  Tucker,  "you 
were  better  oft  than  if  you 
didn't  have  one,  and  if  you 
had  a  bachelor's  degree,  you 
were  more  or  less  in  fat  city." 
Now,  he  added,  the  only  way 
to  ensure  upward  mobility  is 
with  a  graduate  degree. 

James  Burge,  who  until 
his  recent  retirement  was 
a  corporate  vice  president  at 
Motorola,  agreed  that  corpo- 
rations now  require  sniarter 
workers.  Motorola,  he  said, 
spends  $140  million  a  year  on 
training  and  education  tor  its 
140,000  employees.  "We  test 


job  applicants  for  ninth-grade 
reading  and  math,  and  in  the 
United  States  50  percent  fail. 
In  China,  we  are  finding  a  70 
percent  pass  rate."  The  point, 
he  concluded,  is  that  jobs  have 
changed,  and  schools  are  not 
coping  well  with  that  fact. 

Others  at  the  conference 
were  not  as  quick  to  blame 
workers.  AFL-CIO  president 
John  Sweeney  pointed  to  dis- 
ruptions caused  by  companies 
that  downsize  relentlessly  or 
whose  loyalty  to  their  workers 
vanishes  when  a  new  state 
offers  them  the  slightest  incen- 
tive for  moving.  The  attitude, 
he  said,  IS  "the  hell  with 
the  workers."  According  to 
William  Dunkelberg,  an  eco- 
nomics professor  from  Tem- 
ple University  and  the  chief 
economist  for  the  National 
Federation  of  Independent 
Business,  publicly  held  corpo- 
rations are  under  pressure 
from  shareholders  to  get  the 
best  deal  they  can.  "The  best 
thing  a  company  can  do  is 
provide  jobs  to  people,"  he 
said,  and  an  unprofitable  com- 
pany is  unlikely  to  provide 
jobs  to  anyone  for  very  long. 
"If  we  could  stay  where  we 
are  and  still  keep  the  company 
profitable,  there's  no  reason 
to  leave." 

Where  are  all  these 
changes  taking  us?  Will  the 
future,  as  some  have  pre- 
dicted, be  characterized  by  an 
economy  made  up  of  a  gypsy 
work  force  of  temporary 
employees  and  mobile  com- 
panies with  no  commitment 
to  workers  or  communities? 
Or  will  today's  downsizings 
settle  into  an  even  more  pro- 
ductive economy  marked  by 
low  inflation,  rising  wages, 
and  minimal  unemployment? 
It's  difficult  to  say.  As  Claudia 
Goldin  pointed  out,  "econo- 
mists cannot  tell  the  future." 
-  Norman  Bonclicr 


1 2   •   MAY    1997 


To  Dream 

Beyond  nice  lies  character 

JESSt  Jackson  never  settles 
tor  a  lukewarm  turn  ot 
phrase  -  he  burns.  Beginning 
with  slow;  soothing  tones,  he 
then  picks  up  the  pace,  point- 
ing to  unseen  objects  with 
his  large,  spatulate  hands.  His 
voice  smolders,  getting 
scratchier  and  growing  louder 
one  notch  at  a  time.Thirrs' 
minutes  into  his  speech  at 
the  Salomon  Center  in  April, 
lackson  was  shaking  the 
podium,  his  voice  a  thunder- 
ous boom:  "Dream!"  he  bel- 
lowed at  the  capacity  crowd. 

Such  oratory  can  turn 
battle-weary  metaphors  into 
freshly  polished  gems:  "Amer- 
ica was  born  in  sm  and  shaped 
in  iniquity  with  an  awesome 
burden  to  bridge  the  gap,"  he 
said  at  the  talk,  which  was 
sponsored  by  the  Third  World 
Center,  the  Cultural  Activi- 
ties Board,  and  Brown  Col- 
lege Democrats.  "There  is  an 
opportunir\-  gap.  a  funding 
gap,  a  growing  class  gap.  Shall 
we  go  forward  by  inclusive- 
ness  and  heahng,  or  backward 
by  hate  and  hysteria?  Your 
generation  must  become 
bridge  builders  and  heal  the 
breach." 

Jackson  urged  the  crowd 
to  think  of  America  as  "one 
big  tent  -  with  equal  protec- 
tion, equal  access,  and  tair 
share."  To  illustrate  how  far 
we  have  to  go,  Jackson  talked 
about  a  recent  visit  to  Spring- 
field, Illinois.  There  was  a 
marked  contrast,  he  said, 
between  a  new  high  school 
in  an  affluent  suburb  where 
S16.000  was  spent  on  each  ot 
the  mostly  white  students,  and 
an  overcrowded,  rundown 
inner-city  school  where 
$2,900  was  spent  on  each  stu- 
dent. "It's  come  full  circle."  he 
said.  "At  the  beginning,  only 
those  who  owned  property 
could  vote.  Now  onlv  those 
who  own  property  have  the 


right  to  a  good  education." 

Echoing  his  mentor,  Mar- 
tin Luther  King  Jr.,  Jackson 
added,  "We  suffer  from  dream 
deficit  disorder."  We  need  to 
emulate  Jesus's  Good  Samari- 
tan, he  continued,  as  did  the 
white  man  who  videotaped 
the  beating  of  Rodnev  King. 
The  man  wasn't  thinking 
about  race,  Jackson  said.  He 
simply  saw  four  policeman 
beating  a  man  to  death. 

"Beyond  race,  beyond 
color,  beyond  culture,  there's 
something  called  character," 
Jackson  concluded.  "You  did 
nothing  to  achieve  your  race. 
It  doesn't  take  much  effort 
to  have  the  culture  ot  your 
environment.  But  to  dream 
beyond  your  predicament  - 
that  is  the  awesome  power 
ot  dreams."  -  Clmd  Galls 


Title  IX  Redux 

The  Supreme  Court 
bows  out 

IT'S  offici.^l:  sixty  colleges 
and  universities  and  nearly 
fifty  members  ot  the  U.S. 
House  of  Representatives  am 
be  wrong.  These  were  among 
the  supporters  ot  the  Uni- 
versity's appeal  to  the  U.S. 
Supreme  Court  to  overturn 
a  lower  court  decision  that 
Brown  is  in  violation  ot  Title 


IX,  the  federal  statute  pro- 
hibiting sex  discrimination  in 
higher  education.  On  April 
21,  the  court  decided  without 
comment  to  let  the  earlier 
decision  stand. 

The  action  was  front-page 
news  around  the  country. 
Attorneys  for  the  women 
athletes  who  tiled  the  origi- 
nal suit  in  1992  immediately 
claimed  victory.  But 
Beverly  Ledbetter,  the 
University's  general 
counsel,  says  the  issues 
raised  by  Title  IX 
remain  unresolved  while 
enforcement  focuses  on 
numbers.  Although 
Brown  has  seventeen 
varsity  women's  teams  — 
a  higher  number  than 
most  schools  -  the 
courts  have  ruled  that 
this  number  does  not 
meet  the  proportional- 
ity standard  because  the 
ratio  ot  female  to  male 
athletes  does  not  match 
the  ratio  of  54  percent  female 
to  46  percent  male  under- 
graduates. 

To  satisfy  the  earlier  rul- 
ing that  these  ratios  must  be 
brought  in  line,  on  April  21 
the  University  submitted  a 
Title  IX  compliance  plan  to 
the  U.S.  District  Court.  The 
plan  includes  a  donor-funded 
equestrian  team  begun  last 
year,  a  newly  created  light- 


weight women's  rowing 
team,  and  the  elevation  of 
women's  water  polo  from  a 
club  team  to  a  donor-funded 
varsitv"  sport.  The  changes 
should  bring  the  gender  ratio 
between  athletes  to  within  a 
single  percentage  point  of  the 
ratio  between  men  and 
women  in  the  undergraduate 


student  body. 


The  effects  of  the  Supreme 
Court  decision  not  to  hear 
the  case  at  this  time  will  be 
felt  far  beyond  the  Univer- 
sity. "Brown's  case  was  always 
acknowledged  as  a  case 
where  the  Universit\-  went  a 
long  way  to  provide  oppor- 
tunities to  women,"  Ledbetter 
said.  "If  Brown  didn't  do 
well,  everyone  else  is  at  risk." 
—  Norman  Boucher 


BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY 


13 


Place  Maps 

Histories,  persoiml  and 
public 

KARYN  Stern  '97  began 
her  freshman  year  armed 
with  a  map  of  the  University. 
Soon,  as  she  grew  accustomed 
to  her  new  surroundmgs, 
this  ofEcial  map  was  replaced 
by  her  own  mental  sketch 
of  campus,  whose  landmarks 
were  Kappa  Alpha  Theta  (her 
sorority  house),  the  biomed 
center  (where  she  took  most 
of  her  classes),  and  the  Ratty 
and  Olivers  Pub  (where  she 
ate  her  meals  and  socialized). 
The  rest  of  campus  laded 
into  the  background. 

Graduate  student  Sarah 
Leavitt  realized  just  how  taded 
that  background  was  when 
she  asked  students  in  her  self- 
designed  AmCiv  course.  The 
Power  of  Place,  to  draw  per- 
sonalized maps  of  campus. 
She  found  that  their  "'place 
maps"  -  a  term  coined  by 


architectural  historian  Witold 
Rybczynski  —  included  prac- 
tically none  of  the  Univer- 
sity's official  historic  build- 
ings. Instead,  the  post  office 
took  center  stage  —  "our  con- 
nection with  the  rest  of  the 
world,"  one  student  said  -  as 
did  the  Rock,  the  Ratty,  and 
oft-campus  restaurants.  In 
addition  to  these  communal 
landmarks,  Leavitt  notes,  the 
place  maps  included  plenty 
of  personal  variation:  Greek 
houses,  the  athletic  center, 
the  Rites  &  Reason  theater, 
the  graffiti-covered  stairwell 
in  the  List  Art  Center.  One 
student  highlighted  an  off- 
campus  yacht  club  where  she 
often  sailed;  another  included 
Hasbro  Children's  Hospital 
because  she'd  worked  there 
as  part  of  a  class. 

Leavitt  set  out  to  intro- 
duce her  students  to  campus 
spots  not  on  their  place  maps. 
"Brown  prides  itself  on  its 
history,"  Leavitt  says,  "but  it 
doesn't  really  make  that  his- 


SINCE     LAST     TIME... 

At  a  surprise  birthday  party  for  President  Gregorian  on  April  8, 
students  presented  him  with  a  clay  bust  and  a  commemorative 
food  tray  from  the  Ratty. ...Bethany  Boisvert  '99  was  named 
ECAC  Gymnastics  Rookie  of  the  Year,  while  head  coach  Jackie 
Court  was  named  co-Coach  of  the  Year.... Though  250  jug- 
glers on  Lincoln  Field  failed  to  break  the  world  record  for  num- 
ber of  objects  aloft  at  one  time  (2,478),  they  did  manage  to  keep 
750  items  in  the  air  and  raise  $500  for  financial  aid. . . .  The  Univer- 
sity accepted  17.1  percent  of  the  14,897  who  applied  for  the 
class  of  2001,  its  most  selective  rate  ever. ...Chelsea  Clinton, 
who  visited  campus  twice  last  year,  will  enter  Stanford  in  the  fall. 


tory  available  in  a  public  way." 
The  only  suggestion  ot  a 
building's  past  is  a  commem- 
orative plaque  or  portrait  of 
the  person  after  whom  it  was 
named.  So  Leavitt  took  her 
class  on  weekly  field  trips 
through  the  University's  his- 
toric sites  and  collections,  fill- 
ing in  the  spaces  on  the  place 
maps  with  vivid  stories  from 
the  past.  When  her  students 
visited  the  Soldier's  Arch  war 
memorial  on  Lincoln  Field, 
for  e.xample,  they  soon  were 
debating  emotionally  its  value 
on  a  campus  known  for  anti- 
war protests. 

Despite  living  in  what 
Karyn  Stern  calls  "really  en- 
closed worlds"  at  Brown, 
Leavitt 's  students  were  soon 
sharing  a  sense  of  historical 
romance  about  the  University. 
They  became  curious  about 
such  traditions  asjosiah 
Carberry  Day  and  the  custom 
of  rubbing  the  nose  of  the 
John  Hay  bust  for  luck.  Too 
many  current  students,  laments 
Jennifer  Cook  '97,  are  more 
interested  in  challeiii;ini;;  tradi- 
tion than  celebrating  it.  "As  a 
senior  I  didn't  feel  that  air 
of  history  here,"  she  said.  "I 
wanted  to  have  that  before 
I  left."  —  Iciiiiifcr  Sultoii 


The  world  according  to  Allyson 
Constant  '97:  a  sorority  and  the 
Ratty  eclipse  historic  landmarks 
on  campus. 


Who  Are  We? 

Filiiiiiuiker  Kcii  Burns 
wants  to  know 

DURING  HIS  President's 
Lecture  at  the  Salomon 
Center  on  April  17,  Ken 
Burns  said  he  knew  he'd 
become  synonymous  with 
documentary  filmmaking 
when  he  started  seeing  him- 
self caricatured  in  editorial 
cartoons.  After  his  Emmy- 
winning  PBS  series.  Baseball, 
aired  in  1994,  one  cartoon 
featured  two  children  eyeing 
the  scribble  on  an  auto- 
graphed baseball  and  exclaim- 
ing, "Oooooh,  Ken  Burns!" 
Another  showed  a  bleary- 
eyed  couple  staring  at  a  tele- 
vision set,  above  which  were 
the  words:  "Coming  soon  to 
PBS:  O.J.  -  a  2,57S-hour  doc- 
umentary." "Ken  Burns  has  got 
to  be  stopped,"  the  man  says 
to  his  wife. 

A  1975  Hampshire  College 
graduate.  Burns  began  his 
film  career  with  the  Oscar- 


14    ♦    MAY     1997 


Under  THE  Elms 


nominated  Bivchlyii  Bridt^c  in 
ig8i  and  went  on  to  rack  up 
laurels  for  a  string  of  docu- 
mentaries on  American  history. 
Most  notable  was  The  Civil 
Hi')/-,  which  became  public 
television's  highest-rated  series 
when  It  first  aired  in  1990.  It 
won  more  than  forrv'  major 
film  and  television  awards. 

Burns  gives  history  an 
immediacy  that  more  conven- 
tional approaches  often  lack. 
He  used  the  story  of  Ameri- 
can baseball,  for  example,  to 
highlight  America  s  racial 
divide.  "When  Jackie  Robin- 
son walked  out  onto  a  ball 
field  in  the  spring  of  1947," 
Burns  said,  "his  glorious 
moment  was  the  first  real 
progress  in  civil  rights  since 
the  Civil  War."  Robinsons 
big  moment.  Burns  noted, 
"would  be  watched  with  awe 
and  gratitude  by  a  young 
junior  at  Morehouse  College 
111  Atlanta,  Georgia,  named 
Martin  Luther  King." 

In  his  three-hour  biogra- 
phy of  Thomas  Jefferson, 
which  aired  earlier  this  year 
on  FBS,  Burns  poked  at  the 
founding  father's  maddening 
contradictions.  "He  denounced 
the  moral  bankruptcy  he  saw 
in  Europe,"  Burns  pointed 
out,  "but  delighted  111  the 
glided  salons  of  Paris. . . .  He 
distilled  a  century  of  Enlight- 
enment thinking  into  one 
remarkable  sentence  which 
began, 'We  hold  these  truths 
to  be  self-evident,  that  all 
men  are  created  equal.'  Yet  he 
owned  more  than  200  human 
beings  and  never  saw  fit  in 
his  hfetime  to  free  them." 

This  fan,  PBS  will  air 
Burns's  latest  biography,  of 
nineteenth-century  explorers 
Lewis  and  Clark.  Other  pro- 
jects include  a  history  of  jazz, 
scheduled  to  be  shown  in 
2000.  What  unites  all  these 
films.  Burns  says,  is  "one 
deceptively  simple  question: 
who  are  we  as  Americans?" 
-  Aunc  Diffily 


1 


Profiles  in 
Courage 

Brokaw  visiis  the  latest 
hot  spot  —  Liimpnis 

AT  THE  PEAK  of  the  civil 
rights  movement  in  the 
early  1960s,  a  young  televi- 
sion reporter  named  Tom 
Brokaw  went  to  Georgia  to 
cover  the  struggle  over  voting 
rights.  "You  march  and  you 
die,"  white  supremacists 
warned  local  blacks.  So  when 
parishioners  of  a  small  Baptist 
church  gathered  behind  closed 
doors  one  night  to  decide 
what  to  do,  Brokaw  planted 


himself  outside.  At  midnight 
the  church  door  finally 
opened,  and  a  young  woman 
emerged,  her  hands  shaking. 
"What  are  you  going  to  do?" 
asked  Brokaw.  "I'm  going  to 
march,"  she  announced. 
"Aren't  you  scared?"  he  asked. 
"Of  course,"  she  replied.  "But 
I  have  no  other  choice." 

Although  Brokaw  has  long 
since  forgotten  the  woman's 
name,  she  remains,  he  says,  one 
of  the  most  commanding 
people  he's  interviewed  m  his 
thirty-five-year  journahsm 


career,  which  has  included 
encounters  with  such  luminar- 
ies as  Bobby  Kennedy,  Martin 
Luther  King  Jr.,  Mikhail  Gor- 
bachev, and  a  string  of  U.S. 
presidents.  It's  been  a  career 
of  remarkable  breadth.  Brokaw 
has  anchored  NBC's  nightly 
newscast  from  the  rooftops  of 
Beirut,  the  streets  of  Kuwait, 
and  the  shores  of  Somalia. 
Two  years  ago  he  was  the  first 
network  correspondent  to 
report  from  the  bombed-out 
federal  building  in  Oklahoma 
City,  and  last  summer  he 
was  the  first  network  anchor 
to  report  from  the  crash  scene 
of  TWA  flight  SCO. 

Brokaw  visited 
campus  April  2  to 
receive  the  1997 
Welles  Hangen 
Award  for  Distin- 
guished Journal- 
1     ism.  The  award  was 
established  by 
President  Grego- 
rian in  1993  to 
commemorate 
Hangen  '49,  the 
NBC  reporter 
who,  with  his 
crew,  vanished  in 
Cambodia  in  1970 
while  covering  the 
Vietnam  Wir.  In 
his  acceptance 
speech  to  a  packed 
Sayles  Hall, 
Brokaw  called 
Hangen  "the  last 
of  a  breed,  travel- 
ing wherever  the  hot  spots 
were. " 

Despite  the  efforts  of 
Brokaw  and  other  old-school 
broadcast  journalists,  Hangen 
probably  wouldn't  recognize 
network  news  today.  In  an 
age  when  glamour  and  sensa- 
tionahsm  have  nearly  over- 
taken real  journalism  on  tele- 
vision, Brokaw  noted  that 
"it's  important  for  us  to  con- 
tinue [Hangen's]  legacy  no 
matter  how  grand  our  trap- 
pings have  become."  -Jennifer 
Sutton 


BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    •     I_S 


URTLSV   JUSLIN    lAI.I.nN    (2} 


Cell  Talk 

A  new  protein  opens  doors 
to  the  brain 

How  DOES  your  brain 
tell  your  fingers  to  turn 
the  pages  in  a  book,  find  an 
Itch  that  needs  to  be  scratched, 
or  keep  your  heart  beating? 
Justin  Fallon,  who  joined 
Brown's  neuroscience  faculty 
as  an  assistant  professor  last 
July,  wants  to  know  how  the 
brain  communicates  with  the 
rest  of  the  body.  During  Brain 
Research  Science  Day,  an 
April  program  of  presentations 
by  cognitive  science,  neuro- 
science, and  psychology  re- 
searchers, Fallon,  a  molecular 
biologist,  described  how  he  is 
embarking  on  his  search  for 
answers:  one  cell  at  a  time. 

While  working  as  a  post- 
doctoral researcher  at  Stanford 
during  the  1980s,  Fallon  dis- 
covered agrin,  a  protein  that 
changed  the  way  neurologists 
think  about  synapses,  or  the 
connections  neurons  make  to 
other  cells  in  order  to  com- 
municate with  them.  He  and 
his  research  team  proved  that 
neurons  secrete  agrin  when 
they  come  in  contact  with 
muscle  cells,  and  that  the  pro- 
tein determines  how  and 
where  the  two  cells  connect. 

Fallon  then  turned  to 
the  inside  of  the  muscle  cell. 
"In  order  tor  a  muscle  cell  to 
respond,"  he  explains,  "it  has  to 
have  its  receptive  machinery 
underneath  where  the  synapse 
is  forming."  While  searching 
for  the  receptor  for  agrin. 


A  neuron  showing 
filament-like 
dendrites,  on  which 
synapses  are 
highlighted  in  red. 
Inset:  Justin  Fallon. 


Fallon  found  that  the  protein 
may  help  to  organize  dystro- 
phin, a  hockey-stick-shaped 
protein  inside  the  muscle  cell. 
"That's  where  we  found  the 
big  surprise,"  Fallon  says. 
Dystrophin,  when  mutated 
or  improperly  assembled,  can 
cause  muscular  dystrophy. 
Although  agrin's  role  in  the 
disease,  which  results  m  the 
death  ot  the  muscle  cells  with 
bad  dystrophin,  has  yet  to  be 
clearly  identified,  Fallon's 
work  has  "opened  potential 
avenues  for  therapeutic  inter- 
vention," he  says. 

In  his  new  lab  on  the  third 
floor  of  the  Medical  Research 
Lab,  Fallon  has  begun  to  look 
at  how  these  rwo  proteins 
interact  in  the  brain,  a  far 
more  difficult  challenge  since 
almost  nothing  is  known 
about  how  synapses  form  in 
the  brain.  Because  many  peo- 
ple with  muscular  dystrophy 
also  sufier  from  cognitive 
problems,  Fallon  believes  his 
work  on  muscle  cells  may  be  a 
good  model  for  understanding 
how  and  where  these  prob- 
lems arise  —  an  understanding 
that  may  one  day  shed  light 
on  how  the  brain  develops. 

Much  of  the  brain's  basic 
structure  is  preprogrammed 
into  our  genes  and  develops  by 
itself,  he  says,  but  the  final 
wiring  is  based  on  individual 
experience  and  activity.  "Here's 
the  machinery;  now,  how  can 
we  figure  out  how  these  two 
interact?"  -  Chad  Gaits 


The  Thinkers 

Professors  are  real  people,  too 

THli  ROAD  to  the  computer 
lab  can  begin  in  some 
pretty  strange  places.  Associ- 
ate Professor  Leslie  Kaelbling 
grew  up  on  her  parents'  Cali- 
fornia farm,  where  she  spent 
a  good  deal  of  time  alone 
in  the  fields,  running  barefoot 
on  irrigation  pipes,  squelching 
mud  between  her  toes,  and 
thinking.  Farming,  says  this 
expert  in  robotics  and  artifi- 
cial intellegence,  is  a  good 
occupation  either  for  "those 
whose  minds  don't  need  a  lot 
of  stimulation  or  those  whose 
minds  generate  their  own 
stimulation." 

Kaelbling's  history  ot 
intellectual  resourcefulness 
made  her  an  ideal  partici- 
pant in  a  series  ot  monthly 
convocations  offered 
this  year  by  the  office  ot 
the  dean  of  the  College. 
The  lunchtime  gatherings, 
complete  with  apples  and 
brownies,  gave  students  an 
informal  ghmpse,  in  Kael- 
bling's words,  of  the  "intellec- 
tual life  stories"  of  their  teach- 
ers. In  earlier  convocations 
Professor  ot  English  David 
Savran  recounted  his  journey 
into  the  field  of  lesbian  and 
gay  studies;  Associate  Professor 
of  Community  Health  Sally 
Zierler  discussed  how  she'd 
come  to  combine  activism 
with  academia  in  her  research 
on  women  and  AIDS. 

The  convocations  are  a 
throwback  to  the  late  1950s, 
when  Joyce  Reed  '61,  now 
associate  dean  ot  the  College, 
and  her  classmates  attended 
weekly  midday  lectures  by 
professors  and  other  intellec- 
tuals. Nowadays,  she  says,  it's 
rare  that  students  get  to  know 
faculty  members  outside  their 
departments.  She  conceived 
the  convocations  to  give  stu- 
dents —  and  anyone  else  on 
campus  -  the  chance  to  hear 


professors  talk  about  "how 
their  lives  and  work  come  to- 
gether." The  gatherings  were 
also  opportunities.  Dean  of  the 
College  Kenneth  Sacks  said 
while  introducing  Kaelbling, 
to  celebrate  "a  commitment 
to  the  mind,  a  life  of  intellect, 
and  a  sense  of  achievement." 

For  Kaelbling,  nothing 
blends  those  pursuits  better 
than  computer  science.  It  was 
during  graduate  school  at 
Stanford,  when  she  was  work- 
ing for  the  Stanford  Research 
Institute,  that  she  happily  real- 
ized she  was  "getting  paid  to 
sit  and  think."  In  developing 
computer  programs,  she  said. 


IDAK.l.-JD    ADEN 


"you  get  the  creativity  ot 
thinking  about  a  problem  and 
designing  a  solution  with  the 
hide-and-seek  of  debugging" 
the  result.  Plus,  she  added, 
"you  have  the  instant  gratifi- 
cation of  having  a  thing  that 
works."  But  with  so  many 
lucrative  computer  research 
jobs  out  there,  why  teach? 
"After  all  that  thinking,"  she 
said,  "I  gotta  teU  someone." 
Judging  from  Kaelbling's 
story,  becoming  a  hot-shot 
computer  scientist  isn't  just 
about  spending  every  moment 
writing  code.  As  she  rides  her 
horse  at  home  in  rural  Massa- 
chusetts and  takes  long  walks 
with  her  new  baby  daughter, 
Kaelbling  seems  to  have  re- 
created the  same  freedom  she 
had  years  ago  on  her  parents' 
farm  -  with  plenty  of  time 
to  think.  —Jennifer  Siilhvi 


16   ♦   MAY    1997 


ID 


A  Modest  Proposal 

Swift  justice  torAfriCiiii 
dictators 

NIGERIAN  PLAYWRIGHT, 
poet,  and  memoirist 
Wole  Soymka  is  the  worst 
kind  ot  subversive.  He  does 
not  incite  riots  or  lead  guer- 
rilla cadres.  He  wounds  with 
an  astringently  ironic  sense 
of  humor,  and  his  pen  has 
drawn  enough  blood  to  earn 
the  enmiry  of  Nigeria's  dicta- 
tor, General  Sani  Abacha.  In 
March  the  general's  regime, 
which  was  widely  condemned 
two  years  ago  tor  executing 
environmentalist  and  human 
rights  activist  Ken  Saro-Wiwa 
along  with  eight  other  dissi- 
dents, charged  Soymka  with 
treason,  a  capital  otFense. 

At  an  April  President's 
Lecture  in  Sayles  Hall  tided 
"Rituals,  Sacred  and  Profane." 
the  Nobel  laureate's  quiet 
subversion  was  on  full  display. 
Soyinka  began  by  character- 
izing the  crassness  of  Ameri- 
can culture  and  was  soon 
presenting  a  barbed  proposal 
for  how  it  might  be  used  as  a 
model  for  appeasing  brutal 
African  dictators. 


PICK  0'  THE  WEB 


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WHERE  IT  IS: 

http://www.brown.edu/Courses/Bio_160/ 

WHAT  YOU'LL  FIND: 

■  A  semester  of  student  projects  for  Bio  160, 
Development  of  Vaccines  to  Infectious  Diseases. 

■  Clear  writing,  good  science,  and  some  surpris- 
ingly effective  uses  of  the  Web  as  a  referencing 
and  indexing  system. 

■  Links  to  such  sites  as  the  World  Health  Organi- 
zation's tuberculosis  program,  the  Centers  for  Dis- 
ease Control,  the  National  Cancer  Institute,  and  the 
TB-HIV  Lab  at  Brown. 


WHAT  I  THINK: 

A  great  example  of  what  the  Web  can  bring  to 
teaching,  this  project  is  the  brainchild  of  Assistant 
Professor  of  Medicine  Anne  DeGroot,  who  taught 
the  class  with  Professor  Paul  Knopf.  Groups  of 
students  prepared  presentations  on  eight  of  the 
planet's  most  serious  infectious  diseases.  Rather 
than  discuss  their  material  in  class  and  then 
promptly  forget  about  it,  however,  they  worked 
with  hypertext  whiz  Peter  Yoon  '97  to  post  their 
findings  the  same  day  Though  the  site's  content  is 
well-informed  and  sharply  written,  design  quality 
improves  as  you  move  into  recent  updates. 

The  diseases  covered  include  tuberculosis, 
hepatitis  B,  schistosomiasis,  malaria,  trypanosomi- 
asis (African  sleeping  sickness),  human  papilloma- 
virus, cancer,  and  HIV.  The  page  devoted  to  cancer 
is  an  attractive,  clearly  written  round-up  of  what  the 
disease  does,  which  genes  are  most  Involved,  and 
the  current  state  of  vaccine  development.  The 
malaria  page  boasts  some  great  diagrams,  includ- 
ing one  of  the  life  cycle  of  the  "female  Anopheles 
mosquito  vector,"  which  describes  how  the  disease 
is  spread.  Creepily  graphic  photos  accompany  the 
section  on  schistosomiasis,  which  infects  more  than 
200  million  people  in  seventy-four  countries.  The 
general  section  on  vaccine  development  is  informa- 
tive and  has  an  ingeniously  built-in  glossary,  though 
the  definitions  of  such  terms  as  "haplotype," 
"immunogenicity,"  and  "major  histocompatibilty 
complex"  aren't  as  clear  as  they  could  be. 


r/AvS)  I    Connect :  Contacting  host :  v  w  .brovn  .edu . 


c 


1 1  ^?  lal 


Wole  Soyinka 


In  many  societies,  "ritual 
involves  mystery,  something 
hidden,  kept  in  reserve  within 
the  participants,"  Soyinka  said. 
In  the  United  States,  how- 
ever, "the  culture  of  self- 
e.xposure  of  the  crudest,  most 
uninhibited  kind  has  over- 
taken most  media  -  COprah 
Winfrey  has  all  the  answers." 
Hillary  Rodham  Clinton  and 
Richard  Nixon  serve  as  sac- 
rificial lambs,  "assuaging  the 
subconscious  ritualistic  hunger 
of  American  society  for  pub- 
He  dismemberment  of  a 
symbolic  figure." 

Soymka  mused  on  how 


he  would  turn  such  hunger  to 
the  advantage  of  an  African 
dictator.  The  American  exam- 
ple, he  said,  could  "propel 
people  toward  a  shrine  ot  true 
communion"  -  namely,  a 
faked  state  funeral.  Elaborately 
staged  procession  rehearsals, 
custom-designed  cotTins  and 
mausoleums:  enough  pomp 
and  circumstance  to  satisfy 
both  the  dictators,  who  get  to 
"participate  in  their  own 
moment  ot  apotheosis,"  and 
the  people,  who  "would  re- 
quire Httle  persuasion  to  take 
on  a  role  that  anticipates  the 
demise  of  their  rvrant." 


Nigeria's  dictator  will 
probably  never  take  Soyinka 
up  on  his  offer.  In  1986  the 
writer  became  the  first  African 
ever  to  wm  a  Nobel  for  liter- 
ature; nine  years  later  he 
was  forced  to  flee  his  country. 
Now  a  visiting  professor  at 
Emory  University  in  Atlanta, 
he  has  formed  an  opposition 
movement  called  the  United 
Democratic  Front.  But 
Soyinka  is  willing  to  let  by- 
gones be  bygones.  He'd  even 
help  Abacha  write  his  own 
eulogy.  -  Clhid  Gahs 


BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    •    I7 


BY  PETER   MANDEL 


\NHVVO» 
LEGIST 
HAROEi 


fort  Worth,  Texas 

Human  Biology 

first 

■It's  a  battle.  Everyone  s 

thro\Nn. 

Nestle's  Crunch  bar 

.■ulwavskiAmv  left  leg 

SelstartlnglbloAs. 

■■Nol  always  assume 
there's  a  runner  breath- 

'IjingdovNnmvne*- 


fAV0„f 
SUac 


keep,;/'  ^''^-Ihavt 


^Wer-fi;,,, 
'''''f  to  use? '''"don't 


'Pfo 


"Everyone's  counting  on 
you  to  bring  it  in  hard 
and  strong" 

ii;_    Hershey's  Hugs 

"I  used  to  have  a  purple 
beaded  necl<lace  for  luck, 
but  I  lost  it." 

"I  try  not  to,  but  when  you 
pass  the  other  team's 
bench  and  they're  cheer- 
ing, you  know  some- 
thing's up,  and  you  can't 
help  it." 


Nowhere  in  sport  is  there  more 
tension  between  individual  and 
team  than  in  the  relay  race.  In  most  team 
competition,  several  players  perform  simul- 
taneously. But  in  the  relay,  an  individual 
runner  must  wait,  frozen  on  the  track, 
for  her  teammate  to  slap  the  baton  onto 
her  palm;  only  then  can  she  burst  into 
motion. 

One  by  one,  the  women's  4  x  400 
relay  team  burst  into  motion  -  and  the 
spodight  -  at  the  Heptagonal  indoor 
track  and  field  championships  in  Febru- 
ary. They  ran  otf  with  a  first-place  finish 
and  a  near-record  time  for  the  meet; 
weeks  later,  they  finished  fourth  out  of 
the  nearly  100  schools  competing  at  the 
Eastern    Championships    at    Dartmouth, 


Track  &  Field's  Fab  Four 

Take  the  baton  and  run.  Then  stand  still  and  cheer. 


posting  their  best  time  ot  the  season 
(3:46.36). 

This  IS  the  third  consecutive  year  that 
the  st]uad  has  snagged  the  indoor  Heps, 
and  each  ot  the  tour  runners  won  All- 
Ivy  recognition.  Two  eyelash-quick  short 
sprinters,  Ava  Cato  "97  and  Meremu 
Chikwendu  '98,  eat  up  the  first  and  anchor 
legs,  respectively,  and  400-meter  special- 
ists Aisha  Stroop  '9S  and  Chamille  Dennis 
'98  gut  out  the  middle  of  the  race. 

Even  though  relay  athletes  take  turns, 
their  coordination,  to  be  seamless,  re- 
quires that  they  train  intensely  together. 
in  fact,  the  women's  4  x  400  starters  are 
so  tight  that  sprint  coach  Robert  Johnson 
reports  that  the  three  juniors  laughingly 
refer   to   themselves   as  "Aichamu"  -   a 


three-headed    being    formed    tram    the 
sounds  ot  their  first  names. 

What  makes  Ava  and  Aichamu  tick? 
Above  are  freeze-frame  portraits  of  four 
of  the  best  runners  that  Brown  has  ever 
fielded,  c^ 


AS  OF  APRIt   10 

Baseball 
Men's  Crew 

5-15 
1-0 

Women's  Crew                           1-1 

Men's  Lacrosse 

3-3 

Women's  Lacrosse 

3-3 

Softball 

2-13-1 

Men's  Tennis 
Women's  Tennis 

7-3 
11-2 

18    ♦    MAY     1997 


Studentside 


BY   AMY  LAROCCA     97 


'•^.''i'o. 


A  Public  Voice 

Working  for  a  student  newspaper 
means  revealing  Broit'n's  flaws  — 
and  still  loving  the  place. 

I  rapped  on  the  door  of  an  office  in  an 
unfamiliar  building.  A  professor  stuck 
her  head  out  the  door,  scanned  the  hall- 
way, and  shushed  me  in.  "Do  you  have  a 
tape  recorder  with  you?"  she  asked.  She 
took  my  small,  black  dictaphone,  removed 
the  cassette,  rolled  it  between  her  fingers. 

Our  clandestine  conversation  about 
an  unfair  tenure  procedure  was  the  basis 
of  my  first  investigative  news  story  for 
the  Collci;c  Hill  Independent,  the  weekly 
Brown/RISD  paper.  At  the  time.  Brown 
was  still  new  to  me,  and  I  was  still  search- 
ing tor  those  perfect  collegiate  pictures 
the  catalogue  had  promised:  lighted  win- 
dows in  an  ivy-covered  building;  students 
of  different  races  working  late  on  collabo- 
rative projects;  kindly,  bearded  professors 
in  tweed  riding  bicycles.  Instead  I  found 
myself  standing  in  a  dreary  cinderblock 
hall,  talking  to  a  professor  who  should 
not  have  been  telling  her  secrets  to  a  first- 
year  student. 

But  1  was  hooked.  1  became  so  in- 
trigued by  the  process  of  reporting  that  I 
allowed  the  Independent  to  dominate 
much  of  my  time.  1  threaded  my  way 
through  issues  such  as  need-blind  admis- 
sions, sexual  assault,  and  racism  by  talking 
with  people  who  were  directly  involved. 
When  the  U.S.  Department  of  Education 
was  investigating  Brown's  financial  aid 
office  a  few  years  ago,  I  received  an 
anonymous  envelope  in  my  mailbox  con- 
taining some  of  the  alleged  interviews 
that  spurred  the  investigation.  I  inter- 
viewed Tom  Wolfe,  Anita  HiU,  and 
Umberto  Eco.  During  a  telephone  inter- 
view I  accidentally  disconnected  Patricia 
Ireland  and  managed  to  give  myself  a 
black  eye  while  trying  frantically  to 
reconnect.  "You  are,"  I  e.xplained  to  her  as 
I  searched  for  a  missing  contact  lens,  "my 
first  famous-person  interview."  Through 
this  intense  and  varied  submersion  I  grew 


..•^< 


•1!.  =&  -»"?.??,  -a  <  •  ^  %■$  ', 


disillusioned  with  the  perfect  catalog 
images  I'd  been  sold  by  the  Admission 
Office,  yet  at  the  same  time  I  was  falling 
euphorically  in  love  with  the  real  Brown. 

Once  1  became  an  editor  of  the  Inde- 
pendent during  my  sophomore  year,  I 
practically  lived  in  Conmag,  a  student 
desktop-publishing  center  on  the  second 
floor  of  Faunce  House.  After  many  four- 
teen-hour  production  nights,  I  learned 
things  about  Faunce:  there  is  an  alarm 
clock  m  Rabbi  Flam's  office  that  goes  ofT 
every  night  at  11:15;  the  water  fountain 
on  the  second  floor  is  markedly  colder 
than  the  one  downstairs.  From  the  win- 
dow in  Conmag  I'd  watch  the  tops  of 
people's  heads  move  down  the  steps  to 
the  post  office. 

Editing  was  a  tremendous  task:  con- 
ceiving and  assigning  stories,  correcting 
typos  and  awkward  wording.  But  most 
challenging  was  helping  to  create  a  mis- 
sion for  the  paper.  As  a  weekly,  the  Inde- 
pendent has  the  time  and  space  to  go 
beneath  the  surface  of  stories.  Some  of 
those  stories  have  offended  people,  but  I 
think  the  controversies  serve  to  remind 
the  University  that  its  students  are  capable 
of  taking  a  responsible  and  active  role  m 
their  community.  One  article,  for  exam- 
ple, addressed  a  student  complaint  with 
the  campus's  Health  Services.  After  the 
article  came  out,  another  Independent  edi- 
tor and  I  met  with  two  very  upset  doctors 


to  discuss  the  article.  "Your  paper  might 
scare  students  away  from  our  office,"  they 
argued. "We'd  rather  complaints  be  voiced 
m  private." 

While  I  could  empathize  with  the  dis- 
appointment the  doctors  felt  in  seeing 
their  office  criticized,  1  do  believe  it  is 
appropriate  to  voice  concern  publicly. 
What  the  doctors  saw  as  a  threat  to  stu- 
dent confidence  in  their  medical  care,  1 
saw  as  a  channel  of  communication.  The 
message  of  the  article  was  that  Health 
Services  -  and  indeed  the  University  in 
general  -  is  accountable  to  the  individuals 
they  treat.  I  recognize  the  responsibilities 
of  using  such  publicity.  I  acknowledge 
that,  as  college  students,  we  are  only  be- 
ginning to  understand  this  power  and  are 
perhaps  insensitive  to  its  repercussions. 
Nonetheless,  we  try  to  use  it  carefully. 

Last  fall  I  left  the  Independent  to  con- 
centrate on  my  thesis.  As  a  result,  I  have 
not  spent  much  time  in  Faunce  House 
lately.  It  is  a  strange  feeling  to  pick  up  a 
copy  of  the  paper  each  Thursday  and  read 
It  for  the  first  time,  unaware  of  the  partic- 
ular struggle  each  story  represents.  I  walk 
down  the  steps  to  the  post  office  and  envi- 
sion my  head  as  it  must  look  from  above, 
from  the  window  m  Conmag,  where  this 
week's  paper  is  coming  to  life,  c^ 

Amy  Laivcca  is  an  English  concentrator  from 
Lloyd  Harbor,  Neii'York. 


iROWN    ALUMNI    MCJNTHLY    •     10 


Books 


BY   ROSS   CHEIT 


Scams  and  Schemers 


AuidcntaUy.  On  Purpose:  The  Milking;  of  n 
Personal  Injury  Underworld  in  America, 
by  Ken  Dornstein  "91  (St.  Martin's 
Press,  1997). 

Insurance  can  bring  out  the  worst  ni 
people.  Secure  in  the  knowledge  that 
they're  covered,  some  people  become 
careless.  Why  drive  with  care  if  your 
rental  car  is  fully  insured?  Others  become 
opportunistic;  accidents  can  be  profitable. 
A  popular  bumper  sticker  reads,  "Please 
hit  me.  I'm  insured." 

Worse,  insurance  abets  fnghttul 
crimes.  Unprofitable  businesses  burn  to 
the  ground.  Occasionally,  people  with 
recently  purchased  life-insurance  policies 
die  suddenly  and  mysteriously.  And  a 
rear-end  accident  on  the  highway  might 
turn  out  to  be  staged. 

Welcome  to  the  seamy  world  of  insur- 
ance fraud,  an  unlikely  place  to  land  after 
graduating  from  Brown.  But  the  intrigue 
of  being  a  private  investigator  captivated 
Ken  Dornstein,  who  spent  several  years 
investigating     automobile     accidents     m 


ABOUT    THE    AUTHOR 

a  Ken  Dornstein's  interest  in  accidents  was 

accidental.  When  a  friend  at  Brown  signed 
up  for  a  campus  interview  with  a  California 
insurance-investigation  company  and  didn't 
go,  Dornstein,  who  hadn't  scheduled  any 
interviews  himself,  decided  to  go  in  his  place.  "Some  guy  from 
Venice  Beach  started  telling  me  about  something  called  the  squat 
and  swoop,"  Dornstein  says.  It  was  enough:  he  packed  his  bags 
and  moved  to  Los  Angeles.  But  for  Dornstein,  a  philosophy  con- 
centrator at  Brown,  the  work  soon  lost  its  glamour.  "Until  halfway 
through  the  year  I  thought  it  was  pretty  sexy  to  be  called  an 
investigator,"  he  says.  "But  I  wasn't  like  Jack  Nicholson  in  China- 
town. I  felt  like  a  claims  ad|uster."  So  he  left  investigation  to  do 
"a  scholarly  take  on  something  that's  not  taken  seriously  [by 
academics],"  he  says.  A  resident  of  Cambridge,  Massachusetts, 
he  is  now  working  on  a  television  documentary  about  Robert 
F.  Kennedy. 


Los  Angeles   before   writing   Accidenlally, 
On  Purpose. 

What  Dornstein  fbunci  was  a  world 
rich  in  folklore  and  rackets,  in  legendary 
con  artists  and  clever  investigators.  Work- 
ing in  the  "Insurance  Fraud  Capital  of  the 
World,"  he  encountered  elaborate,  risky 
schemes  to  defraud  auto  insurers.  The 
book  opens  and  closes  with  a  faked  acci- 
dent that  killed  one  of  the  participants,  a 
young  day-worker  from  El  Salvador.  "The 
scheme  involves  two  or  three  cars  -  one 
'squat'  car  stuffed  with  passengers  and  one 
or  two  'swoop'  cars  to  assist.  The  driver 
and  passengers  of  the  cars  take  to  the 
roads  looking  to  trap  another  car  (or 
truck)  into  rear-ending  the  squat  car  so 
that  the  passengers  can  make  personal 
injury  claims  against  the  other  driver's 
insurance  company."  These  crimes  cost 
insurance  companies  millions  of  dollars, 
ultimately  paid  by  the  premiums  of  hon- 
est consumers. 

After  a  few  years  of  investigating  such 
fraud,  L^ornstein  quit  his  job,  immersing 
himself  in  insurance  archives  and  other 
arcane  sources  to  document  the  pathetic 
but  coloriul  underworld  he'd  glimpsed 
first-hand.  He  docu- 
ments 1890S  "death  rat- 
tle cooperatives"  that 
profited  by  taking  out 
life  insurance  "on  the 
heads  of  the  aged,  the 
dying,  and  the  stupid." 
Railroads  soon  fell  vic- 
tim to  accident-prone 
passengers.  We  learn 
about  Anna  Strula,  a 
boardinghouse  keeper 
from  New  Jersey,  who 
became  known  as 
"Banana  Anna"  after 
suffering  a  series  of 
"accidents"  by  pretend- 
ing to  fall  on  a  banana 
peel. 

The  distinctive  lexi- 
con of  scam  artists  that 
emerges  from  these 
pages  includes  banana- 
peelers,  step-box  artists, 
broken-widow  men, 
and  nature  fakers.  Later 


these  were  replaced  by  firebugs,  accident 
mills,  flcippers,  and  ambulance  chasers. 
Dornstein  chronicles  the  misadventures 
of  countless  characters  eventually  appre- 
hended for  insurance  crimes. 

What  are  we  to  make  of  these  sordid 
stories?  Dornstein  seems  unsure.  He 
claims  they  are  uniquely  American,  but 
the  book  includes  examples  of  "ship- 
wrecking chcjues"  and  other  frauds  from 
eighteenth-century  England.  Dornstein 
also  talks  a  lot  about  greed,  but  many  of 
his  examples  are  stories  of  economic  des- 
peration. Pittsburgh's  infamous  "House  of 
Pain,"  which  specialized  in  self-maiming 
for  insurance  money,  flourished  at  the 
peak  of  the  Depression. 

Dornstein  blames  lawyers,  doctors, 
and  society  at  large  —  everyone,  it  seems, 
except  insurance  companies.  Readers  get 
little  sense  that  ambulance  chasers  often 
rushed  to  the  scene  of  accidents  in  order 
to  beat  insurance  company  representa- 
tives, who  otherwise  pressured  the  injured 
to  settle  for  pennies  on  the  dollar.  By 
telling  only  stories  ot  fraud,  Dornstein 
never  pauses  to  ask  whether  the  insurance 
companies  are  without  fault.  Spving  into 
people's  bedrooms  or  puncturing  the  tires 
on  their  car  to  investigate  an  accident 
might  not  seem  objectionable  when  the 
target  is  known  to  be  faking  an  injury. 
But  what  about  the  truly  injured?  Curi- 
ously, 111  this  book  the  insurance  industry 
is  never  wrong.  Claims  are  apparently 
never  delayed  unfairly;  suspected  fakers 
are  never  truly  injured.  Instead,  investiga- 
tors are  ever  on  guard  against  being  "car- 
rots" —  paying  the  undeserving. 

The  world  of  insurance  claims  is  more 
complicated,  however,  and  so  are  its 
lessons.  Insurance  companies  bring  some 
of  this  misbehavior  on  themselves.  While 
companies    were    bemoaning    arson-for- 


20   ♦  M.\Y    1997 


profit  m  niiiL'teenth-century  New  York 
City-,  for  example.  Colliers  magazine 
exposed  lax  underwriting  procedures, 
demonstratmg  that  nisurers  were  more 
mterested  ni  premium  dollars  than  m 
assessing  risk. 

Consumers  pay  tor  insurance  fraud  in 
more  ways  than  one:  not  only  because  ot 
defrauders  and  scam  artists,  but  also  due 
to  the  behavior  of  adjusters  and  investiga- 
tors who  see  the  world  through  a  narrow 
lens.  The  result  is  delays,  harassment,  and 
underpayment  ot  legitimate  claims.  Such 
problems  might  well  be  beyond  the  scope 
ot  this  book.  But  they  deserve  to  be  con- 
sidered by  anyone  puzzling  through  the 
social  and  policy  implications  ot  insur- 
ance fraud. 

Otherwise,  stories  such  as  the  one 
about  the  "Queen  of  the  Fakers"  are  a  lot 
like  stories  about  "weltare  queens."  They 
receive  widespread  publicity  that  perpet- 
uates negative  —  and  inaccurate  -  stereo- 
t^'pes  while  failing  to  examine  the  wider 
universe  of  claimants  and  those  who  han- 
dle their  claims. 

Ross  E.  elicit,  associate  professor  of  political 
science  and  public  policy,  teaches  a  course  on 
"Insurance  and  Public  Policy.  " 


Briefly  Noted 

Relif^ioii  and  Psychology  in  Transition: 
Pyschoanalysis,  Feminism  and  Tlieology,  by 
James  W.  Jones  '70  (Yale  University 
Press,  170  pages,  S22.S0). 

Much  like  the  work  ot  Freud,  which 
Jones  discusses  at  length,  this  book's  case 
histories  make  tor  more  interesting  read- 
ing than  its  theoretical  and  academic 
deliberations.  For  example,  Jones's  des- 
cription ot  a  stressed-out  magazine  editor 
struggling  to  make  sense  ot  the  compli- 
cated vortex  of  associations  between  his 
father  and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is 
a  wvU-told  stor)'.  Jones  has  a  good  eye  for 
detail,  and  while  his  observations  about 
this  patient's  rediscovered  rehgion  owe 
much  to  Freud,  the  author  knows  when, 
and  how,  to  make  the  man's  story  his  own. 

Farewell  to  the  Factory:  Auto  Workers  in  the 
Lite  Twentieth  Century,  by  Ruth  Milk- 
man '75  (University  of  California  Press, 
247  pages,  cloth  $45,  paper  S14.95). 

Using  the  General  Motors  assembly 
plant  m  Linden,  New  Jersey,  as  a  case  in 
point.  Milkman  tells  a  grimly  compel- 
ling story  of  the  latest  wave  in  the  post- 


industrial  revolution.  She  is  anxious  to 
put  a  human  face  on  one  large  corpora- 
tion's downsizing  and  outsourcing  deci- 
sions, and  the  book  relies  heavily  on  the 
voices  of  the  plant's  workers  or  those  who 
have  recently  left.  Addressing  issues  such 
as  access  to  bathrooms,  assembly-line 
robots,  and  the  racial  and  gender  aspects 
of  employee  buyout  plans  (white  women 
under  the  age  of  thirty  were  most  likely 
to  take  advantage  of  the  plans).  Milkman 
doesn't  pull  any  punches.  She  attacks 
unions  for  their  weakness  and  timidity 
and  GM  for  its  greed  and  inflexibility. 

Soul  Kiss,  by  Shay  Youngblood  '94 
M.FA.  (Riverhead  Books.  21. S  pages,  $21). 
A  coming-of-age  story  about  a  girl 
who  eats  pages  trom  the  works  of  Claude 
McKay  and  Langston  Hughes  one  word 
at  a  time,  Youngblood's  tirst  novel  is 
powerfully  told  and  suffused  with  a  deli- 
cate charm. The  voice  ot  the  main  charac- 
ter, Mariah,  is  convincing  and  poetic 
throughout  the  novel.  Her  relationships 
with  the  members  ot  her  shattered  tamily 
make  Soul  Kiss  a  touching,  though  occa- 
sionally troubling,  portrait  of  a  girl  with 
a  profound  and  unmet  need  to  belong. 
-  Chad  Gaits 


Brown  Sailing  is  Proud  to  Reintroduce... 

COMMENCEMENT  CUP 

^*^         Sunday,  May  25,  1997 

Sail  Newport,  Fort  Adams  St.  Park 

—  Newport,  Rl  — 

Regatta  inj-22  Keelboats 

1 0am  -  Skippers'  Meeting 
4pm  -  Reception 

(401)254-6161 


^l 


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andThuc  Le ' 

their  families  into  refii^.  In  Wmi^ 


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Way  Home 


BY    NORMAN     BOUCHER 


Kathy  Le 


Phuc  Le 


Y 

H  ears  later,  when   Hoang  Lien   recalled 

H  that  day  in  April  ot   1975,  she  would 

^fl^to  hear  again  the  tlnnider  ot  artiller\' 
shells  explodmg  in  the  distance,  a  soinid  audible  to 
her  only  when  she  was  not  distracted  by  the  pains  of 
childbirth.  One  hundred  and  titty  miles  from  her 
Saigon  hospital  bed,  troops  from  the  communist 
north  advanced  steadily  southward.  At  5:30  p.m.,  with 
her  country  dying  artiund  her.  Hoang  Lien  gave 
birth  to  her  first  child,  a  daughter  she  named  Le 
Nguyen  Ngan  Ha.  Two  weeks  later  the  government 
of  South  Vietnam  tell.  Hoang  Lien's  husband,  Le 
Thanh  Son,  was  soon  arrested  and  sent  to  a  secret 
camp  for  "re-education."  Hoang  Lien  moved  to  her 
mother's  house  and  worried  she  could  not  provide 
tor  Ngan  Ha.  Milk  was  sometimes  m  such  short  sup- 
ply that  the  only  thing  for  the  baby's  bottle  was  the 
water  from  a  pot  of  cooked  rice. 

Meanwhile,  200  miles  to  north,  the  city  of  Pleiku 
in  the  central  highlands  had  already  fallen. The  site  of 
savage  battles  earlier  in  the  war,  I'leiku  had  been 
abandoned  with  hardly  a  fight,  unleashing  the  Con- 
voy of  Tears,  a  surge  of  100,000  panicked  soldiers 
and  civilians  seeking  safety  to  the  south.  Amid  falling 
mortar  shells,  a  military  surgeon  named  Le  Anh  had 
watched  anxiously  as  a  plane  taxied  down  an  airport 
runway  and  slowly  lifted  into  the  air.  Inside,  his  wife 
and  tour  children  were  fleeing  to  Saigon.  Le  Anh's 
youngest  child,  daughter  Ngoc  Phuc,  was  barely  five 
months  old.  She  and  her  siblings  would  be  children 
of  the  vanquished  side,  innocent  of  war  yet  burdened 
with  its  conseciuences. 

During  the  time  of  re-education  camps  and  for 
years  afterward,  Le  Anh  and  Hoang  Lien  waited  for 
a  chance  to  relieve  them  of  this  burden,  knowing 
that  opportunity  in  the  new  Vietnam  would  never 
be  equal  for  children  of  American  collaborators.  For 
Hoang  Lien,  the  waiting  ended  in  the  third  month  of 


1980.  Her  daughter,  Ngan  Ha,  was  just  short  of  her 
fifth  birthday.  Atter  watching  Ngan  Ha's  uncles 
attempt  and  tail  to  escape  the  country  by  boat, 
Hoang  Lien  turned  to  her  husband  and  said,  "Lm 
leaving.  Are  you  coming  with  me?"  Le  Thanh  Son, 
whose  health  had  never  quite  recovered  from  his 
two-and-a-half  years  in  re-education  camps,  was  the 
oldest  son  in  his  family,  a  circumstance  m  Vietnamese 
culture  that  carries  the  obligation  to  care  for  the 
tamily  elders.  Le  Thanh  Son  told  his  wife  he  could 
not  leave.  And  so  mother  and  daughter  headed  alone 
tor  the  coast,  carrying  a  jar  of  ginseng  soaked  in 
honey  that  Hoang  Lien's  mother  had  given  them  for 
the  trip.  The  honey  would  absorb  the  medicinal 
qualities  of  the  ginseng,  providing  a  burst  of  energy 
should  it  be  needed.  For  Hoang  Lien  was  nine 
months  pregnant. 

The  two  arrived  at  the  clandestine  departure  site 
on  a  dark,  moonless  night.  In  a  small  sampan  they 
were  brought  to  the  waiting  tishing  boat,  joining 
more  than  100  refugees  jammed  on  board.  For  seven 
humid  and  windless  days  they  inched  across  the  open 
sea.  Hoang  Lien  and  Ngan  Ha  sat  crowded  into  the 
forward  part  of  the  boat,  above  the  engines,  whose 
heat  during  the  day  made  the  deck  stifling  and  painful. 
Because  the  person  bringing  water  and  food  to  the 
fishing  boat  had  been  caught  by  the  police  on  the 
night  ot  their  departure,  everyone  was  soon  hungry 
and  dehydrated.  Ngan  Ha  began  to  vomit.  Eventually 
she  turned  blue.  Hoang  Lien  teared  for  her  daughter, 
and  her  anxiety  intensified  once  she  realized  she 
could  no  longer  feel  the  baby  kicking  in  her  womb. 

During  the  t'lfth  day  on  the  boat,  a  woman  went 
into  labor.  Her  husband  was  already  so  sick  he  was 
unable  to  sit  up.  Some  of  the  refugees  scolded  the 
woman  for  coming  on  board  m  her  condition,  but 
Hoang  Lien  gave  her  the  honey  from  her  jar.  The 
woman  delivered  a  baby  girl  in  the  darkness  of  night. 

BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦    23 


Phuc  did  not  realize  the  reason  for  her 
father's  photograph:  he  was  afraid  they 
all  might  die  during  their  escape. 


The  young  mother  cried  that,  surrounded  by  filth, 
her  baby  was  sure  to  die.  "Don't  worry,"  Hoang  Lien 
said,  "maybe  your  httle  girl  will  bring  us  luck." 

On  the  seventh  day,  an  Italian  ship  ferried  them 
to  Singapore,  where  Hoang  Lien  and  Ngan  Ha  were 
taken  directly  from  the  dock  to  a  hospital.  Ngan  Ha 
was  diagnosed  as  dangerously  dehydrated  and  suffer- 
ing from  whooping  cough.  She  was  released  into  the 
refugee  camp  after  a  few  days,  but  almost  mimedi- 
ately  Hoang  Lien  went  into  labor  and  was  rushed 
back  to  the  hospital.  Ngan  Has  earliest  memory 
would  be  of  running  after  the  ambulance  taking  her 
mother  away.  When  Hoang  Lien's  son  was  born, 
on  March  20,  1980,  the  birth  left  her  paralyzed  for  a 
month.  Fearing  she  might  not  recover  and  her  chil- 
dren would  be  lost  in  a  sea  of  refugees,  she  prevailed 
on  an  American  nun  in  the  camp  to  look  after  Ngan 
Ha  and  the  boy.  The  volunteer  set  up  a  baby's  bed 
111  an  oftice  drawer  and  named  the  boy  Joseph. 

In  the  summer  of  1980,  mother,  daughter,  and 
infint  son  arrived  in  Seattle,  staying  with  Hoang 
Lien's  sister,  who  years  ago  had  married  an  Ameri- 
can. Hoang  Lien  decided  that  she  and  her  daughter 
should  use  new  names  in  this  new  country.  Because 
Hoang  is  the  Vietnamese  word  for  rose,  Hoang  Lien 
became  Rosette  Le.  Le  Ngan  Ha  became  Kathy  Le. 


m     M     #      hile    Kathy   Le   learned    English   in 

^#  m#        Seattle,  Ngoc  Phuc  grew  amid  the 
W      T  red  dirt  and  pine  forests  of  Pleiku. 

The  family  had  returned  to  the  city  after  Le  Anh's 
release  from  re-education  camp.  Le  Ngoc  Phuc  and 
her  friends  wandered  freely,  climbing  scratchy  burlap 
sacks  of  rice  piled  in  the  shed  near  her  house,  weav- 
ing ropes  made  of  rubber  bands,  and,  with  the  help 
of  a  neighbor,  staging  performances  of  Vietnamese 
operas  and  folk  dances.  They  made  false  eyelashes  out 
of  carbon  paper  and  attached  them  with  a  mash  of 
cooked  rice. 

Ngoc  Phuc  watched  as  the  Hinong  and  other 
ethnic  minorities  from  the  villages  and  mountains 
near  Laos  came  to  town  to  be  treated  by  her  father 
and  mother,  who  was  also  a  doctor.  Her  parents 
never  seemed  to  refuse  a  patient,  a  commitment  that 
would  later  influence  Ngoc  Phuc's  decision  about 
her  own  career.  The  Hinong  made  sure  Ngoc  Phuc's 
family  was  well  fed,  bringing  the  first  bananas  or 
jackfruits  of  the  season  to  their  home  as  a  tribute. 

The  family  moved  to  Saigon  -  now  renamed  Ho 
Chi  Minh  City  -  in  1982.  Ngoc  Phuc  sat  up  front  in 
the  truck  that  hauled  their  possessions,  at  night 
watching  fireflies  flutter  like  snow  along  the  road 
ahead.  Ho  Chi  Minh  City  to  her  was  simply  more 
opera  and  playacting.  She  became  one  of  five  girls 
who  were  so  inseparable  they  earned  the  nickname 
ii{;ii  liVtiJ  coiii;  chilli,  the  five  dragon  princesses.  At 
home,  she  cared  for  seven  dogs  and  harvested  fruit 
from  trees  her  grandfather  had  planted  in  the  yard. 
When  she  wasn't  outside,  she  read  biographies.  A 
book  about  Lenin  described  how  his  parents  made 
him  learn  languages  by  requiring  him  to  speak  dif- 
ferent ones  on  different  days.  It  was  a  discipline  she 
was  learning  to  admire. 

The  American  War,  as  it  now  became  known, 
was  as  remote  to  Ngoc  Phuc  as  her  own  future.  Her 
parents  recognized  that  she  would  probably  never  be 
treated  as  well  as  the  children  of  men  who'd  fought 
on  the  other  side.  Ngoc  Phuc  knew  that  people 
occasionally  escaped  from  Vietnam  by  boat,  but  she 
had  no  idea  why  or  for  how  long,  even  on  the  day  in 
May  1987  when  her  father  told  her  that  she  and  her 
brother  and  sisters  were  going  with  him.  Her  mother 
stayed  behind.  It  would  be  four-and-a-half  years 
before  Ngoc  Phuc  saw  her  again.  When  her  father 
insisted  on  taking  a  family  picture  before  their  depar- 
ture, Ngoc  Phuc  did  not  realize  he  did  so  because  he 
was  afraid  they  might  die  during  their  escape.  The 
trip  that  day  was  meant  to  resemble  an  innocent 
countryside  outing,  but  in  fact  Ngoc  Phuc's  mother 
remained  in  Ho  Chi  Minh  City  partly  so  that  if  her 
husband  and  four  children  were  caught,  she  could 


24 


MAY     1997 


.^ 


>^^ 


^-B^^' 


:^' 


f'^mjg^. 


1        S.:.      -■      i,, 


Phuc  Le  in  i988  tending  gourds  outside 
her  family's  hut  at  the  Bataan  refugee 
camp  in  the  Philippines.  Opposite,  JAe 
Price  of  Freedom,  which  Phuc  drew  as 
a  high  school  sophomore,  hung  for  a 
year  in  the  Capitol  in  Washington,  D.C. 


^St&^. 


>^„ 


^•l-  "f 


A  bicyclist  along  protect  the  house  from  seizure  and  try  to  free  them 

the  route  to  the  from  prison. 

Perfume  Pagoda.  They  left  the  coast  of  Vietnam  on  a  moonless 

night  in  late  May.  The  boat  was  smaller  than  the 
one  Kathy  Le  had  escaped  in  seven  years  before. 
Only  forty-nine  people  were  on  it,  but  there  was 
trouble  over  the  drinking  water,  which  ran  out  after  a 
tew  days.  A  storm  came  up  almost  immediately. 
Ngoc  Phuc  was  seasick  tor  three  days.  Water  was  so 
precious  that  when  Ngoc  Phuc  vomited  in  her  cup 
of  water,  her  father  made  her  drink  it  anyway.  The 
refugees  were  forced  to  crowd  together;  the  woman 
beside  Ngoc  Phuc  rested  her  head  on  her  stomach. 
The  woman's  baby  cried  incessantly.  When  Ngoc 
Phuc  heard  a  moaning  sound  rise  from  the  sea  that 
night,  she  believed  it  came  from  the  spirits  of  people 
who  had  tried  to  escape  and  failed;  only  later  did  she 
realize  these  were  the  calls  of  whales. 

When  the  water  ran  out,  Ngoc  Phuc's  father 
rigged  a  small  sheet  of  plastic  over  a  metal  can  in 
which  he  boiled  sea  water.  He  collected  the  condensa- 
tion and,  ever  the  doctor,  distributed  exactly  twenty 
cubic  centimeters  a  day  to  everyone  -  just  enough 


water  to  keep  them  alive.  On  the  sixth  night  at  sea, 
the  metal  can  burned  through. 

Fortunately,  the  next  day  they  were  rescued  by 
fishermen  from  the  Philippines,  and  in  early  June  of 
1987,  Ngoc  Phuc  and  her  family  arrived  at  the  First 
Asylum  Center  in  Palawan,  the  Philippines.  At 
Palawan  3,000  retugees,  most  ot  them  Vietnamese, 
waited  tor  their  fates  to  be  decided.  Ngoc  Phuc's 
tamily  was  placed  with  two  others  in  a  straw-roofed 
hut. Their  portion,  reachable  only  by  bamboo  ladder, 
was  just  large  enough  for  the  five  of  them  to  lie 
down  side  by  side. 

During  the  six  months  at  Palawan,  Ngoc  Phuc 
learned  English  at  the  camp  school.  As  an  ex-Army 
officer,  her  t'ather  was  eligible  for  asylum  in  the 
United  States,  and  when  his  application  was 
approved,  he  and  his  family  were  moved  to  a  much 
larger  camp  in  Bataan,  the  Philippines. 

In  Bataan,  they  waited  another  seven  months. 
Ngoc  Phuc  and  her  family  had  their  own  hut,  a  tiny 
structure  with  a  tin  roof.  Although  it  was  intested 
with  rats  and  not  much  larger  than  a  dorm  room,  it 
seemed  grand.  Ngoc  Phuc  went  otf  to  school  each 


26  ♦  MAY    1997 


day,  checking  her  hair  iii  a  little  round  mirror  on 
which  was  inscribed  the  word  SMILE.  Later  she  read 
a  book  camp  otFicials  distributed  to  prepare  the 
refugees  for  life  in  the  United  States.  She  stared  at  the 
black-and-white  photographs  ot  the  insides  ot  Amer- 
ican houses,  longing  for  that  kind  of  comfort  and 
security. The  people  in  the  pictures  wore  bright  shirts 
and  bell-bottomed  pants.  Ngoc  Phuc  learned  that 
Americans  do  not  squat,  as  she  was  accustomed  to 
doma:  when  socializine  on  the  street.  She  read  that 


people.  Rosette  then  moved  her  tamih'  three  miles 
away  to  a  three-bedroom  townhouse,  which  they 
shared  with  her  mother,  r\vo  sisters,  and  four  brothers. 
Three  bedrooms,  ten  people. 

Recent  Vietnamese  refugees  have  had  more  dif- 
ficulty. Le  Anh  and  his  wife,  who  joined  her  family  in 
the  United  States  in  1991,  have  been  unable  to  prac- 
tice medicine.  At  first  Le  Anh  worked  for  a  cleaning 
company.  Then  for  two  years  he  mowed  lawns.  In 
1991,  having  moved  his  family  to  Chula  Vista,  near 


The  hope  of  refugee  families  rests  squarely  on  their  children, 
one  of  many  pressures  Kathy  and  Phuc  must  face. 


Americans  shop  for  food  only  once  a  week  and  do 
not  go  out  to  street  markets  to  buv  tresh  greens  and 
meat  every  day.  She  learned  that  meat  is  stored  in 
freezers,  that  meat  placed  there  does  not  spoil.  She 
saw  that  Americans  clean  their  houses  with  suction 
devices  known  as  vacuum  cleaners,  and  she  read 
detailed  instructions  on  how  to  install  tire  chains  in  a 
snow  storm.  In  October,  she  learned  how  to  trick- 
or-treat.  She  led  her  costumed  class  around  the 
refugee  camp  dressed  as  a  princess  while  a  classmate 
held  an  umbrella  over  her  head. 

At  the  end  of  June  19SS,  Ngoc  Phuc,  her  father, 
two  sisters,  and  brother  boarded  a  plane  for  Los 
Angeles.  Ngoc  Phuc  bought  herself  a  pair  of  pink 
sneakers  for  the  trip.  The  plane  was  a  747.  Ngoc 
Phucs  lather  asked  neighboring  passengers  to  photo- 
graph his  family  in  their  seats.  He  and  his  children 
snapped  pictures  of  the  trays  of  food  set  before  them. 
They  were  met  by  a  relative  at  the  Los  Angeles  air- 
port who  drove  them  through  Little  Saigon  on  the 
way  to  their  temporary  home  in  Santa  Ana.  Ngoc 
Phuc  stared  out  the  window  at  southern  California. 
Oranges  ripened  m  trees  along  a  median  strip.  Ngoc 
Phuc  stared  at  the  big  shiny  cars.  She  stared  at  the 
white  taces  inside  them. 


M 


any  waves  of  refugees  have  fled 
Vietnam  since  1975.  and  more  than 
one  million  have  settled  in  the 
United  States.  Some  have  worked  hard  and  achieved 
modest  success.  Rosette  Le,  for  example,  eventually 
found  employment  as  a  social  worker.  After  moving 
from  Seattle  to  California's  San  Fernando  Valley,  she 
and  her  two  children  rented  a  one-bedroom  apart- 
ment with  her  mother,  two  sisters,  five  brothers,  one 
sister-in-law,  and  two  nieces.  One  bedroom,  fourteen 


San  Diego,  he  got  a  job  in  a  doctors  office,  taking 
down  patient  histories.  At  night  and  early  in  the 
morning  he  worked  on  his  English,  sometimes  calling 
800  numbers  for  the  conversational  practice.  When 
he  wasn't  working  on  his  English,  he  studied  for  var- 
ious medical  exams  he  would  need  to  pass  before  be- 
coming a  doctor  again. "I've  lived  here  for  sLx  or  seven 
years,"  he  s,iys,  "but  have  no  time  to  visit  things." 
Although  he  has  passed  all  the  required  exams,  he  has 
been  rejected  tor  admission  by  almost  iso  medical 
residency  programs.  Now  he  waits  for  something  to 
give.  His  wife  has  even  less  hope  of  resuming  her 
medical  practice  and  spends  her  davs  attending  Eng- 
lish classes  and  maintaining  their  small,  sparsely  fur- 
nished apartment.  "It's  too  late  for  me,"  she  says. 

The  hopes  ot  such  tamilies  rest  squarely  on  their 
children,  a  fact  that  has  not  been  lost  on  Kathy  and 
Phuc  (as  she  is  now  called).  Outwardly  at  least,  Kathy 
Le  is  a  typical  product  of  southern  California.  The 
accent  in  her  rapid-fire  English  is  more  vallev  girl 
than  Vietnamese.  School  was  advanced-placement 
classes  and  top  grades.  Short  and  dark-haired,  during 
the  1988  Presidential  election  she  was  Michael  Dukakis 
in  her  school's  mock  debate.  She  gravitated  toward 
nineteenth-century  English  novels  and  current  events. 
By  the  time  she  got  to  coUege  she  had  read  Emma 
eight  times.  Her  devotion  to  Jane  Austen,  she  says,  is 
based  on  her  belief  that  Eimna  captures  better  than 
any  novel  she  has  ever  read  what  lite  is  like  for  a 
Vietnamese-American  girl  trying  to  rise  above  a 
socierv  defined  by  rigid  tamilial  relationships,  a  soci- 
ety where  money  and  inheritance  remain  central. 

Phuc  Le  has  been  one  of  Kathy 's  suiteniates  for 
the  last  two  years.  In  many  ways,  they  are  a  study  in 
contrasts.  Phuc  is  as  romantic  as  Kathy  is  pragmatic. 
Kathy  is  short,  Phuc  tall;  Kathy  wears  her  hair  short: 
Phuc  prefers  hers  long.  Kathy  is  most  at  home  on 
pavement  in  a  big  c\ty;  Phuc  dreams  of  a  house  with 


IROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦ 


'■1 


gardens  and  birds.  Kathy  has  no  memory  ot  livnig  in 
Vietnam;  Phuc  writes  ten-page  letters  to  her  friends 
in  Ho  Chi  Minh  City. 

Most  important,  because  Phuc  was  thirteen  when 
she  arrived  in  the  United  States,  she  remains  Viet- 
namese at  heart.  While  Kathy  was  standing  in  for 
Dukakis,  Phuc  was  still  not  sure  what  an  election  was 
all  about.  The  first  time  her  boyfriend  drove  with 
her  in  snow  at  Brown,  she  kept  wondering  when  he 
was  going  to  stop  and  put  on  his  tire  chains. 

In  school,  Phuc  was  drawn  to  both  science  and 
art.  During  her  sophomore  year  in  high  school,  a 
drawing  based  on  her  refugee  experience,  called  Tlic 
Price  of  Freedom,  was  selected  to  hang  for  a  year  in  the 
Capitol  in  Washington,  D.C.  But  to  Phuc  drawing 


research  professor  at  the  Watson  Institute  for  Inter- 
national Studies  who  had  traveled  to  Vietnam  with 
him  a  few  months  before.  After  publishing  In  Retro- 
ipcct  in  199s,  McNamara  had  immediately  been 
plunged  into  controversy  tor  admitting  in  the  book 
that  he  and  other  senior  members  of  the  Kennedy 
and  Johnson  administrations  had  been  "wrong,  terri- 
bly wrong"  in  their  dogged  pursuit  of  the  war.  When 
he  arrived  in  Providence,  though,  McNamara  chose 
to  speak  about  the  war  only  with  a  small  lunchtime 
gathering  at  the  Watson  Institute.  In  his  evening 
public  lecture  at  the  Salomon  Center,  he  addressed 
another  issue  close  to  his  heart:  nuclear  disarmament. 
Over  the  next  few  weeks  Phuc  and  Kathy  re- 
quested a  meeting  with  Blight.  How,  Kathy  wanted 
to  know,  could  McNamara 
have   the   nerve  to   come  to 


For  Kathy  and  Phuc,  Hanoi  was  loaded  with  a  personal  ,,^p,,  ,„d  „„,  ,,ik  about 

../-»  !•  11  111  Vietnam?     How    could    he 

signmcance  their  colleagues  could  only  guess  at.  escape  dscussmg  a  subject 

that,  for  Vietnamese-Amen- 


remams  largely  an  avocation,  a  deeply  personal  form 
of  self-expression.  As  a  career,  science  made  more 
sense,  particularly  if  it  allowed  a  shy  high-school 
student  stiU  embarrassed  about  her  English  to  spend 
long  hours  in  a  laboratory.  Encouraged  by  her  teach- 
ers, Phuc  began  experiments  in  molecular  biology. 
She  thought  of  her  cultured  cells  as  babies  needing 
her  constant  attention.  She  competed  in  regional  and 
national  science  fairs.  In  her  junior  year,  she  won  a 
national  fair  and  took  second  in  an  international 
competition.  Her  exhibit  was  based  on  her  docu- 
mentation of  genetic  changes  induced  by  certain 
pesticides;  her  findings  were  important  enough  to  be 
published  in  a  peer-reviewed  journal.  During  her 
senior  year,  her  photograph  appeared  on  the  front 
page  of  USA  Today  as  a  member  of  the  1993  All-USA 
high  school  academic  team.  That  September  she 
entered  Brown  as  a  PMLE  student.  Like  her  parents, 
she  has  chosen  to  be  a  doctor. 

^  M  #  hen  the  dust  cleared  at  the  end  of  the 
Wm^Lm  Vietnam  War  in  April,  1975,  millions 
T  w  of  Vietnamese  found  themselves  cit- 
izens of  a  country  that  no  longer  existed.  That  has 
been  the  central  fact  of  their  lives  ever  since,  and  it  is 
the  event  that  has  shaped  Kathy  and  Phuc  more  than 
any  other.  At  Brown,  it's  what  sets  them  apart. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  they  took  a  particular 
interest  in  the  visit  to  campus  in  February  1996  by 
former  Secretary  of  Defense  Robert  McNamara. 
McNamara  was  invited  to  speak  by  James  Blight,  a 


can  students,  was  more  than  a  question  of  misguided 
foreign  policy? 

Until  that  call  from  Kathy  and  Phuc, Vietnam  had 
largely  been  a  concern  of  non-Asian  Americans  at 
Brown.  But  here  Blight  sensed  a  new  voice,  a  fresh 
perspective  sitting  in  his  office.  How  did  Vietnam 
appear  through  the  eyes  of  two  young  women  born 
in  Vietnam  as  the  daughters  of  South  Vietnamese 
military  men,  two  women  old  enough  to  have  been 
retiigees  of  that  war  yet  young  enough  to  have  no 
memory  of  it?  Blight  explained  his  project.  Called 
"Missed  Opportunities,"  it  is  the  latest  application  of 
critical  oral  history,  a  research  method  Blight  origi- 
nated several  years  ago  when  he  worked  with 
McNamara  and  Joseph  Nye,  of  Harvard's  Kennedy 
School,  on  an  examination  of  the  Cuban  missile  cri- 
sis. Critical  oral  history  combines  the  richness  of 
conventional  oral  history  with  the  rigor  of  academic 
scholarship.  After  two  years  of  preparation,  Missed 
Opportunities  \vill  culminate  next  month  when 
McNamara,  several  other  officials  from  the  Kennedy 
and  Johnson  White  Houses,  and  two  retired  U.S. 
generals  meet  in  Hanoi  with  their  counterparts  from 
the  North  Vietnamese  government  during  the  war. 
For  three  days,  the  former  enemies  will  address  a 
series  of  questions  negotiated  in  advance,  all  ot  them 
aimed  at  asking:  at  what  points  did  the  United  States 
and  Vietnam  miss  a  chance  to  end  the  war  honorably 
and  so  avoid  some,  if  not  most,  of  the  killing?  Also  in 
the  room  in  Hanoi  will  be  the  preeminent  historians 
of  the  war  on  both  sides,  as  well  as  fresh  documents 
unearthed  from  government  archives  around  the 
world.  The   scholars   and  documents   comprise   the 


28   •  MAY    1997 


%>-^.* 


"^ 


J}W 


-'-*•- 


A  woman  sells  fresh  fish  on^iie  streets  of 
HanoirBelow,  Kathy  and  Phuc  barier  ^h' 
shopkeeper  over  the  price  of  wooden  frog 


.#^ 


:j«i4»!(^^ 


"critical"  in  critical  oral  his- 
tory; they  help  keep  the 
decision-makers  honest. 

After  talking  this  over 
with  Kathy  and  Phuc, 
Blight  asked  them  if  they 
would  be  interested  m  join- 
ing his  project  as  research 
assistants.  It  would  be  a  lot 
of  work,  he  said,  but  they 
would  probably  get  to  travel 
to  Vietnam. 

For  Kathy  Le,  an  Eng- 
lish  and  international  rela- 
tions  concentrator,  accept- 
ing the   offer  was  a  smart 
career  move.  And  for  Phuc  the  chance  to  visit  Viet- 
nam was  irresistible.  Less  apparent  to  both  women  was 
how  unsettling  a  trip  to  their  homeland  would  be. 

January  6,  1997,  the  day  Phuc  and  Kathy 
returned  to  Vietnam,  was  gray  and  misty  in  the 
countryside  near  Hanoi.  Also  in  the  van  taking 
Phuc  and  Kathy  downtown  from  the  airport  were 
James  BUght,  his  wife  and  project  co-leader  janet 
Lang,  Watson  Institute  Director  Thomas  Biersteker, 
television     documentary     producer     Sherry    Jones, 


,^,. 


Robert  Brigham,  a  historian  from  Vassar,  and  I.  Over 
the  next  few  days,  the  group  was  scheduled  to  discuss 
documents  with  their  Vietnamese  counterparts  at 
the  Institute  for  International  Relations. 

From  their  seats  mside  the  van.  Phuc  and  Kathy 
could  see  a  countryside  suspended  between  a  time- 
less past  and  an  unrealized  future.  The  road  was  alive 
v.'ith  darting  and  weaving  motor  scooters,  their  high- 
pitched  horns  beeping  like  a  chorus  of  frogs  on 
amphetamines.  RoUing  out  from  either  side  of  the 
road  was  a  delicate  sea  of  green  rice  paddies,  inter- 
rupted occasionally  by  islands  of  corn.  People  tended 
rice  as  they  always  have:  in  straw  hats  and  bare  feet, 
behind  oxen  and  water  buffaloes,  scooping  canal 
water  into  paddies  with  wooden  tools.  Above  them, 
billboards  sketched  out  tomorrow's  economy:  tourist 
hotels,  San  Miguel  beer,  Hewlett  Packard  electronics. 

For  Kathy  and  Phuc,  the  scenery  was  loaded  with 
personal  significance.  "I  don't  know  what  to  feel," 
Kathy  muttered.  "1  don't  know  what  to  feel."  Influ- 
enced by  her  family's  culture  and  language,  Kathy 
had  always  been  aware  that  she  was  Vietnamese.  Yet 
until  a  few  moments  ago,  Vietnam  had  been  a  phan- 
tom country,  filtered  mostly  through  the  memory 
of  her  elders.  Vietnam  was  her  family's  homeland. 
Indeed,  her  mother  had  arranged  for  Kathy's  father 
to  travel  to  Hanoi  from  his  home  in  Ho  Chi  Minh 
City  so  he  could  meet  the  daughter  he'd  not  seen 
since  she  was  four.  The  prospect  of  this  meeting  and 


BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦    29 


Kathy  and  Phuc  were  already  living  a  future  more 
complex  than  their  parents  could  imagine. 


the  family  expectations  contained  in  it  filled  Kathy 
with  nervous  apprehension. 

For  Phuc,  the  crops  growing  beyond  the  road 
revived  memories  that  had  begun  to  fade  during  her 
years  in  the  United  States.  The  sight  of  it  seemed  to 
set  her  at  ease.  Poised  on  the  verge  of  becoming  an 
adult,  she  looked  out  the  window  and  glimpsed  the 
landscape  ot  chikihood. 

Over  the  next  several  days,  the  women  dutifully 
translated  conversations  between  the  Americans  from 
Brown  and  the  Vietnamese  from  the  histitute  for 
International  Relations.  Simultaneous  translating  is 
difficult  under  the  best  ot  circumstances,  but  at  the 
Institute  Kathy  and  Phuc  had  to  contend  with  an 
antiquated  sound  system,  a  puzzled  debate  between 
the  Americans  and  the  Vietnamese  over  what  is 
meant  by  the  word  "document,"  and  a  cascade  of 
baseball  metaphors  from  Blight,  a  former  pitcher  in 
the  Detroit  Tigers  farm  system.  Kathy  and  Phuc 
scrambled  to  keep  up,  taking  turns  at  translating,  and 
consulting  each  other  over  difficult  turns  of  phrases. 
On  days  off  they  abandoned  the  Metropole  Hotel  by 
the  Lake  of  the  Restored  Sword  and  wandered  the 
streets  of  Hanoi. "It's  good  to  see  people  squat  again," 
Phuc  said.  Everywhere  along  the  wide  sidewalks, 
people  parked  their  bicycles  and  sold  bananas,  limes, 
oranges,  flowers,  freshly 
slaughtered  meat,  scallions, 
mangoes,  cassavas,  cab- 
bages, and  assorted  greens. 
Old  women  fanned  char- 
coal 111  metal  cans,  roasting 
cobs  of  corn.  Young  men 
stopped  Kathy,  Phuc,  and 
their  Western  colleagues 
to  sell  them  postcards,  and 
children  followed  them, 
begging  for  money. 

Together  they  browsed 
the  street  stalls  and  haggled 
with  shop  owners  over  the 
price  of  wooden  frogs  and 
carved  buddhas.  The  street  stalls  had  an  order  that 
was  as  odd  as  it  was  disciplined.  One  street  featured 
nothing  but  gas-powered  compressors;  another 
offered  only  television  sets,  or  washing  machines,  or 
squash  rackets,  or  boxer  shorts,  or  wristwatches.  One 
stall  sold  Christian  and  Buddhist  statues  alongside 
posters  ot  Ho  Chi  Minh. 

One  day,  Phuc  went  off  with  a  small  group  to  the 
Perfume  Pagoda,  a  mountainside  shrine  two  hours 
north  of  Hanoi.  The  bus  bounced  along  rutted  dirt 


roads  through  villages  and  hamlets  where  people  sat 
drinking  tea  and  eating  with  chopsticks  while  dogs 
cleaned  up  the  scraps  at  their  feet.  Then  the  bus  left 
Phuc  and  her  fellow  tourists  by  the  side  of  a  wide 
and  shallow  river,  where  they  climbed  aboard  flat- 
bottomed  boats  that  were  little  more  than  iron  pans 
the  size  of  a  canoe.  Using  paddles  made  of  bamboo 
and  boards,  a  man  from  the  local  village  paddled 
Phuc  past  rice  paddies  that  abruptly  gave  way  to 
steep,  wooded  mountains  shaped  like  the  scales  on  a 
dragon's  back.  Fog  drifted  around  the  mountain 
flanks.  Men  fished  standing  from  small  boats  loaded 
with  car  batteries.  The  fishermen  lowered  wire  bas- 
kets attached  to  bamboo  poles;  the  current  in  the 
basket  stunned  every  fish  it  touched,  allowing  the 
fisherman  to  scoop  it  up. 

After  an  hour  in  the  boats,  the  tourists  from 
Hanoi  stepped  ashore  at  the  base  of  a  mountain. 
From  here  a  trail  took  them  up  over  a  saddle,  past  a 
number  of  smaller  pagodas,  then  down  to  the  Per- 
fume Pagoda  itself.  For  Phuc,  the  trip  was  a  further 
return  to  paradise.  Though  the  United  States  had 
brought  her  fi"eedom  and  opportunity,  getting  there  had 
meant  a  journey  of  heartbreaking  misery.  Her  life  in 
the  United  States,  though  happy,  was  also  tainted 
with  pressure  and  worry.  Her  family  depended  on 
her  to  excel  at  an  Ivy  League  school,  and  she  worried 
over  her  parents'  constricted  circumstances.  Along 
the  way  to  the  Perfume  Pagoda,  she  picked  flowers 
and  saved  the  bark  from  trees,  as  though  wanting  to 
take  back  to  the  United  States  the  scents  and  colors 
that  had  been  her  girlhood  here.  At  the  Perfume 
Pagoda  Itself  a  huge  cave  whose  natural  formations 
through  the  centuries  have  taken  on  mystical  signifi- 
cance, Phuc  bought  sticks  of  incense  and  offered 
them  to  the  spirits  of  good  fortune  and  happiness. 

Kathy's  happiness  as  she  shopped  in  the 
streets  of  Hanoi  served  as  an  antidote  to 
her  an.xiety  about  meeting  her  father. 
Relatives  had  told  her  that  she  looks  more  like  him  than 
her  mother,  that  in  many  ways  she  is  her  father's  child. 
Finally,  the  time  arrived.  Kathy  asked  Blight  and 
Lang  to  stay  with  her  for  support.  She  did  not  want 
her  father's  attention  to  be  focused  entirely  on  her 
until  she'd  gotten  her  bearings.  At  si.x  oclock  during 
Kathy's  second  evening  in  Hanoi,  she  walked  into  the 
Metropole  lobby  and  approached  a  painfully  thin 
man  in  a  navy  blue  windbreaker.  His  black  hair  shiny 
and  swept  back,  he  held  a  bunch  of  red  roses  and 


3  0*  MAY    1997 


Above,  old  and  new 
meet  on  the  streets  of 
Hanoi.  Opposite,  Phuc 
and  Kathy  pose  with 
Le  Thanh  Son,  Kathy's 
father,  outside  the 
Metropole  Hotel. 


baby's  breath  m  one  hand,  a  Gap  bag  ot  truits  m  the 
other.  As  his  daughter  approached,  he  smiled  broadly, 
and  awkwardly  handed  the  flowers  to  her.  She 
glanced  quickly  back  at  Blight  and  Lang,  then  took 
the  final  step,  embracing  him.  She  burst  into  tears. 

Kathy  spent  most  of  the  next  day  with  her  father, 
shopping,  visiting  his  friends  m  Hanoi.  That  evening 
she  admitted  it  had  been  an  awkward  time.  What 
coulcl  she  say  to  him?  She  understood  that  the  meet- 
ing gave  her  mother  a  sense  of  completion,  ot  closing 
a  familial  circle  she  had  helped  breech  seventeen 
years  before.  But  the  gulf  between  Kathy  and  her 
lather  haci  seemed  unbridgeable  today.  One  day  in  the 
future,  perhaps,  things  would  be  different,  but  for  now 
he  remained  a  stranger.  For  now  her  native  country 
and  her  adopted  one  could  not  quite  be  reconciled. 

For  I'huc,  returning  to  Vietnam  had  complicated 
her  already  labored  effort  toward  assimilation.  Her 
outer  sell  had  been  an  unambiguous  success  in  the 
United  States:  an  outstanding  high  school  student, 
a  talented  artist,  a  gifted  scientist,  a  college  student 
so  hardworking  she  sleeps  only  a  few  hours  each 
night.  But  beneath  the  surface  was  a  private  self 
still  haunted  by  tropical  smells  and  soul  mates  left 
behind.  The  week  m  Hanoi  had  made  the  space 
between  these  two  selves  ache  ever  more  sharply. 
Phuc  doubted  that  life  in  the  United  States,  for  all 
Its  riches,  could  ever  make  that  ache  disappear. 


When  the  week  in  Vietnam  ended,  Phuc  and 
Kathy  returned  to  the  United  States  with  bags  over- 
flowing with  souvenirs.  There  would  be  photographs 
to  show,  trinkets  to  give  out.  Soon  they  would  be 
back  in  the  pressure-cooker  of  Brown  academics. 
This  was  the  success  their  parents  had  wished  for 
them,  yet  Kathy  and  Phuc  already  were  living  a 
future  more  complex  than  their  parents  had  imag- 
ined, and  It  was  in  some  ways  a  lonely  place.  In  them, 
a  piece  of  American  ethnic  culture  was  coming  of 
age.  Their  success  was  not  only  personal.  They  were 
bridging  worlds,  helping  two  nations  overcome 
memories  of  a  war  that  had  cost  the  United  States 
SiS.ooo  lives  and  the  Vietnamese  more  than  3  million. 
They  moved  easily  between  these  worlds,  yet  did  not 
feel  completely  at  ease  in  either. 

Phuc  Le  s  father  might  have  sensed  this  mysterious 
future  when,  for  a  California  English  class  a  few  years 
ago,  he  wrote: 

A  seed  slumbers  softly  under  the  grass, 
Dreaming  of  a  lovely  rose,  time  passes 
It  ii'ill  become  one  day;  waiting.  .  .  . 
Sunset,  sunset.  .  .  .  the  night  comes,  coming. 
No  time  is  ever  lost  in  waiting, 
And  nothing  is  ever  gained  without  waiting. 

The  long  waiting  was  over.  The  rose  had  bloomed.  O^^ 


BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦    3I 


"Actum  of  the  CHativcs 


Native  flowers  are  beautiful,  (genetically 
correct,  ami  perfectly  adapted 

to  their  eni'irouiueut. 
Well,  they're  beautiful  anyway. 

■ 

PHOTOGRAPHS  BY  JOHN  FORASTE 
TEXT  BY  NORMAN  BOUCHER 


Black-eyed  Susan,  Rudbeckia  hirta 


(       /   f     nioiig  botanists  and  gardeners,  a  contro- 
y      I      \'ersy   has   been   brewing   m   recent  years 
^^  %.    about  the  value  of  native  plants.  These  are 

species  that  have  evolved  in  North  America,  as 
opposed  to  those  transported  here  by  Europeans  or, 
more  recently,  imported  by  Americans.  Proponents 
of  planting  native  species  argue  that  the  genetic 
information  these  plants  contain  is  uniquely  matched 
to  this  continent's  physical  characteristics.  To  replace 
them  with  species  that  are  not  native  is  to  give  up 
some  of  this  treasured  code.  Eventually,  according 
this  argument,  enough  could  be  lost  to  compromise 
our  botanical  heritage.  To  nativists,  this  is  like  allow- 
ing EuroDisney  into  the  Grand  Canyon. 

The  contrary  argument  is  that  the  emphasis  on 
native  species  is  romantic  hogwash.  Hundreds  of 
years  ago  the  evolution  of  North  America  took  a 
dramatic  turn  when  Europeans  arrived,  bringing 
with  them  all  kinds  of  seeds  and  plants  that  have 
since  gone  wild.  Is  a  new  plant  introduced  to  North 
America  by  a  bird  that  ate  its  fruit  in  Cuba  and 
dropped  its  seed  in  Florida  more  native  than  one 
introduced  by  a  European  biped?  According  to  this 
more  skeptical  viewpoint,  introduced  species  can  actu- 
ally add  to  a  continents  biodiversirs'  by  bringing  in 
tresh  genetic  stock.  A  nature  that  excludes  culture,  or 
so  the  argument  goes,  is  a  sterile  and  arbitrary  place. 

To  examine  the  trees  and  flowers  around  the 
Brown  campus  is  to  sense  ambivalence  on  this  issue. 
There  are  plenty  of  nonnative  perennials  and  trees, 
but  among  the  prettiest  plantings  on  campus  are  two 
clusters  of  flowers  near  the  University  greenhouse  on 
Waterman  Street.  For  most  of  the  year,  these  clumps 
of  grassy  vegetation  look  unremarkable,  but  m  high 
summer,  as  the  photographs  on  these  pages  reveal, 
they  burst  into  color.  The  brainchild  of  Matthew 
Hamilton  'y6  Ph.D.,  now  a  postdoctoral  fellow  at  the 
National  Zoological  Park  in  Washington,  D.C..  and 
Fred  Jackson,  who  manages  the  greenhouse,  the 
flowers  are  examples  of  native  North  American  tall- 
grass  and  short-grass  prairie  plants. 

The  plantings,  however,  also  demonstrate  the 
irony  that  can  sometimes  mark  this  debate.  Although 
these  prairie  species  are  native  to  North  America, 
they're  not  naturally  found  m  New  England.  They 
can't  survive  at  Brown  without  human  assistance.  c>^) 

BROWN    .ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦    }} 


Ox-eye  Sunflower,  Heliopsis  helianthoides,  and  Purple  Coneflower 


l9^i^ 


Prairie  Blazingstar,  Liatris  pycnostachya.  with 
Little  Bluestem  grasses,  Andropogon  scoparius 


3  4    ♦    MAY     1997 


Rattlesnake  Master,  Eryngium  yuccifolium 


BY       GERALD 


C    0    L    D    S   T    E 


Can  literature  help  future  doctors 
get  inside  their  patients'  heads? 
Professor  Lynn  Epstein  is  betting  on  it. 


Deep  inside  stony  Wilson  Hall  on  the 
Green,  Lynn  Epstein,  associate  dean  of 
medicine,  tells  her  students  to  drag  their 
wide-armed  chairs  into  a  circle.  In  this  class,  intimacy 
counts.  In  fact,  it's  the  point. 

The  thirty-tlve  undergraduates  have  their  text- 
books ready,  but  the  thick  volumes  are  hardly 
standard  premedical  tare. 
These  are  Bibles  -  ponder- 
ous, gilt-edged  tomes;  com- 
pact pocket  editions;  even 
excerpts  do'wnloaded  from 
the  Internet.  Today's  assign- 
ment is  the  Book  of  Job. 

Job  may  seem  a  tar  cry 
from  Gmy's  Anatomy,  but 
including  it  in  her  course 
makes  perfect  sense  to 
Epstein.  After  all.  she  ex- 
plains, "Job  was  the  quintes- 
sential patient."  A  humble 
servant  of  God  suddenly 
beset  by  afflictions  he  doesn't 
deserve.  Job  reacts  as  any 
patient  might:  he  agonizes, 
"Why  me?" 

Welcome  to  "Doctor  as 
Subject,  Doctor  as  Author," 
Epstein's  course  designed  to 
show  premedical  students 
that  understanding  patients' 
concerns  and  fears  is  as 
important  as  treating  diseases.  Convinced  that  litera- 
ture can  nurture  humihty  and  compassion  in  future 
physicians,  Epstein  takes  her  charges  on  a  semester- 
long  journey  —  from  scripture  through  centuries  ot 
classics,  including  Moliere,  Shaw,  Tolstoy,  and 
Faulkner.  Before  they  ever  treat  a  patient,  pre-med 


Healing 
Words 


students  wiU  have  read  compelling  tales  of  doctors 
good  and  evil,  of  wrenching  choices  made  by  physi- 
cian and  patient,  of  medical  accomplishment  and 
tailure,  sensitivity  and  arrogance. 

Started  by  Epstein  in  collaboration  with  the  late 
Harriet  W.  Sheridan,  professor  of  English  and  for 
eight  years  dean  of  the  College,  Epstein's  six-year-old 
course  is  an  elective.  Many,  but  not  aU,  of  the 
enrollees  are  bound  for  Brown's  medical  school.  After 
particularly  lively  classroom  discussions,  says  Epstein, 
she  has  heard  her  students  "making  vows  of  what 
they  will  and  will  not  do  as  doctors."  Will  they  honor 
those  vows  later?  There's  no  way  of  knowing,  she 
notes.  But  "somewhere,  you  have  to  plant  the  seeds." 

Literature  does  provide  a  valuable  experience  for 
physicians,  agrees  Stanley  Aronson,  dean  emeritus 
of  Brown's  medical  school  and  editor  of  Rhode  Island 
Medicine.  "More  often  than  not,"  notes  Aronson,  a 
doctor  for  more  than  half  a  century,  "the  physician 
faces  failure.  Ultimately,  all  your  patients  die."  Litera- 
ture, he  says,  is  important  to  a  doctor  in  two  ways: 
"It's  a  humbling  experience  to  read  and  a  strengthen- 
ing experience  to  write." 

For  Jason  Rogart  '97,  a  biology  major  who  antic- 
ipates entering  the  medical  school  in  the  fall,  finding 
Job  on  his  assignment  list  was  something  of  a  sur- 
prise. He  had  never  read  the  story.  Now,  he  says,  he 
has  a  deeper  understanding  of  "the  theme  of  suffer- 
ing and  having  to  face  death. 

"It's  ingrained  in  us  that  doctors  don't  have  a 
good  bedside  manner.  Creative  writing  can  bring  out 
the  human  side  of  being  a  doctor,"  Rogart  says  as  he 
waits  for  class  to  begin.  "In  theory,  this  class  should 
make  a  huge  difference." 

"Medicine  can't  just  be  science,"  observes  teUow 
senior  Leslie  van  Shaack  during  a  cookie  break  mid- 
way through  the  two-hour  class.  "Your  patient  isn't  a 
scientist." 


36  ♦   MAY    1997 


Seniors  Brinda  Singh  and  Hyun 
Jin  Kim  and  juniors  Katherine 
Jou  and  Adrian  Gardner  ponder 
Epstein's  challenge:  As  doctors, 
will  you  hear  the  patient's  story? 


Last  month  the  School  ot  Medicine  and  the 
Rhode  Island  Committee  for  the  Humani- 
ties held  a  three-day  symposium  entitled 
"Literature  and  Medicine  for  the  Twenty-First 
Century;  Read  Two  Chapters  and  Call  Me  in  the 
Morning."  The  symposium's  objectives  were  similar 
to  those  ot  Epstein's  class  -  in  her  words,  to  help 
doctors,  nurses,  and  fanrily  caregivers  understand 
a  patient's  experience,  using  literature. 

"Doctors  and  patients  are  often  unable  to  under- 
stand one  another,"  says  Epstein,  who  organized  the 
conference.  "Being  sick  seems  to  put  patients  on  one 
side  of  a  yawning  divide,  separated  from  healthy  peo- 
ple and  from  those  who  should  be  able  to  help  them. 
Perhaps  because  of  their  training  and  their  desire  for 
objectivity  and  distance,  doctors  too  often  seem  not 
to  comprehend  the  daily  losses  and  indignities  causeci 
by  illness.  Tragically,  health  care  can  degenerate  into 
patients  who  feel  unheard  and  doctors  who  feel 
nothing." 

Harriet  W.  Sheridan,  for  whom  an  annual  lecture 
at  Brown  on  literature  and  medicine  is  named,  knew 
what  it  was  to  be  a  patient.  She  died  of  ovarian  can- 
cer 111  1992,  but  not  before  learning  that  doctors 
could  be  distressingly  cold  and  distant. "Harriet  had  a 
strong  conviction  that  doctors  shouldn't  have  to  be 
sick  themselves  to  know  what  it's  like,"  says  Epstein. 

Sheridan  asked  Epstein,  who  was  trained  as  a  child 
psychiatrist,  to  help  her  teach  a  course  on  literature 
in  medicine.  The  thought  of  presiding  over  an  Eng- 
lish class  was  daunting,  but  Epstein  agreed,  and  the 


two  taught  together  that  first 
year  until  Sheridan  was  hospi- 
talized. Ever  since,  Epstein  has 
taught  the  class  solo. 

Do  such  courses  succeed 
in    injecting    more    empathy 
into   doctor-patient   relation- 
ships?  According    to    a    1995 
article  in  the  Aniinis  of  Internal 
Medicine,  literature  does  indeed 
improve    student    understand- 
ing of  patient  experiences  and 
enhances  the  ability  to  resolve 
ethical     problems.    Although 
their  precise  contribution  to  the  practice  of  medicine 
may  defy  measurement,  the  article  concludes,  such 
classes  encourage  future  physicians  "to  recognize  the 
human  dimensions  of  all  the  experiences  that  occur 
within  their  gaze." 

One  of  the  article's  co-authors,  internist  Rita 
Charon,  an  associate  professor  of  clinical  medicine  at 
Columbia  University's  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  says  that  literature  has  transformed  her 
practice.  Despite  her  busy  schedule,  she  has  enrolled 
in  Columbia's  graduate  program  in  English  and  is 
writing  a  dissertation  on  the  use  of  literary  tech- 
niques to  help  doctors  understand  their  work. 

Charon,  a  Providence  native  who  spoke  at  the 
Brown  symposium  last  month,  says  courses  such  as 
Epstein's  were  unheard  of  until  a  few  decades  ago. 
Now  they  are  represented  to  some  degree  at  many 
medical  schools.  "People  tell  me  all  the  time  what 
tragic  things  happen  when,  for  instance,  the  oncolo- 
gist is  cold,"  Charon  says.  "It's  a  great  sadness."  Her 
love  of  literature  has  helped  her  be  more  attentive 
when  patients  tell  their  stories.  When  she  writes 
down  these  accounts,  using  literary  skills  gleaned 
from  a  lifetime  of  reading,  "the  most  remarkable 
things  will  happen,"  she  says.  "I  listen  to  history  and 
symptoms  and  fears.  It  gives  me  an  investment  in 
how  that  person  does,  other  than  a  purely  technical 
one."  In  one  case,  she  says,  a  patient  read  Charon's 
notes  of  their  conversation  and  realized  something 
crucial  was  missing:  the  woman  had  never  told  the 
doctor  she  had  been  sexually  abused  as  a  child. 


38   ♦  MAY    1997 


Books 


,.  of  the  readings  required  m 

-The  toUowmg  .re  -'- ^\^^^„,,,e  and  nredrcu.e. 
Lynn  Epstern-s  course  on  h 

Book  Of  Job  ^'''-''rrToToH^ 

TheDeflt/.of/vflnHK/c/'  Leo  Tolstoy 
es  OS /Wetophor  Susan  Sontag 

M/flrdNo.6ondOt/.erM 

The  Doctor  stones  ^  ^^-,e 

,,e  Doctor  in  Sp«eofHmse/f 

rheDoctor-sD/ZemmoOBS        ^^^^^ 
.nAntbropolog-'stonmn^ 

TheCoodDodor  Susan  VLU^^^^^^^^^^ 

ra/c/ngtheM^or/d.nforRepa« 

X    --^  u  Uevnoias,J- J'-'- 
0„Doaoring  \^-^^'-  ,^„e  Gilman 

Uenste/n  Mary  Shelley 


■  j  Rtion  can  be  more  powerful  than  fact,  as  a 
I  Brown  audience  was  told  in  1994  by  Ann 
J^  Hudson  Jones,  professor  of  literature  and 
medicine  at  the  University  of  Texas  Medical  Branch 
at  Galveston  and  a  founding  editor  of  LilcicUiirc  and 
Medicine.  In  her  talk  she  cited  Aleksandr  Solzhenit- 
syn's  novel  CaiicerUlnd.  which  she  had  used  in  a  class 
for  fourth-year  medical  students  to  illuminate  both 
the  experience  of  having  cancer  and  the  experience 
of  treating  it.  When  the  course  was  over,  one  of 
Jones's  students  said,  "Every  student  should  be 
required  to  read  this  book  before  graduating  from 
medical  school." 

Academic  exercises  aimed  at  strengthening  physi- 
cians" empathy  for  padents  were  unheard  of  during 
his  medical-school  days  nearly  fifty  years  ago, 
Richard  Selzer,  a  surgeon  and  one  of  the  country's 
best-known  physician-writers,  told  the  April  confer- 
ence audience.  Selzer,  who  was  on  Yale's  medical 
faculty  undl  1986,  rerired  from  medicine  at  age  fifti,'- 
seven  to  craft  essays  and  fiction  with  powerful 
medical  themes  and  metaphors. 

"It  would  have  been  considered  laughable  for  any 


of  us  to  express  an  interest  in  literature  or  the  arts," 
Selzer  says  of  his  medical  training.  "No  one  had  an 
interest  in  the  human  side  of  medicine  -  it  would 
have  been  considered  declasse."  In  recent  years,  that 
attitude  has  changed.  "You  can  talk  about  technolog- 
ical advances,  but  the  real  advance  has  been  in  the 
widening  of  the  social  conscience  of  physicians  and 
nurses,"  Selzer  says.  "In  the  old  days,  the  doctor  was 
God."  Now  he  sees  a  growing  consensus  that  health- 
care providers  are  "the  servant,  not  the  master  -  and 
that's  the  way  it  should  be. " 

Associate  Professor  of  Literature  and  Medical 
Education  Suzanne  Poirier  of  the  University  of  IDi- 
nois,  who  edits  Litemturc  and  Medicine,  says  she 
requires  medical  students  to  write  from  the  perspec- 
tives of  the  doctor  and  of  the  patient.  Not  surpris- 
ingly, they  find  the  doctor's  viewpoint  easier  to  cap- 
ture. The  e.xercise  "forces  them  to  think  about  things 
as  a  patient  does."  This  is  critical,  she  savs.  because  "in 
the  stress  ot  learning  the  incredible  amount  [medical 
students]  have  to  learn,  the  human  part  gets  lost." 


Back  m  Wilson  Hall,  Lynn  Epstein's  students 
are  wrestling  with  the  agonies  that  bedeviled 
Job.  Someday  many  ot  them  will  wear  doc- 
tor's whites,  but  today,  dressed  111  blue  ]eans,  sweat- 
shirts, and  sneakers,  they  seize  on  the  idea  that  from 
Biblical  times  onward,  some  people  have  viewed  ill- 
ness as  God's  punishment  for  wickedness.  As  they 
know,  that's  exactly  what  happens  to  AIDS  victims  - 
and  suddenly,  ancient  scripture  sounds  a  contempo- 
rary theme. 

A  major  point  of  her  course,  says  Epstein,  is  to 
help  turn  out  doctors  who  realize  that  they  are  not 
practicing  an  exact  science. They  should  never  "think 
too  much  ot  themselves  and  their  tools.  The  last 
word  in  science  today  may  be  preposterous  five  years 
trom  now,"  she  says.  "It's  necessary  for  doctors  to 
approach  scientific  knowledge  with  humility." 

A  good  doctor,  she  believes,  won't  make  the  mis- 
take ot  limiting  her  inquiries  to  a  patient's  physical 
syniptoms.  "The  disease  is  the  process,"  she  says,  "but 
the  illness  is  the  experience  the  person  has  in  con- 
nection with  it.  WiU  vou  hear  the  patient's  story," 
she  asks  her  students,  "or  will  you  hear  onlv  the  story 
ot  the  disease?" 

Literature's  challenge  tor  doctors,  concludes 
Epstein,  is  to  demand  ofthem:"Will  you  listen?"  O^ 

Gerald  Goldstein  is  South  County  editor  of  the  Provi- 
dence Journal.  Hi.'  wrote  about  journalist  and  ALS  patient 
Brian  Dickinson  '76  A.M.  in  the  March  igg6  BAM. 


BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦    39 


r     \i 

vl 

^^^^^^^HBk^f'''  ^^^H^Eiui^ijw.  "^^Pu 

PORTRAIT         TED     LEMON    '80 


Fo 

has  hcc 


Dressed  in  t.ided 
]eans  and  muddy 
held  boots,  Ted  Lemon 
stands  out  in  the  posh 
Fniot  Blanc  restaurant  in 
St.  Helena,  California.  He  appears  more 
relaxed  than  many  ot  the  other  diners  - 
tie-wearing  urbanites  who  descend  on 
Napa  Valley  to  sniff  knowingly  at  glasses 
ot  cabernet  over  a  late  lunch.  A  friend 
stops  by  with  a  half-finished  bottle  of  La 
Cagoule  pinot  noir.  "Nice  color,"  Lemon 
says,  pouring  himself  a  glass.  He  holds  it 
up  to  eye  level,  spins  the  glass  delicately 
by  Its  stem,  and  waves  it  slowly  in  front  of 
his  lips:  "A  good  nose."  He  takes  a  small 
sip  and  sits  back  in  his  chair.  "It  has  good 
fruit,  rather  jammy,"  he  pronounces, 
"well-balanced  tannins;  sweet,  but  not  too 
saccharine.  A  good  piece  of  work." 

A  winemaker  is  part  farmer,  part  sci- 
entist, part  aesthete,  and  part  marketing 
w  hiz.  Lemon,  however,  is  more  than  the 
sum  of  his  parts.  In  1982,  he  became  the 
tlrst  American  winemaker  and  vineyard 
manager  in  France's  renowned  Burgundy 
region.  Since  then,  his  finely  honed  palate 
and  titteen  years  ot  experience  in  Europe 
and  the  United  States  have  made  him  a 
hot  property.  Today,  when  he  isn't  work- 
ing on  wines  for  his  own  label,  Littorai, 
Lemon  leases  his  time  to  six  of  the  most 
prestigious  wineries  on  the  West  Coast.  He 
possesses  the  one  characteristic  that's  like 
gold  to  vintners:  reliable  tastebuds.  "Ted 
has  a  truly  consistent  palate,"  says  Gary 
Andrus,  owner  and  chief  winemaker  of 
the  Pine  Ridge  winery  in  Napa  Valley. 
"He  is  specific  and  he  has  a  good  mem- 
ory. He  can  tell  you  exactly  how  a  wine 
tasted  the  week  before." 

A  native  of  Bedford,  New  York, 
Lemon  traces  his  interest  in  fine  wines  to 
a  high  school  year  abroad  in  Burgundy, 
France.  During  his  junior  year  at  Brown, 
where  he  studied  French  literature. 
Lemon  returned  to  France  and  took  a 
wine-appreciation  class  with  the  director 


New  World  Winemaker 


r  centuries,  making  the  finest  u 

11  iih'heniy  to  everyone  hut  the 

Not  anymore. 

of  Burgundy's  tourism  otTice.  The  man 
was  so  impressed  with  the  twenty-year- 
old  that  he  told  Lemon  to  give  him  a  call 
if  he  ever  wanted  to  go  into  winemaking. 
Lemon  was  flattered  but  unconvinced.  "A 
kid  from  Westchester  Count)'  going  into 
the  wine  business?  I  don't  think  so." 

After  graduation,  armed  with  financial 
support  from  one  of  Brown's  Samuel  T 
Arnold  Fellowships,  Lemon  changed  his 
mind.  He  went  back  to  France  to  study 
viticulture  and  oenolog)'  full-time.  He 
apprenticed  111  several  Burgundy  vine- 
yards, then  returned  to  the  United  States 
when  his  funds  ran  out.  "1  assumed  that 
was  the  end  ot  my  career  in  winemak- 
ing," he  says. 

So  in  1982,  no  one  was  more  sur- 
prised than  Lemon  when  Domaine  Guy 
Roulot,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  tradi- 
tional wineries  in  France,  offered  to  make 
him  the  first  (and  stiU  the  only)  American 
winemaker  and  vineyard  manager  in 
Burgundy's  history.  Lemon  was  only 
twenty-four  years  old,  and  he  hailed  from 
the  wrong  side  of  the  ocean,  but  he  came 
so  highly  recommended  to  the  Roulot 
family  that  they  decided  the  self- 
described  "staunch  traditionalist"  had  the 
right  palate  for  the  job.  Two  years  later, 
Lemon  was  lured  from  the  Roulots  by 
another  French  family  that  had  purchased 
a  California  vineyard  on  Howell  Moun- 
tain, high  above  Napa  Valley.  Lemon  took 
charge  of  their  grapevines  and  oversaw 
construction  of  the  winemaking  facili- 
ties. Within  five  years,  Chateau  Woltner's 
chardonnays  were  at  the  top  of  every  U.S. 
wine  connoisseur's  list. 

With  his  reputation  and  pedigree 
tirmly  established.  Lemon  decided  it  was 
time  to  make  his  own  wine.  He  and  his 
wife,  Heidi,  founded  Littorai  and  spent  a 


'ine 
French 


summer  driving  up  and 
down  the  coasts  of  Cali- 
fornia, Oregon,  and 
Washington  to  taste  local 
wines  and  talk  to  grape 
growers  about  the  soil  and  history  of  their 
vineyards.  Lemon  now  contracts  with 
these  farmers  to  grow  the  pinot  noir  and 
chardonnay  grapes  he  uses  to  make  his 
wines.  At  harvest  time,  the  growers  ship 
grapes  to  the  Pecota  winery  in  Calistoga, 
where  Lemon  goes  to  work  on  them 
with  his  custom-designed  crushing  and 
fermenting  equipment.  Eventually,  he 
says,  he  hopes  to  have  control  of  Littorai 
wines  from  vine  to  bottle. 

Meanwhile,  since  Lemon  is  not  yet 
wealthy  enough  to  buy  good  acreage  out- 
right, he  lends  his  taste  buds  to  wineries 
such  as  Napa's  Clos  Pegase,  which  was 
built  as  a  showcase.  "It's  fuU  of  beautiful 
and  interesting  pieces  of  art,"  Lemon 
explains,  "and  for  several  years  in  a  row 
they  made  really  mediocre  wine."  When 
the  owner  decided  he  wanted  to  be 
known  for  the  quality  of  his  wine  instead 
of  the  building  in  which  it  was  made,  he 
brought  in  Lemon. 

"Wine  is  a  luxury  product,"  Lemon 
admits.  "You  have  to  understand  that  and 
know  how  to  present  it  to  people.  But 
there  are  people  out  there  selling  wine  on 
nothing  but  hype  and  marketing."  How 
does  Lemon  tell  the  difference  between 
good  wine  and  good  hype?  "My  vision 
may  be  somewhat  naive  because  I  spent 
my  formative  years  in  a  very  traditional 
region  in  France,"  he  says.  But  the  wine 
business  has  changed.  "Now  the  stakes  are 
so  huge,  you  see  people  making  wine  to 
fit  a  certain  profile  instead  of  something 
they  believe  in,"  Lemon  says.  "Where  is 
the  line  between  commercialism  -  in  the 
best  or  worst  American  sense  -  and  the 
artisanal  goal  of  making  fine  wines?  I 
don't  know,  but  anything  we  can  do  to 
get  Americans  off  of  Coca  Cola  and  Bud- 
weiser  is  tremendously  positive."  cv^ 


BY    CHAD    GALTS    /    PHOTOGRAPH    BY    CATHERINE    KARNOW    '82 


BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦    4I 


Ah,  Spring! 


I 


m 


No  more  classes,  no  more  books.  With  the 
end  in  sight,  these  students  of  a  decade  or 
so  ago  bolted  for  the  Green.  Above:  African 
dancing  al  fresco.  Left:  a  juggling  session 
under  the  blossoming  elms. 


42    ♦    MAY     1997 


The  Classes 


EDITED  BY  CHAD  GALTS 


1940 


KKUWN    ARCHIVES   '  1> 


Elizabeth  Hunt  Schumann.  Providence, 
writes.  "I'm  enjoying  life  at  Laurelmead  along 
with  many  alumni  and  termer  Brown  staff 
colleagues." 


I94I 


Dick  Baumann  married  Helen  Wrona  on 
Jan.  kS  in  Uepew,  N.Y.  They  may  be  reached 
at  103  Delamere  Rd.,  WilliamsviUe.  N.Y. 
14221.  -  Ei»/  Harrington  Jr. 


1943 


ThoiTias  D.  Bums,  tbundmg  partner  and  a 
tnal  lawyer  with  Bums  &  Levinson  in  Boston, 
appeared  in  the  1997-98  edition  of  The  Best 
Lawyers  in  America.  He  also  appeared  in  the 
1995-9''  edition.  He  is  a  fellow  of  the  Ameri- 
can CoUege  of  Trial  Lawyers.  Thomas  and  his 
wife,  Marjorie,  divide  their  time  among  homes 
ill  Boston;  Du.xbury,  Mass.;  and  Stratton,  Vt. 


1944 


Norman  Nutman,  after  six  years  of  retire- 
ment, has  been  elected  acting  president  and 
CEO  of  Delta  Dental  Plan  of  New  Jersey, 
a  nonprofit  dental-insurance  provider.  He  and 
his  wife.  Norma,  may  be  reached  at  722  East 
Dr.,  Oradell,  NJ.  07649. 


1947 


Clint  Fuller.  Amherst.  Mass.,  was  presented 
with  an  honorary  doctorate  and  medal  and 
was  vested  as  an  honorary  faculty  member  of 
Moscow  State  University  last  September. 


1949 


A  mini-reunion  luncheon  is  scheduled  for  noon 
on  Saturday.  May  10.  at  the  home  of  president 


WHAT'S     NEW? 

Please  send  tlic  latest  about  your  job.  family, 
travels,  or  other  news  to  Tlte  Classes,  Brown 
Alumni  Monthly.  Box  i,s's^,  Providence, 
R.I.  oji)ij:  fa.\  (401}  Sbf-gsgq:  e-mail 
BAMiaibrowui'iii. brown. edii.  Deadline  for 
September  iiassnotes:June  i^. 


Dolores  Pastore  DiPrete  in  Narragansett, 
R.l.  Plans  tor  the  luncheon  were  hnalized  by 
Dolores,  Lorraine  Bliss.  Marjorie  Logan 
Miles.  Anne  Day  Archibald,  and  Muriel 
Broadbent  Jones.  More  infomiation  is  avail- 
able 111  the  class  newsletter.  Our  reunion  chair 
for  the  big  50th  in  1 999  is  Glenna  Robinson 
Mazel,  assisted  by  Doris  Anderson  Landau. 
In  addition  to  Brown's  scheduled  events,  the 
reunion  weekend  will  include  great  food, 
good  talk,  fine  music,  and  a  look  back  at  our 
college  years,  with  a  tour  of  historic  sites,  our 
old  familiar  haunts,  and  the  new  look  of  Prov- 
idence. All  ideas  are  welcome;  please  write 
Glenna  at  135  Fairway  Dr.,  'Wickford  R.I. 
02S52;  or  Doris  at  8619  Cushman  PI..  Alexan- 
dria, Va.  22308.  -  Marilyn  Silverman  Ehrenhaus, 
class  secretary 


1950 


Class  officers  and  board  members  look  forward 
to  seeing  many  classmates  at  the  mini-reunion 
cocktail  parrv  from  5  to  7  p.m.  on  Friday, 
May  23,  on  the  terrace  of  the  Brown  Faculty 
Club.  We  are  searching  for  the  names  of  our 
Pembroke  class  presidents  from  1950  to  1975; 
please  contact  Mary  E.  Holbum,  40  Sachem 
Dr..  #206,  Cranston,  R.I.  02920.  Our  Brown 
class  presidents  have  been  John  Scott.  Ed 
Kiely,  Ira  Schreiber,  Cy  Seifert.  John  Lyons, 
Ron  Wilson,  and  Phyllis  Cook,  and  our 
current  president  is  Lacy  Herrmann.  -  Mar)' 
E.  Holhiirn,  class  secretary 


I95I 


Be  sure  to  send  your  notes  tor  the  BAM 
and  the  class  newsletter,  which  Anne  Hunt 
Brock,  class  president,  promises  will  be  out 
shortly.  It  anyone  has  questions  about  class 
activities  and  the  big  50th,  you  may  reach  me 
at  1 100  "W.  Taylor  Run  Pkwy.,  Alexandna,  Va. 
22302;  (703)  370-3659;  fax:  (703)  S3S-701S; 
louise_forstall@time-inc.com.  -  Louise  DimUch 
Forstall.  class  secretary' 

John  A.  Chemak,  Bath,  Ohio,  retired  as 
chainnan  of  Tomlmson  Industries  in  1995.  He 
continues  as  a  special  adviser  to  Tomlinson 
and  IS  active  on  the  hoard  of  the  North  Amer- 
ican Food  Equipment  Manufacturers  Associa- 
tion, of  which  he  was  president  in  1993. 


1954 


William  V.  Polleys  III  retired  as  group  pres- 
ident of  Texas  Instruments  a  few  years  ago  to 
consult,  sail,  and  teach  skiing,  most  recendy 
at  the  Park  City  Ski  School.  He  lives  in  Park 


BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦    43 


ROBERT     CALKIN     '49 


The  Collector 


stamps  aren't  just  postage  to  Robert  Galkin; 
they're  an  obsession.  Sixty  years  ago  (when  it 
still  cost  three  cents  to  mail  a  letter  in  the 
United  States)  he  began  assembling  a  collec- 
tion that  would  eventually  number  about 
300,000  stamps.  They  fill  1 20  volumes  and 
span  150  years  of  philatelic  history,  from  1840 
to  1990.  Last  May,  Calkin  and  his  wife,  Wini 
Blacher  Calkin  '52,  both  dedicated  collectors 
of  various  objets,  decided  to  clear  some  space 
in  their  home.  So  they  donated  the  stamps  to 
the  John  Hay  Library. 

"It's  comparable  to  any  serious  collection," 
Calkin  says  matter-of-factly.  "It's  got  one  from 
each  country  that  has  ever  issued  a  stamp." 
Calkin,  who  is  now  chairman  of  the  board  of 
NATCO  Products  Corporation  in  West  War- 
wick, Rhode  Island,  began  as  a  salesman  with 
the  company,  which  was  founded  by  his  father. 
The  job  meant  a  lot  of  time  away  from  home, 
but  Calkin  turned  his  trips  into  more  than  just 
business:  he  bought  stamps.  He  recalls  one 
visit  to  Pasadena:  concluding  his  business  at 
4:40  p.m.,  he  made  a  quick  scan  of  the  yellow 
pages  and  found  a  stamp  store  nearby.  He 


ran  over  to  meet  the  owner  before  the  shop 
closed  at  5:00.  By  the  next  morning,  the 
dealer's  entire  stock  was  being  shipped  back 
to  Providence. 

As  much  as  Galkin  loves  his  stamps,  he  is 
glad  to  see  them  find  a  home  at  the  Hay.  He 
has  recently  begun  collecting  Russian  enamels 
and  decorated  fans,  and  his  wife  has  a  large 
clothing  collection  on  display  in  their  house. 
"We  probably  ran  out  of  room  two  years  ago," 
Calkin  says.  "We've  got  a  big  house,  which  is 
full,  but  that  hasn't  stopped  us." 

Calkin  has  made  several  other  gifts  to  the 
library  over  the  years.  In  1974  he  donated  a 
bound  set  of  Providence  Journals  from  1851 
to  1943,  making  the  Hay's  collection  the  only 
complete  one  in  the  state.  And  in  1977,  in 
honor  of  his  wife's  twenty-fifth  reunion,  he 
gave  two  smaller  stamp  collections  to  the 
library.  -  Chad  Colts 


Stamp  montages  such  as  the  two  above  by 
Harry  R.  Jagolinzer,  a  well-known  local  artist, 
have  been  a  sixty-year  passion  for  Robert 
Calkin.  Above  left:  Calkin  and  his  wife,  Wini, 
at  the  John  Hay  Library's  celebration  of  his 
philatelic  gift. 


City,  Utah,  for  the  winter  and  in  Warren, 
R.L,  or  on  his  sloop  the  rest  otthe  year.  His 
daughter.  Catherine  'Ss,  returned  from 
Hong  Kong  List  year  to  enter  MIT,  where  she 
earned  a  master's  degree  last  tall;  she  is  debat- 
ing whether  to  get  a  doctorate.  William  would 
be  delighted  to  hear  from  "Brown  ancients" 
visiting  Park  City.  He  may  be  reached  from 
November  to  April  at  1983  Picabo  St.,  Park 
City  84098;  (801)  649-8234;  or  from  May  to 
October  at  9  Shore  Dr.,  Warren,  R.I.  02885; 
(401)  245-6794. 


1957 


David  C.  Lewis  (see  Deborah  L.  Lewis  '85). 


1958 


Sally  Whitcomb  Keen  (see  Suzanne  P. 
Keen  'S4). 

Thomas  L.  Moses  III  writes  that  he 


keeps  in  touch  with  George  Vandervoort 
and  Skip  Hokanson  '59  via  e-iii,iil.  Ceorge 
and  Mim  recently  returned  from  a  trip  to 
Shanghai,  and  Skip  went  marlm  tishing  oti 
the  coast  of  Panama.  Tom  and  Judy  had  din- 
ner last  svimmer  111  Philadelphia  with  Don  '58 
and  Pat  Pennal  McKenzie  '59  and  Roger 
and  Dorothy  Williams.  Last  October,  Roger 
and  Dorothy  visited  their  daughter.  Amy  '96, 
as  she  finished  her  Brown  studies  in  Rome. 
For  anyone  wanting  to  spend  a  few  more  hours 
with  Brown  professors  Robinson,  Workman, 
Ladd,  and  Fleming,  Tom  highly  recommends 
Tlie  Passion  of  the  Western  Mind  by  Richard 
Tarnas.  "It's  a  liberal-arts  education  in  450 
pages  and  reads  like  a  novel,"  he  writes.  Tom 
may  be  reached  at  tmoses(§aol.com,  George 
at  georgvoort(Sjaol.com,  and  Skip  at  bizfixer 
(gaol.com. 


1959 


More  than  200  classmates  responded  to  the 


cjuestionnaire  mailed  for  the  last  reunion. 
Responses  came  trom  twenty-eight  states,  the 
Distnct  of  Columbia,  and  Australia,  China, 
and  Germany.  The  most  responses  came  from 
Massachusetts,  then  New  York  and  Rhode 
Island.  The  greatest-distance  winner  was  Pye 
Whitney  Twaddell,  Middle  Cove,  New 
South  Wales,  Australia.  Seventy-four  percent 
were  manied,  of  which  25  percent  were 
Brown  couples.  Ninety-fotir  percent  had  chil- 
dren, a  total  of  516;  most  tamilies  had  two 
or  three  children.  Elizabeth  Zopfi  Chace, 
Providence,  won  the  pnze  with  se\en  children. 
Thirty-eight  percent  were  .ilso  grandparents. 
These  young  grandparents  had  more  than  200 
grandchildren,  with  more  coming.  George 
Posejpal,  Culver,  Ind.,  had  the  most,  seven 
grandchildren.  Twenty-eight  percent  worked 
in  business,  and  the  next  most  common  pro- 
fessions were  education,  law,  and  medicine. 
Of  the  eighty-three  women  responding,  84 
percent  listed  a  profession  or  work.  Most  of 
the  class  is  involved  in  some  kind  of  commu- 
nity service,  especially  religious  organizations 


44   •   MAY    1997 


and  health  programs.  Half  mentioned  sports  as 
a  persoiiiil  interest.  Visual  and  perfoniiing  arts, 
crafts,  and  travel  were  also  fivorites.  One  guy 
is  still  looking  for  a  bridge  game.  Please  send 
news  for  The  Classes  to  me  at  Two  Regency 
Plaza,  Providence  R.I.  02903,  where  I  am 
enjoying  my  retirement.  -  Ciiryl-Aiiii  Miller, 
ihiss  sccirliuy 

Eleanor  Levinson  Lewis  (see  Deborah 
L.  Lewis  'Ss). 

Vance  E.  Westgate.  Pawtucket,  R.I.. 
joined  Johnson  &■  Wales  Umversirs',  Provi- 
dence, as  an  instructor  in  the  John  Hazen 
White  School  of  Arts  and  Sciences  in  February. 
Previously,  he  taught  at  Bnstol  Community 
College  111  Fall  River,  Mass.,  and  m  the  Paw- 
tucket school  system. 


I96I 


William  G.  Shade  published  Di'inoiicili:in\; 
ihc  (Jid  Doiniiiioii:  I  infitiia  and  the  Second  Party 
Syslan.  ii!24-if(n  (University  Press  of  Virginia) 
in  February.  The  book  places  the  antebellum 
debate  over  slavery  and  states'  nghts  in  the 
context  of  early  discussions  by  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son and  James  Madison  and  shows  how  the 
diversity  of  opinion  on  these  issues  was  shaped 
by  politics.  Wilham  is  a  professor  of  history 
and  director  of  American  studies  at  Lehigh 
Universif','  in  Bethlehem,  Pa. 


1963 


The  Rev.  Richard  Simeone  is  the  new  rec- 
tor of  St.  John's  Episcopal  Church  in  Glouces- 
ter, Mass.  In  December  he  celebrated  the 
30th  anniversary  of  his  ordination.  He  may  be 
reached  at  iS  Gloucester  Ave.,  Gloucester 
01930. 


1965 


Charles  F.  Hobson  is  the  author  of  The 
Great  Chief  juitiee:  John  Marshall  and  the  Rule 
oj  Lati'  (University  Press  of  Kansas,  1996),  a 
recent  selection  of  the  History  Book  Club. 
He  IS  also  the  editor  of  The  Papers  of  Joint  Mar- 
shall, a  multivolume  edition  being  published 
by  the  University  of  North  Carolina  Press.  He 
and  his  wife.  Ann,  live  in  Williamsburg,  Va. 
Their  son,  John,  attends  Kenyon  College  in 
Gambler,  Ohio,  and  their  daughter,  Elizabeth 
'92,  is  a  Peace  Corps  volunteer  in  Nepal. 
Charles  may  be  reached  at  The  Papers  of  John 
Marshall,  P.O.  Box  S781,  Williamsburg 
-3i>*7;  (757)  221-2412;  fax:  (757)  221-12S7; 
cfhobsfgificstatf.  wm.edu. 

Jeffrey  G.  Liss  has  been  elected  vice  pres- 
ident of  the  National  Space  Society,  whose 
goal  IS  to  create  a  space-faring  civilization.  He 
writes,  "In  real  life,  I  remain  an  attorney  in 
pnvate  practice.  My  elder  daughter  graduated 
from  the  University  of  Michigan  last  year  and 
has  immigrated  (temporanly,  I  hope)  to  Cali- 
tornia.  My  younger  daughter  is  a  freshman 


at  the  University  of  Michigan."  Jeffrey  may 
be  reached  at  1364  Edgewood  Ln.,  Winnetka, 
111.  60093;  (312)  857-2000;  fax:  (312)  782-4033; 
jgljgl(5)aol.com. 


1966 


Robert  K.  Mohr  and  his  wife,  Pat,  Wash- 
ington. D.C  have  experienced  a  change  in 
lifestyle  over  the  past  two  years  with  the  addi- 
tion of  three  pennanent  foster  children,  refugees 
from  Liberia:  Nellie,  7;  Ehza,  9;  and  Naomi, 
13.  Robert  wntes,  "It  has  been  mostly  a  posi- 
tive and  rewarding  expenence." 


1967 


Judith  Wolder  Rosenthal  '71  Ph.D.  is  pro- 
fessor of  biological  sciences  at  Kean  College 
of  New  Jersey  in  Union,  where  she  teaches 
in  both  English  and  Spanish.  She  has  pubhshed 
Teachiitg  Science  lo  Language  Minority  Students 
(Multilingual  Matters,  1996).  Judith  may  be 
reached  at  jrosenth(aiturbo. kean.edu. 


1969 


R.  Scott  Dyer  "76  M.D.  divides  his  time 
between  parenting  his  two  children  -Jeffrey, 
13,  and  Gregory,  10  —  and  his  career  as  a 
family  physician  working  primanly  with  low- 
income,  uninsured  patients.  He  has  been  med- 
ical director  of  Fremont  Community  Health 
Services  since  1982,  during  which  time  the 
organization  has  grown  from  one  physician  and 
two  nurse-practitioners  to  three  chnics  with 
six  physicians  and  five  nurse-practitioners.  He 
still  enjoys  playing  ragtime  and  classical  piano, 
backpacking  in  the  mountains,  canoe  treks, 
cross-country  skiing,  and  commuting  to  work 
by  bicycle  when  the  snow  melts.  Scott  may 
be  reached  at  3841  York  Ave.  S.,  Minneapolis 
55410;  (612)  928-9198. 

Marc  W.  Kohler  wntes,  "I  have  been 
suffering  from  post-traumatic  stress  disorder 
and  clinical  depression  for  years.  Pretty  much, 
my  life  is  at  a  standstill.  1  have  lost  everything 
except  my  faith  that  someday  things  will  get 
better.  I  hope  someday  to  return  to  puppetry, 
but  for  the  past  three  years  I  have  worked  as  a 
real-estate  agent,  carpet  salesman,  and  man- 
ager of  the  Roger  Williams  Park  Carousel. 
I  will  always  remember  and  treasure  the  kind 
article  that  the  BAM  did  about  my  work  in 
1970."  Marc  may  be  reached  at  73  Moorland 
Ave.,  Cranston,  R.I.  02905. 


1970 


John  G.  Gantz  Jr.  has  joined  the  Swiss  Re- 
insurance America  Corp.  as  executive  vice 
president  and  head  of  its  new  Alternative  Risk 
Transfer  Division  after  twelve  years  at  Amen- 
can  International  Group.  John's  daughter, 
Jennifer,  is  a  sophomore  at  the  University  of 


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Hartford,  and  his  son,  Brian,  is  a  junior  at  the 
Trinity  PawUng  School.  John  may  be  reached 
at  34  Langhorne  Ln.,  Greenwich,  Conn. 
06831. 


ROBERT     MEYERHOFF     '76 


I97I 


Elie  Hirschfeld,  class  president  and  a  Brown 
trustee,  New  York  City,  manned  Susan 
Aronson  on  May  icS,  1996.  Susan,  a  Cornel] 
graduate,  practices  emergency  medicine  at 
Mount  Sinai  Hospital  in  New  York  City. 

Robert  W.  Novak,  Akron,  Ohio,  was 
named  chair  of  the  pathology  department  at 
Northeastern  Ohio  Universities  CoUege  of 
Medicine  (NEOUCOM)  in  January.  Robert 
has  been  a  NEOUCOM  faculty  member  at 
Children's  Hospital  Medical  Center  of  Akron 
since  1982  and  has  served  on  several  commit- 
tees at  the  college.  He  is  a  member  ot  many 
professional  organizations,  including  the  Akron 
Pediatric  Society,  American  Academy  of 
Pediatrics,  and  Society  for  Pediatnc  Pathology. 


1973 


Robert  M.  Hansen,  Palo  Cedro,  Calif,  is 
practicing  anesthesiology'  and  pain  manage- 
ment at  Redding  Medical  Center  and  is  a 
managing  partner  of  the  Redding  Anesthesia 
Association.  Bob  and  his  wife,  Kathryn,  and 
their  son,  Bobby,  9,  enjoy  entertaining  out- 
of-town  guests.  Bob  may  be  reached  at  rhansen 
@mercy.org. 


1974 


Tom  Nuttnan  is  head  of  the  Helminth 
Immunology  Section,  Laboratory  of  Parasitic 
Diseases,  at  the  National  Institutes  of  Health. 
He  supervises  laboratories  in  India  and  Ecuador. 
His  wife,  Ruth  Karron,  is  an  associate  profes- 
sor of  medicine  at  Johns  Hopkins  School  of 
Medicine  and  Public  Health.  They  recently 
moved  to  Chevy  Chase,  Md.,  with  their  two 
children:  Sarah,  8,  and  Alex,  5. 


1975 


John  J.  Bonacum  III  lives  on  the  Upper 
West  Side  of  Manhattan  with  his  wife,  Made- 
hne  Rivlin,  and  their  2-year-old  twins,  Cyn- 
thia and  Emily.  John  is  a  partner  in  the  law 
fimi  Morgan  Lewis  &  Bockius,  practicing  m 
the  corporate  and  finance  areas.  Friends  may 
reach  them  at  400  West  End  Ave.,  Apt.  loB, 
New  York  Cits-  10024. 

Vincent  Pecora  and  his  wife,  Karen 
McCauley,  announce  the  birth  of  OUvia  Rose 
on  Sept.  25.  Vincent  is  an  EngHsh  professor 
at  UCLA.  His  second  book,  Hoiiscliolds  ofihc 
Sou!  (Johns  Hopkins  University  Press),  was 
published  m  March.  He  m,iy  be  reached  at 
pecora(3jhumnet.  ucla.edu. 

Edmund  A.  Sargus  Jr.  has  been  serving 


Boston  College  mathematics  professor 
Robert  Meyerhotf  sparked  a  buzz  in  the  math 
world  last  year  with  the  publication  of  his 
Rigidity  Theorem,  which  had  some  people 
speculating  it  might  help  determine  the  shape 
of  the  universe.  I'd  read  the  theorem:  "Any 
closed  irreducible  three-manifold  which  is 
homotopy  equivalent  to  a  closed  hyperbolic 
three-manifold  is  indeed  a  hyperbolic  three- 
manifold."  I  was  hoping  he  would  have 
pictures. 

I  found  Meyerhoff  sitting  behind  his  desk, 
peering  over  round  brown-rimmed  glasses 
and  a  bushy  beard.  I  confessed  I  hadn't 
studied  geometry  since  tenth  grade  -  in  1972 
-  and  he  just  flipped  over  an  old  envelope 
on  his  desk.  "Remember  Euclid?"  he  asked, 
giving  me  a  quick,  expert  run  through  the 
postulates. 

Meyerhoff  specializes  in  a  geometric  form 
called  a  three-manifold,  or  three-dimensional 
manifold.  To  explain,  he  draws  a  circle  and 
an  arc.  "That's  a  one-dimensional  manifold," 
he  says,  pointing  to  the  circle,  "and  the  arc 
is  a  piece  of  a  one-manifold."  He  draws  a 
sphere,  then  a  doughnut  (a  torus),  then  two 
doughnuts  linked  as  if  the  baker  had  forgot- 
ten to  shut  off  the  dough  machine,  then 
chains  of  three  and  four  more  doughnuts. 
"That's  the  entire  list  of  closed  two-manifolds," 
he  says. 

Three-manifolds  are  difficult  to  picture 
"because  they  naturally  live  in  four-  or  five- 
or  six-dimensional  space,"  explains  Meyer- 


Beyond  the  third  dimension: 
Meyerhoff  with  some  2-D  illustrations 
of  his  Rigidity  Theorem. 

hoff.  "We're  stuck  in  our  three-dimensional 
universe,  and  no  matter  where  we  are  in  it 
things  look  pretty  much  the  same.  How  can 
we  tell  what  our  universe  is  like  if  we  can't 
look  at  it  from  the  vantage  point  of  a  higher 
dimension?" 

That  search  for  higher  ground  led  Meyer- 
hoff, who  studies  tubes,  to  join  forces  with 
mathematician  David  Cabal  of  the  California 
Institute  of  Technology  and  Nathaniel 
Thurston,  a  computer  scientist  then  working 
at  the  Geometry  Center  in  Minneapolis.  The 
three  set  about  analyzing  solid  tubes  within 
three-manifolds  as  a  way  of  proving  the 
manifolds'  rigidity.  "We  reduced  the  prob- 
lem of  studying  solid  tubes  in  hyperbolic 
three-manifolds  to  analyzing  a  certain  six- 
dimensional  parameter  space  via  computer," 
Meyerhoff  says.  The  result,  billions  of  com- 
putations later,  was  the  Rigidity  Theorem, 
which  the  geometry  world  hailed  as  a  major 
advance  toward  proving  that  many  three- 
manifolds  have  natural  geometric  structures. 

But  does  the  Rigidity  Theorem  shed  any 
light  on  the  shape  of  the  cosmos?  I  ask. 

That,  says  Meyerhoff,  "is  for  the  cosmolo- 
gists  to  prove."  -  Charlotte  Bruce  Harvey  '78 

This  article  is  adapted  from  the  winter  issue 
oA  Boston  College  Magazine. 


46    •    MAY     1997 


as  the  U.S.  district  judge  for  the  Southern 
District  ot  Ohio  in  Cokmibus  since  August. 
Previously  he  ser\ed  .is  U.S.  attorney  for  tlie 
Southern  District  ot  Ohio.  Edmund  is  mar- 
ried to  Jennifer  Sargus,  a  judge  of  the  Court 
of  Conmion  Pleas  for  Belmont  County,  Ohio. 
They  have  two  children:  Eddie,  1 1,  and 
Christopher.  S. 

Brent  D.  Weaver's  company.  Argent 
Investment  Services,  was  purchased  by  Devon- 
shire Technology,  a  subsidiary  of  Fidelity 
Investments,  last  M,iy.  He  is  now  vice  presi- 
dent of  product  development.  Brent,  his  wife. 
Suzanne,  and  sons  Aaron,  6,  and  |ared,  3. 
now  live  in  Bellevue,  Wash. 


1976 


John  Carton  and  Wendy  Rowden  wnte: 
"As  many  ot  you  know,  our  classmate  Lee 
Solsbery  tragically  lost  his  wife,  Cynthia,  and 
their  two  children,  Paul  and  Charles,  last 
year.  Tlic  Paul  mid  Clunks  Solshcry  Endowed 
Sclwhirsliip  Fund  was  established  in  tribute  to 
Lee's  children,  and  over  $40,000  has  been 
received  toward  our  goal  of  $100,000  to  sup- 
port research  in  early  childhood  development 
at  Brown's  Child  Study  Center.  Donations 
may  be  directed  to  Steve  Oliveira,  Office  of 
Principal  Cifts,  Box  ICS93,  Providence,  R.I. 
02912.  Lee  IS  handling  his  loss  with  grace  and 
strength,  and  he  would  be  happy  to  hear  from 
friends.  His  new  address  is  1 1  bis  Rue  Jean 
Nicot,  75007  Paris,  France,  tel.  011-331-45- 
50-2066,  e-mail:  lee.solsbery@iea.org." 


1977 


Arthur  R.  Bartolozzi  III.  Philadelphia,  was 
appointed  team  physician  tor  the  Philadelphia 
Eagles  football  team.  He  is  also  the  team 
physician  for  the  Philadelphia  Flyers  hockey 
team.  "When  you're  in  town,  join  me  for  a 
game,"  he  writes. 

Robert  W.  Hummel  has  switched  to  the 
wireless-communications  industry  after  six- 
teen years  in  the  defense  business.  He  is  work- 
ing at  Pacific  Communication  Sciences  in 
San  Diego.  Robert  may  be  reached  at  1659 
Orchard  Wood  Rd.,  Encimtas,  Calif  92024. 


1979 


Scott  Steidl  has  composed  Tlie  Snctr,  an 
a-cappella  choral  work  set  to  three  poems 
by  Archibald  MacLeish.  which  premiered  in 
December  at  Chnst  Episcopal  Church  in  New 
Brunswick,  NJ.  He  is  at  work  on  an  adapta- 
tion of  A  Christmas  Carol  for  the  Forum 
Theater  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  on  a  short 
orchestral  work  for  the  Fargo  (N.D.)  Morehead 
Symphony.  In  addition  to  composing,  Scott  is 
an  assistant  professor  ot  ophthalmology  and 
director  of  retina  surgery  at  the  University  of 
Maryland  School  of  Medicine.  He  specializes 
in  retinopathy  of  prematunty  and  diabetic 


retinopathy  infints.  He  lives  in  Timonium,  Md., 
with  his  wite,  Mary,  and  daughter,  Lauren,  2. 
Donald  S.  Wright,  West  W.irwick,  R.I., 
recently  began  working  for  Fideht\'  Invest- 
ments in  Boston,  selling  trust  accounting  and 
asset  management  software  to  trust  institu- 
tions and  not-for-profit  organizations.  Friends 
may  reach  him  at  his  new  work  number: 
(617)  563-9922. 


1980 


Jeffrey  M.  Dennis,  cofounder,  chainnan, 
and  CEO  of  Ashton-Royce  Capital  Corp., 
reports  that  in  1996  the  company  successfully 
launched  its  Millennium  Cyber*Technologies 
Fund,  a  Sioo-miUion  venture-capital  fund 
that  finances  emerging  software  companies. 
JetT lives  m  Toronto  with  his  wife,  Lori,  and 
their  two  children:  Matthew,  9,  and  Allie,  6. 
Fneiids  may  reach  JefTat  (416)  545-1010: 
jdennis(a'hookup.net. 

Laurel  Lenfestey  mamed  Bob  Grammig 
on  Aug.  10.  Laurel  is  vice  president,  secretary, 
and  general  counsel  of  Poe  &  Brown  in 
Tampa,  Fla.,  and  Bob  is  a  partner  in  the  Tampa 
otTice  of  the  law  fimi  Holland  &  Knight. 

Robert  Linn  is  a  partner  at  Cohen  & 
Grigsby  law  finii  in  Pittsburgh,  where  he 
specializes  in  corporate  litigation.  He  and  his 
wife,  Virginia,  have  three  children:  Alexandra, 
5,  Abby,  3,  and  Adam,  i.  He  keeps  busy  with 
running  and  racquetball  and  has  his  sights  on 
the  Big  Sur  marathon  in  California  this  spring. 
Robert  would  love  to  hear  from  friends  at 
valinn(aJaol.com. 


I981 


Scott  Miller  has  relocated  to  Pans,  where 
he  is  general  manager  of  Tencor  SARL,  a 
U.S.  suppher  of  semiconductor  manufactunng 
equipment.  Scott  may  be  reached  at  1 8  Rue 
de  la  Glaciere,  75013  Paris,  France;  (33)  1-43- 
36-73-32;  scott_miller(a!tencor.com. 

Jeffrey  R.  Sachs  was  a  musician  and 
"niartial-arts  bum"  for  one  year,  then,  in 
1987,  he  received  a  Ph.D.  in  math  at  MIT, 
where  he  met  his  wife,  Priscilla  Cehelsky 
(Barnard  '81,  MIT  '87  Ph.D.).  Jefirey  writes, 
"We  then  circumnavigated  the  globe  and 
each  other  -  I  had  postdoctoral  appointments 
at  the  University  of  Tokyo  in  applied  physics, 
Clarkson  University  in  math  and  computer 
science.  Northwestern  University  in  biomed- 
ical engineenng,  and  the  National  Institute 
of  Standards  and  Technology  in  biomedical 
engineenng.  We  then  decided  that  one  ot  us 
would  get  a  job,  and  the  other  would  have 
babies.  As  luck  would  have  it,  I  got  a  good  job 
offer.  When  Michael  was  3  months  old,  we 
moved  from  Bethesda,  Md.,  to  Sunnyvale, 
CaHf ,  where  I  now  enjoy  running  the  West- 
ern division  of  D.H.  Wagner  Associates.  The 
fimi  does  mathematical  finance,  biotechnology, 
operation  research,  signal  processing,  and  soft- 
ware development.  It's  like  having  a  profes- 


sional sandbox  to  play  in.  Since  moving  to  the 
West,  Michael  turned  4,  and  Natalia  joined  us 
two  years  ago  for  Thanksgiving,  timing  com- 
pletely consistent  with  her  insatiable  appetite." 
Jeffrey  may  be  reached  atjefr@wagner.com. 


1983 


Ted  Bird  is  vice  president  of  marketing  for 
Sofamor  L^anek,  the  leading  worldwide 
spinal-device  company.  He  enjoys  living  in 
the  Memphis  area  with  his  wife,  Ehse  (Mem- 
phis State  University  '82),  and  their  children, 
Ross,  6,  and  Lily,  3.  Ted  writes,  "If  there  is 
anyone  in  the  South  who  would  like  to  start  a 
regional  bulletin  board  or  chat  Hue  for  '83ers, 
let  me  know."  Ted  may  be  reached  at  2124 
Hundred  Oaks  Cove,  Gemiantown,  Tenn. 
38139;  tbird@sofamordanek.com. 

Gary  Enos  was  named  executive  editor 
ot  Manisses  Communications  Group  in  Prov- 
idence in  January  and  will  oversee  continued 
development  of  three  weekhes  and  four 
monthlies  and  the  launch  of  several  new  pub- 
hcations.  Gary  has  been  with  the  company 
since  1994  and  previously  held  positions  with 
Grain  Communications. 

Amy  D.  Gruber  and  Kevin  Harper, 
Scotch  Plains,  NJ.,  announce  the  birth  of 
Kathenne  Amanda  Harper  on  March  27,  1996. 
She  joins  Zachary  Scott,  3.  Amy  is  a  clinical 


umv  OP  fiENEi^AL  m\m 

Posthaccalaureate 
Premedical  Program 

You've  decided  you  want  to  go  to 
medical  school — but  you  already 
have  a  B  A  and  have  never  taken 
a  science  course  beyond  Physics 
for  Poets  Join  fellow  liberal  arts 
graduates  preparing  for  a  medical 
career  Study  full-  or  part-time,  day  or 
evening.  Benefit  from  the  guidance  of 
professional  advisers  while  gaming 
invaluable  clinical  and  research 
experience  at  some  of  America's 
premier  medical  centers. 


To  receive  a  brochure,  pleoie  conloi:! 
iIik:  Poilbaccalaureaie  Premedical 
Program,  Columbia  Universuy. 
408  Lew.sohn  Hall.  Mail  Code  4101. 
2970  Broaduiay.  New  York.  N\'  10027. 
or  wwii'. columbta  edulcu/gsjpostbacc 


BROWN     ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦    47 


faculu'  member  at  Overlook  Hospital  family 
practice  residence.-  program  in  Summit.  NJ. 
Ke%nn  is  teaching  and  coaching. 

Nicole  Yankelovich  Mordecai  and  her 
husband.  Da\nd,  live  in  Weston.  Mass.,  with 
their  Portuguese  water  dog.  Chuvo.  Nicole 
manages  a  speech-applications  research  project 
at  Sun  Microsystems,  and  David  is  working 
with  a  nonprofit  organization  to  help  connect 
schools  to  the  Internet.  E-mail  Nicole  at 
nicole.yankelovichlaeast.sun.com. 

Debbie  Osgood  and  her  husband.  Jim 
Komie.  Nonhbrook,  111.,  announce  the  amval 
of  Emily  Jane  on  May  ii.  lyyA. 

Robert  Valentini  (see  Hyun  Kim  "91). 


1984 


Doug  Bailey  and  Sue  Roach  Bailey  'Ss 

celebrated  their  tenth  anniversary  by  buying  a 
new  house  in  Huntsville.  Ala.  They  write, 
"Our  daughters  -  Maura,  4.  and  Alaina,  2  - 
although  Southerners  by  birth,  know  their 
Northern  roots,  thanks  to  regular  visits  to 
Providence  and  Cape  Cod."  Doug  is  manager 
of  software  engineering  at  Pesa  Switching 
Systems.  Sue  is  social  studies  department  chair 
at  Johnson  High  School.  They  may  be  reached 
at  200.S  Burlington  Dr..  Huntsville  3.SS03: 
(205)  883-6554- 

Michael  Chapman  "89  M.A.T.  received 


his  Ph.D.  in  plant  biology  from  the  Univer- 
sity of  Massachusetts  at  Amherst  in  February. 
He  IS  a  postdoctoral  fellow  at  the  University'  of 
Massachusetts  in  the  laborator\'  of  Lynn  Mar- 
gulis,  with  whom  he  has  published  several 
journal  articles  and  te.xtbook  chapters.  Michael 
studies  hybridization  and  organellar  genetics 
in  flowering-plant  systems,  especially  evening 
primrose.  He  lives  in  the  hill  country  of  cen- 
tral Massachusetts  with  his  wife,  Susan 
Elizabeth  Sweeney  '89  Ph.D.,  an  associate 
professor  of  English  at  Holy  Cross  College. 
Michael  and  Beth  will  celebrate  their  14th  wed- 
ding anniversary  in  July  aboard  the  schooner 
Slqilien  Tahcr  out  of  Rockland,  Maine.  Michael 


APARTMENT  WANTED 


Responsible  Brown  senior  music  and  philosophy 
concentrator  looking  to  apartment-sit  or  rent  a 
room  m  New  York  City.  May  28  to  August  24. 
(401)  274-5475. 


EMPLOYMENT 


ENTREPRENEURS/PROFESSIONALS:  Persis- 
tence, a  burning  desire  to  succeed,  and  a  belief  in 
younelf  will  get  you  A)  through  Brown  and  B)  an 
outstanding  income  unth  the  youngest  company 
ever  featured  on  the  cover  of  Suaea  magazine.  This 
company  is  long  on  insight  and  integrity-,  and  we 
are  looking  for  the  same  in  our  future  leaders.  If  you 
are  used  to  success  and  are  ready  for  some  more, 
start  dialing!  (800)  692-0020. 


RETIREMENT  LIVING 


LISTEN  TO  THE  BROWN  FOOTBALL  GAME 
BY  SIMPLY  OPENING  YOUR  WINDOW. 
Laurelmead  on  Biackstone  Boulevard  is  an  adult 
residential  community'  located  in  the  historic  East 
Side  of  Providence,  minutes  from  the  campus  of 
Brown  University-  Laurelmead  enables  you  to  enjoy 
the  comforts  of  home  ownership  without  all  the 
worries  of  home  maintenance.  Call  now  for  infor- 
mation and  to  find  out  why  so  many  Brown  alumni 
and  retired  faculty*  are  calling  Laurelmead  home. 
355  Biackstone  Blvd..  Providence.  R.l.  02906.  (800) 
2S6-9550. 


PERSONALS 


DATE  SOMEONE  IN  YOUR  OWN  LEAGUE. 
Graduates  and  faculty-  of  the  Ivies  and  Seven  Sisters 
meet  alumni  and  academics.  THE  RIGHT  STUFF. 
(800)  988-5288. 

FABULOUS  PHYSICIAN,  playfiil.  cosmopoUtan. 
warm,  fiinny.  athletic,  intuitive,  with  inner  strength 
and  spirit.  Attractive,  shapely.  5' 10".  Midwestern 
upbnnging.  l\y  educated.  Passionate  about  long 
walks  and  talks,  romantic  getaways,  cooking  together, 
good  friends,  biking,  beaches,  mountains.  Seeks: 
soulmate  who  is  kind,  funny,  happy  with  himself, 
work,  and  fnends.  A  supportive  and  caring  partner 
to  share  it  all.  Over  6'.  36—49.  Northeast.  For  more 
information  call  Joyce  Siegel.  (401)  331-9855,  or 
send  letter  and  photo  to  203  South  Main  Street, 
Providence.  R.I.  02903.  An  Inlwduclions  personal 
search.  No  fee 


Introductions 

The  choice  of  professional 
and  executive  singles. 

Our  clients  are  attractive, 
seli-confident,  fun-losnng, 
cultured  and  fit.  Our 
matches  otten  lead  to 
lasting  relationships.  We 
are  located  on  Providence's 
historic  East  Side. 

For  nwre  infornuition,  ijii'e  u.i  a  call. 
401-331-9855 


PROPERTIES  FOR  SALE 


BROWN-OWNED  PROPERTIES  FOR  SALE. 
Two  five-acre  lots  in  beautiftil  rural  area  in  Santa 
Fe.  N.M..  priced  at  S150.000  and  $135,000.  Time- 
share  unit  in  Hilton  Head,  S.C.,  priced  at  $4,900  tor 
week  17  and  $4,900  for  week  43.  (401)  S63-3371. 

VACATION  RENTALS 

BERJiSHIRES.  MASS.  Charming  B&B  on  150 
acres.  Spectacular  views.  Wide  range  of  recreational 
activities.  (413)  296-4022. 

IRELAND.  ENGLAND.  WALES.  SCOTLAND, 
FRANCE,  ITALY.  Cottages,  villas,  castles,  ciry 
aparmients.  intimate,  historic  hotels.  Vacation  Homes 
Abroad.  (401)  245-9292.  fax  (401)  245-8686.  R.l. 
License  1 1 64. 

LONDON.  3-bedrooni  Victorian,  private  yard. 
Available  four  weeks  July.  August.  (44)  171-622- 
4330. 

MARTHA'S  VINEYARD  -  EDGARTOWN. 
Major's  Cove  waterfront  community.  3-bedroom 
contemporary,  Jacuzzi  bath,  tennis,  minutes  to 
beach.  (508)  668-9322. 

NORMANDY.  Superb  hilltop  panorama  setting. 
Vast  pnvate  garden.  Designer's  idyllic  1 8th-cenmry 
famihouse.  2  bedrooms.  Exceptional  restoration, 
furnishings.  Country  antiques.  Listed  region  i'; 
hours  Pans.  (33)  2-33-S3-67-95. 

PROVENCE.  Charming  4-bedrooni.  2-bath  village 
house.  Fireplace,  antiques,  terrace,  garden.  Small 
wine  town  near  Asdgnon.  (415)  536-2656. 


PROVENCE.  Delightfiil,  roomy  famihouse. 
Roman/medieval  town.  (860)  672-6608. 

PROVENCE.  Lovely  hilltop  village  home  in 
Luberon.  Beautifiil  views.  Pool.  Sleeps  four.  (S47) 
869-9096. 

ROME.  ITALY.  Eighteenth-century-  country-  villa. 
Spectacular  s-iews.  Featured  m  Gounnet  magazine. 
(609)  921-8595. 

SANTA  FE.  1 -bedroom  mountain  guest  house. 
S650  weekly.  (402)  473-7946. 

ST.  MAARTEN.  Small,  pnvate.  creamy  pink  villas 
on  the  sea.  Secluded,  snorkeling,  Tahitian  gardens. 
1-3  bedrooms.  Mana  Lican,  (800)  942-6725. 

VANCOUVER,  CANADA.  Island  coach  house. 
(604)  947-9491. 

WEST  CORK,  IRELAND.  Tradinonal  stone  cot- 
tage. Renovated.  2  bedrooms,  2  baths.  A.W.Bates, 
2821  East  3rd  St.,  Tucson,  Ariz.  85716. 

TRAVEL  ~ 

COUNTRY  WALKERS  WORLDWIDE  cultural 

walking/hiking  vacations,  our  1 9th  year,  fine  accom- 
modations, exceptional  guides.  (800)  464-9255. 

ENVIRONMENTAL/ARCHITECTURAL 
EXPEDITIONS.  Frontera/Southwest  (backcountry-): 
ecoasys@igc.apc.org,  (505)  255-1933. 

TRIBAL  MARKETS  OF  SOUTHERN 
MOROCCO.  October  18-30.  1997.  E.xplore 
ancient  bazaars  in  Taroudant.  Tiznit.  Zagora,  Fez, 
Marrakech.  Beads,  kilinis,  Berber  silver,  plus  snake 
charmers,  jugglers,  extraordinary-  scenery.  Delu.xe 
hotels,  delicious  food,  excellent  guides.  Call  Diana 
Almian.  Fresh  Pond  Travel.  Canibndge,  Mass. 
(Soo)  645-0001. 


RATES 

I  to  3  consecutive  insertions $2.50/word 

4  to  6  consecutive  insertions $2.35/word 

7  to  9  consecutive  insertions $2.2o/word 

Display  ads:  Sys  per  column  inch,  camera-ready. 

Copy  deadline  is  si.x  weeks  pnor  to  issue  date.  Pub- 
lished monthly  except  January,  June,  and  August. 
Prep.iynient  required.  Make  check  payable  to  Brown 
University,  or  charge  to  your  VISA.  Mastercard,  or 
Amencan  Express.  Send  to:  Brown  Atumm  Monthly. 
Box  1854,  Providence,  R.I.  02912. 


48    •    MAY     1997 


would  like  to  hear  from  fnends  at  mich3elj@ 
bio.uniass.edu. 

Marc  Fleishhacker  recently  sold  his 
marketing  consulting  finn  to  the  WPP  Group. 
The  company  s  new  name  is  Ogilvy  &  Mather 
Dataconsult.  Marc  has  remained  as  managing 
director.  He  and  his  wife,  Franceses,  and  their 
two  boys  -  Lorenzo,  6,  and  Fihppo,  4  -  wel- 
come news  and  visits  from  old  friends.  They 
may  be  reached  at  Via  Pancaldo,  4,  20129 
Milan,  Italy;  100347. 266i@compuserve. com. 

Suzanne  P.  Keen  and  Francis  MacDon- 
nell  announce  the  birth  of  Jacob  Whitcomb 
MacDonnell  on  Dec.  30  in  Lexington,  Va. 
Jacob  IS  the  grandson  of  Sally  Whitcomb 
Keen  's8.  Suzanne,  an  assistant  professor  of 
Englisli  at  Washington  and  Lee  University, 
was  elected  to  the  Catholic  Commission 
on  Intellectual  and  Cultural  Affairs  in  January. 
She  is  a  member  of  the  Modem  Language 
Association  and  the  Society  for  the  Study  of 
Narrative  Literature.  Suzanne  may  be  reached 
at  skeen(SJliberry. uc.vvlu.edu. 

Suzanne  Rosencrans  and  Michael 
Novicoff  announce  the  birth  of  Sarah  Helene 
NovicotTon  June  21,  1996.  Suzanne  is  vice 
president  of  business  and  legal  affairs  at  New 
Line  Cinema  in  Los  Angeles.  Mike  is  a  part- 
ner in  the  law  firm  of  Reuben  &  Novicoff", 
specializing  in  entertainment  and  international 
litigation.  Classmates  Andi  Paley  Vogel  and 
Lisa  Steres  Weinberg  threw  a  baby  shower 
for  them.  Suzanne  may  be  reached  at  nxbtosb 
@prodigy.com. 

Sonya  Williams  Stanton  and  Tom 
Stanton  announce  the  birth  of  Thomas  James 
on  May  15,  1996.  "T.J.  has  brought  us  much 
joy  and  lost  sleep,"  Sonya  writes.  They  live 
in  Columbus,  Ohio,  where  Sonya  teaches 
finance  at  Ohio  State  University  and  Tom  is 
setting  up  a  penodontics  practice. 


1985 


David  Coonin  and  Lauren  Resnick   87 

announce  the  birth  of  their  second  child,  Anel 
Rachel  Coonin,  on  Jan.  7.  They  write,  "Anel 
and  big  brother  Jake,  16  months,  hope  to 
put  their  parents  in  the  poorhouse  by  walking 
through  the  Van  Wickle  Gates  one  day." 
David  is  a  vice  president  at  MemberWorks,  a 
publicly  traded  direct-marketing  company 
in  Stamford,  Conn.,  and  Lauren  continues  to 
"prosecute  the  bad  guys"  as  an  assistant  U.S. 
attorney  in  Brooklyn,  N.Y.  They  may  be 
reached  at  coonine@aol.com. 

Deborah  L.  Lewis  and  Martin  H.  Myers 
(Miami  University  of  Ohio  and  University 
of  Michigan  School  of  Law)  were  married  on 
Aug.  27  in  Juneau,  Alaska.  Attending  the  wed- 
ding were  Deborah's  brother,  Steven  '87. 
and  parents  David  C.  '57  and  Eleanor 
Levinson  Lewis  '59.  Deborah  and  Marty  live 
in  Oakland,  Calif,  where  she  is  a  chef;  he  is  a 
partner  in  the  law  firm  of  Gray,  Gary,  Ware 
and  Freidennch  in  Palo  Alto.  They'd  love 


to  hear  from  fnends  at  debnmarty@aol.com. 

Catherine  Polleys  (see  William  V. 
PoUeys  III    S4) 

John  Potts  has  been  living  and  studying 
at  the  Tashi  Choling  Retreat  Center,  a  tradi- 
tional Tibetan  Buddhist  center,  and  is  pre- 
panng  for  his  next  phase,  getting  a  master's 
degree  in  contemplative  psychotherapy  from 
the  Naropa  Institute  in  Boulder,  Colo.  John 
wntes,  "This  degree  will  provide  an  avenue 
to  apply  much  of  what  I've  learned  in  my 
Buddhist  study  and  practice  (and  hfe,  too)  and 
supplement  it  with  state-of-the-art  psycho- 
logical theones.  This  is  an  exciting  penod  of 
integration  of  traditional  Buddhist  mind  sci- 
ence with  Western  medical  and  philosophical 
insights."  John  would  love  to  hear  from 
fnends  and  classmates.  He  may  be  reached  at 
the  Tashi  Chohng  Retreat  Center,  2001 
Colestine  Rd.,  Ashland,  Oreg.  97520;  (541) 
482-1091. 

Stefan  Tucker  and  Janice  announce  the 
birth  of  Derek  Adnan  Gordon  Tucker  on 
Feb.  4.  He  joins  brother  Aleks.  Stefan  writes, 
"I  hope  we  can  afford  to  send  both  boys  to 
Brown."  Stefan  may  be  reached  at  310  W. 
Noyes  St.,  Arhngton  Heights,  111.  60005;  Stefan. 
tucker@hbc.honeywell.com. 


Free  Information  from  Advertisers 


1986 


Erik  Todd  Dellums  portrays  the  suspected 
drug  dealer  Luther  Mahoney  on  NBC's 
Homicide:  Life  on  the  Street.  His  next  Homicide 
episode  will  air  this  month.  He  lives  in  Wash- 
ington, D.C. 


1987 


Sharon  Bloom  is  finishing  her  intenial- 
medicine  residency  in  Santa  Barbara,  Cahf 
She  will  be  moving  to  Atlanta  in  June  to  start 
a  fellowship  as  an  epidemic  intelligence  officer 
at  the  Centers  for  Disease  Control  and  Pre- 
vention. Fnends  may  wnte  her  at  sbloom@ 
sbch.org. 

David  Dowden  and  his  wife,  Susan 
(Georgetown  '88),  announce  the  birth  of  their 
second  daughter.  Amy  Elizabeth,  this  past  fall. 
David  may  be  reached  at  69  Avenue  of  Two 
Rivers,  Rumson,  N.].  07760;  david_dowden 
@acnil.com. 

David  Doyle  is  a  physical  therapist  at 
the  Boston  Veterans  Administration  Medical 
Center.  "As  a  second  career,"  David  writes, 
"I'm  planning  to  open  a  cafe  and  music  store 
in  Boston.  I  welcome  comments  and  sugges- 
tions, especially  from  those  with  expenence 
in  either  area.  I  would  also  love  to  hear  from 
long-lost  fnends."  David  may  be  reached  at 
32  Parkton  Rd.,  #1,  Jamaica  Plain,  Mass. 
02130;  dbdoyle@earthhnk.net. 

Finn-oiaf  Jones  (INSEAD  '93  M.B.A.) 
mamed  Knstin  Allen  (Texas  A&M  '88,  Uni- 
versity of  Cape  Town  '91,  INSEAD  '93)  in 
Death  Valley,  Calif  Finn-Olaf  heads  MGM 
Studio's  overseas  business  planning  in  Pans, 


I.Absolut 

2.  Alden  Ocean  Shells 

3.  Brown  Book  Store 

4.  Brown  Sailing  Club 

5.  Brown  Sports 
Foundation 

6.  Columbia  Univ. 
Pre-Med  Program 

7.  Clenlivet 

8.  Clobel  Financial 

9.  The  Inn  at  Brown 


10. Lexus 

11.  Picture  This 

12.  The  Princeton 
Review 

13.The  Right  Stuff 

14.  Rolex 

15.  Sprague  Publishing 

16.  Tilden-Thurber 
Company 

17.  Van-Liew  Capital 

18.  Vantage  Press 

19.  Venture  Athletics 


To  receive  information  from  the  advertisers 
listed  above,  please  circle  the  corresponding 
numbers.  Fill  in  your  name  and  address  where 
indicated,  clip  out  this  coupon,  and  mail  it  to 

Brown  Alumni  Monthly 
P.O.  Box  5403 
PIttsfield,  MA  01203-540 


lu. 

4 


CITY,  STATE,  ZIP 

This  offer  expires  November  50, 1997       B5-97 


Brown  in  Business 


BOYMON  BEACH,  FL 


Let  Us  Be  Your  Host 

o 

•  1,5  miles  To  The  Beach 

•  Golf  Courses 

•  Museums  &  Art  Centers 

•  Between  Palm  Beach 
&  Boca  Raton 


EXPRESS* 


Wida 

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'81 


561-734-9100  •  800-HOLIDAY 


1-95  &  Boynton  Beach  Boulevard 


Read 

The  Classes 

on-line. 

www.brown,edu/Administration/ 

Brown_Alumni_Monthly/ 

BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    ♦    49 


KATRiNA     SMITH     KORFMACHER    '89 


Five  Acres  and  a  Car 


As  a  graduate  student  at  Duke  in  Durham, 
North  Carolina,  Katrina  Smith  Korfmacher 
specialized  in  coastal  ecosystem  management 
and  water  quality.  Last  fall,  however,  when 
she  got  a  job  at  Denison  University  in  Gran- 
ville, Ohio,  she  found  herself  a  long  way  from 
either  coast. 

Korfmacher  adapted.  She  began  design- 
ing a  study  of  sustainable  development  and 
the  conversion  of  Ohio  farmland  to  residential 
and  industrial  uses.  "I'd  never  done  anything 
on  agriculture  before,"  she  says,  "though 
many  of  the  principles  -  such  as  the  use  of 
science  in  policy  formation  and  involving  citi- 
zens -  are  the  same  anywhere." 

Her  research  proposal,  for  which  Smith 
Korfmacher  was  named  a  1997  Mitchell  Young 
Scholar,  focuses  on  a  regional  craze  in  subur- 
ban development:  the  five-acre  lot.  Rural 
Granville  is  a  comfortable  commute  from  the 


rapidly  growing  city 
of  Columbus,  and 
many  city  residents 
are  moving  out  to 
five-acre  parcels  of 
land,  which  are 
marketed  as  family 
farms.  "They  want 
to  see  the  occasional  cow  and  preserve  that 
sense  of  being  on  a  farm,"  Korfmacher  says. 
The  problem  is  that  bumpkin  wanna-bes 
are  more  interested  in  the  look  and  feel  of  a 
farm  than  in  the  reality  of  taking  care  of  their 
land.  "No  one  is  growing  crops,"  Korfmacher 
points  out.  "They  just  mow  it,  and  most  of 
them  get  tired  of  that  pretty  quickly."  Running 
electricity,  phone  lines,  and  cable  TV  over 
longer  distances  to  serve  fewer  people  doesn't 
make  sense  economically  or  environmentally. 
Smith  Korfmacher  contends.  Nor  does  the  fact 


that  people  are  leaving  a  larger  footprint  on 
the  environment  than  they  need  to. 

As  the  newcomer  in  town,  Korfmacher  can 
ask  questions  oldtimers  consider  obvious  but 
which,  in  her  mind,  haven't  been  answered: 
"Why  are  we  interested  in  preserving  farms? 
Is  it  for  community?  Food?  Environmental 
preservation?  Everyone  immediately  assumes 
we  need  to  preserve  them  -  it's  like  mother- 
hood and  apple  pie  -  but  nobody  asks  why." 
-  Chad  Colts 


and  Knstin  is  an  nivestment  banker  specializing 
in  Afncan  finance  with  HSBC'  Equator  Bank 
in  London.  Finn-Olat^s  account  of  his  solo 
ascent  of  Aconcagua  in  Argentina  will  be  pub- 
lished this  summer  in  Forbes  magazine. 


1988 


P.  Okello  Aliker  inarned  Anne  Sebagereka 
on  Dec.  21.  Anne  is  a  chartered  accountant 
with  the  Development  Finance  Company  ot 
Uganda,  and  Okello  has  opened  a  dental 
practice  in  Kampala.  They  may  be  reached  at 
P.O.  Box  249,  Kampala,  Uganda. 

Bob  Hill  and  Maureen  Hill  (Gwynedd 
Mercy  '91)  announce  the  birth  of  Robert  III 
on  Sept.  12.  The  family  hves  in  Yardley,  Pa., 
where  Bob  is  a  management  consultant  and 
Maureen  is  a  registered  nurse. 

Susan  Morduch  and  Ken  Rosenberg 
'87,  Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  announce  the  birth  of 
CaUie  Elizabeth  on  Jan.  24.  Ryan  is  3.  They 
may  be  reached  at  sm196@columbia.edu. 

Dave  Morris  invites  tViends  to  stop  by 
the  SHAFT  table  at  Campus  Dance.  The  table 
is  the  only  one  with  C'hnstmas  lights  and  is 
located  on  the  main  Green  in  front  of  Slater. 


Dave  may  be  reached  in  Philadelphia  at  (2 1 5) 
241-9564;  dmorTis@seas.upenn.edu  or  dave 
@untorgettable.com. 


1989 


Katie  Lemire  will  finish  law  school  this 
month  and  will  begin  work  as  a  prosecutor  in 
the  Manhattan  distnct  attorney's  office  in 
September.  She  may  be  reached  at  2yj  Green- 
wich St.,  Apt.  6G,  New  York,  N.Y.  10007; 
kalemire@aol.com. 

Phil  Marsosudiro  writes,  "Much  to  my 
surprise,  I  recently  started  a  new  consulting 
finn.  Archipelago  Management  Resources. 
The  new  venture  has  its  pluses  (I  stay  in  bed 
until  8  or  9  a.m.  on  workdays  if  1  teel  like  it) 
and  its  minuses  (I  lie  in  bed  worrying  about 
the  business  until  2  or  3  A.M.  on  workdays, 
whether  or  not  I  feel  like  it,  and  every  day  is 
a  workday).  Regardless,  I  get  to  see  many 
Brown  people  through  the  North  Carolina 
Brown  Club  and  the  Friends  of  Brown  Fenc- 
ing." Phil  may  be  reached  at  4100  Five  Oaks 
Dr.,  #14,  Durham,  N.C.  27707;  (919)  490- 
6091;  philni(a?nuteknet.coin. 

Sharon  Lean  McConnell  finished  her 


master's  in  social  sciences  at  the  Facultad  Lati- 
noamencana  de  Ciencios  Sociales  in  Mexico 
last  October.  Sharon  and  her  husband,  Rob, 
were  traveling  in  Chile,  Peru,  and  Bolivia 
through  April,  and  then  planned  to  return  to 
New  York  City  temporarily. 


1990 


Esmond  Harmsworth  graduated  from  Har- 
vard Law  in  1995  and  clerked  for  the  Superior 
Court  of  Massachusetts  last  year.  In  Septem- 
ber he  cofounded  the  Zachary  Shuster  Literary 
Agency,  with  offices  in  Boston,  New  York 
City,  and  Bmssels.  Esmond  speciaHzes  in  book 
and  film  nghts  tor  commercial  fiction  and 
business  books.  He  also  does  pro  bono  legal 
work  for  arts  organizations. 

David  S.  Narita  is  engaged  to  Lara 
Iwamoto  (Creighton  '90).  They  will  be  mar- 
ned  in  August  in  Kailua,  Hawaii.  Until  then 
they  may  be  reached  at  1229  Brighton  Ave., 
#205,  Modesto,  Calif  95355. 

Carlton  Neel  became  engaged  to  Nina 
Weissenberger  (Cxirnell  "89)  in  June.  Carlton 
IS  a  fund  manager  fcir  Zwcig  Mutual  Funds. 
He  wntes,  "Even  though  I  keep  busy  at  my 


50   ♦   MAY    1997 


r    R    d    D    U    C    E    n         K    \        THE        A    L    U    M    N 


K     I      I      A     I     I     ()     N     s         ()     1      I     1     (      I 


Inscribe  your  name  on 
College  Hill. 


I       he  Brown  Alumni  Association  invites 
JL.    you  to  celebrate  your  lifelong  connection 
to  Brown  by  purchasing  a  brick  in  the  Alumni 
Walkway.  Add  your  name  -  or  the  name  of  any 
alumnus  or  alumna  you  wish  to  honor  or  remem- 


THE  PROPOSED  ALUMNI  WALKWAY 
MADDOCK  ALUMNI  CENTER,   BROWN  UNIVERSITY 


ber  -  to  the  beautifully 
designed  centerpiece  of 
the  upcoming  Maddock 
Alumni  Center  garden 
restoration  project. 


BROiiSN 
ALUMNI 

ASSOCIATION 


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Connections  to  Brown 


Give  the  graduation  gift  that  lasts  a  lifetime! 


Join  the  hundreds  of  alumni  and  parents 
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ACCT.  032175 


KHARY     L  AZ  A  RR  E- WH  IT  E    '95 
AND     JASON     WARWIN     '95 


A\  /  V  J 


CdllRTLiY   THE   BBinHLKHiJUU    12) 


From  boys  to  men:  Khary  Lazarre-White  and 
Jason  Warwin,  left,  are  helping  inner-city  New  York 
boys  become  "leaders,  brothers,  and  men." 


What  does  it  mean  to  be  a  man?  For  many 
adolescent  boys,  especially  inner-city  blacks 
and  Latinos,  this  isn't  an  easy  question.  In 
fact,  say  Jason  Warwin  and  Khary  Lazarre- 
White,  the  lack  of  good  examples  can  leave 
many  of  these  kids  nothing  to  work  with. 

"The  overwhelming  majority  of  these  kids 
live  alone  with  their  mothers,"  Warwin  said  in 
an  interview  on  the  Fox  network's  Good  Day 
New  York  last  summer.  "The  mothers  are 
doing  a  great  job,  but  the  kids  don't  have  any 
positive  male  role  models  in  their  lives." 

So  Lazarre-White  and  Warwin  have  made 
role  models  of  themselves.  During  their  last 
semester  at  Brown  the  two  designed  a  work- 
study  program  to  help  thirteen  troubled  boys 
from  Providence's  South  Side.  "Most  of  them 
were  involved  with  drugs,"  Lazarre-White  says. 
"They  weren't  doing  their  work  in  school. 
People  were  worried  they  were  going  to  fall 
through  the  cracks."  By  the  end  of  the  semes- 
ter, Warwin  and  Lazarre-White  had  every  one 


Brothers'  Keepers 


of  the  kids  off  drugs,  out  of  gangs,  and  either 
working  or  back  in  school. 

When  the  two  graduated,  they  founded 
The  Brotherhood,  a  nonprofit  organization 
with  its  headquarters  at  Columbia  University's 
Teachers  College  and  chapters  in  East  Harlem 
and  on  Manhattan's  Lower  East  Side.  Lazarre- 
White  and  Warwin,  who  both  grew  up  in  New 
York  and  have  known  each  other  since  they 
were  five,  are  now  full-time  role  models  and 
fundraisers.  When  they  aren't  writing  grants, 
making  their  case  to  a  charitable  foundation,  or 
appealing  to  the  city  and  state  for  funding,  they 
meet  every  week  with  seventy-five  secondary- 
school  boys  and  give  presentations  at  schools 
and  community  centers  around  the  city. 

The  Brotherhood's  aim,  Lazarre-White 
says,  is  simple.  "We  help  boys  define  what  it 
means  to  be  a  leader,  a  brother,  and  a  man," 


he  says.  That  means  talking  through  such 
concepts  as  self-respect,  respect  for  women, 
and  responsibility  to  community.  The  two  ask 
the  boys  to  come  up  with  their  own  defini- 
tions, which  are  laminated  on  cards.  "It  won't 
mean  as  much  to  them  if  it's  in  someone 
else's  words,"  Lazarre-White  says.  "In  The 
Brotherhood  the  worst  thing  you  can  be  is  a 
hypocrite  -  you've  got  to  live  up  to  your  own 
word." 

Warwin  and  Lazarre-White  talk  to  the  boys 
about  such  problems  as  drugs,  sex,  gangs, 
AIDS,  academics,  and  other  issues.  They  also 
discuss  black  and  Latino  history,  and  they 
invite  actors,  teachers,  lawyers,  and  other  pro- 
fessionals to  address  the  groups.  "For  some 
of  these  kids,"  Lazarre-White  says,  "it's  the 
first  time  they  see  there's  a  possibility  to  be  a 
cameraman,  a  teacher,  or  a  lawyer.  They  don't 
know  it,  but  they've  got  their  whole  lives  in 
front  of  them."  -  Chad  Calls 


job,  I  still  niaiuige  to  tind  time  to  get  some  air 
on  my  skis  and  windsurfer."  Carlton  may  be 
reached  at  15  W.  sjd  St.,  Apt.  25E,  New 
York,  N.Y.  looiy. 

Pam  Quinn  and  her  husband,  Brad  Flem- 
ing (Texas  A&M  '87),  New  Orleans,  announce 
the  birth  of  Austin  Kirk  Fleming  on  Jan.  25. 
Pam  IS  taking  a  break  fironi  residency  and  enjoy- 
ing being  a  mom.  Friends  are  encouraged  to 
call  at  (504)  21X8-1505. 


I99I 


Glenn  Berger  is  a  writer  and  producer  on 
the  new  Fox  comedy.  King  of  the  Hill,  dlenn 
wntes,  "Anyone  who  wants  to  reach  me  now 
that  I've  gone  Hollywood  can  call  my  people 
at  (310)  458-2906.  We'll  do  lunch."  Glenn 
may  also  be  reached  at  y3y  15th  St.,  #12,  Santa 
Monica,  C'alif  90403;  gtb@earthlink.nct. 
Yong  Jong  completed  his  Ph.L^.  m  the 


artificial  organs,  biomatenals,  and  cellular- 
technology  program  at  Brown  last  May  and 
has  joined  the  molecular-pharmacology  and 
biotechnology  department  as  a  postdoc.  When 
he  IS  not  in  the  lab  wnting  patents,  scientific 
p.ipers,  and  grants,  he  can  be  seen  frolicking  on 
the  shores  of  Narragansett  Bay,  enjoying  the 
surf  Yong  may  be  reached  at  Box  G-B393, 
Brown  University,  t-'rovidence,  R.I.  02912; 
yong_shik_jong@brown.edu. 


5  2   ♦   M  A  Y    1997 


Hyun  Kim  was  awarded  a  grant  to  de- 
velcip  the  "HDK  Delivery  System."  He  gives 
liigli  praise  to  his  adviser  and  mentor,  Robert 
Valentini  '83,  "93  Ph.D.,  for  his  success. 
Hyun  is  currently  seeking  funding  tor  a  team  of 
twenry-four  undergraduates  to  further  develop 
and  commercialize  his  system.  He  may  be 
reached  at  stoos343@brovvnvm.brown.edu. 

Todd  Seavey,  New  York  City,  is  a 
researcher  tor  ABC  News  correspondent  John 
Stossel.  Over  the  past  six  years  he  has  worked 
as  an  editorial  assistant,  ad  writer,  and  fi-eelance 
writer,  with  articles  in  Spy.  Nalioiiiil  Review. 
Rcition.  and  other  publications. 


^995 


1992 


Elizabeth  T.  Hobson,  a  Peace  Corps  vol- 
unteer, may  be  reached  at  PCV,  American 
Peace  Clorps,  CJ.P.O.  (il3,  Kathmandu,  Nepal. 

Cristina  Lopez  was  appointed  to  a  two- 
year  tenn  on  the  board  of  directors  of  Women 
Express,  a  nonprofit  organization  and  pub- 
lisher of  Teen  I'oiees.  a  magazine  wntten  and 
produced  by  and  for  teenaged  girls  in  Boston. 
Cristina  attends  Harvard  Business  School. 

Sean  Sapone  is  a  U.S.  Anny  paratrooper. 
In  the  past  tour  years  he  has  trained  with 
other  NATO  countries,  published  a  tactical 
manual,  and  done  guerrilla  warfare  training 
in  Panama.  Now  a  captain,  he  will  command 
a  Patriot  missile  unit  in  Gennany  after  a  six- 
month  hiatus  in  Iraq  this  summer.  Sean  may  be 
reached  at  3  Echo  Rd.,  Shemian,  Conn.  06785; 
(:;03)  355-4784. 


1993 


Edward  Gargiulo  proposed  to  Evanne 
Salomon   94  on  a  tnp  down  the  West  coast 
last  summer.  They  will  be  marned  in  New- 
port, R.I.,  m  September.  They  live  in  Man- 
hattan. Ed  works  for  the  National  Football 
League,  and  Evanne  works  for  the  photogra- 
phy gallery  Pace  Wildenstem  MacGill. 


1994 


Keep  us  in  touch  with  what's  going  on,  and 
submit  news  to  the  BAM.  We  urge  you  to 
contact  reunion  headquarters  with  questions 
about  class  activities  at  (401)  863-1947,  or  call 
Victoria  Chiou  at  (617)  492-4378.  We  look 
forward  to  seeing  classmates  at  future  events. 
-  £Vi!H  IVeiider.  clitss  secrerary,  anil  I'lclcria 
Chiou  ,iihi  ZiK  ir)'i/(i!.  ccpreiidenls 

Joshua  Kiev  maiTied  Jennifer  Trotter  on 
Oct.  12  in  Chapel  Hill.  N.C.Joshua  writes, 
"I  continue  to  mouni  the  Patriots'  loss  to  the 
Packers.  As  a  dedicated  season-ticket  holder, 
I  look  forward  to  cheering  them  on  next 
year."  Joshua  may  be  reached  at  112  Wood- 
stock St.,  #3,  Somerville,  Mass.  02144;  (''i?) 
776-0565;  trzee@ziplink.net. 


Josh  BeriTian  writes,  "Livin'  large  in  Boul- 
der, C  Alio.,  before  going  abroad  in  the  fall 
with  the  Peace  Corps."  He  may  be  reached  at 
2455  7th  St..  Boulder  80304;  (303)  541-0177. 

Katherine  Mitsouras  is  in  her  second 
year  ot  the  Ph.D.  program  m  biological  chem- 
istry- at  UCLA.  She  was  awarded  a  scholarship 
from  the  National  Institutes  of  Health.  Kath- 
erine writes,  "I  like  living  in  L.A.,  and  even 
though  I  miss  Brown,  I  do  not  miss  Provi- 
dence weather."  She  may  be  reached  at  1701 
Purdue  Ave.,  #16,  West  Los  Angeles,  Calif 
90025;  mitsoura@ewald.mbi.ucla.edu. 


1996 


Frank  Casal  is  working  in  Mexico  Ciry  in 
Citibank's  corporate  bank  division,  doing 
financial  analysis  and  traveling  through  Mex- 
ico when  he  gets  the  chance.  Frank  may  be 
reached  at  105623.25@compuserve.com. 

Todd  Guren  is  going  to  Paraguay  with 
the  Peace  Corps  to  do  work  in  environmental 
sanitation.  He  may  be  reached  at  PCV,  Cuerpo 
de  Paz,  162  Chaco  Boreal,  Meal.  Lopez, 
Asuncion,  Paraguay. 

Kevin  Segall  has  founded  a  mail-order 
company.  Essential  Media.  Based  in  Venice, 
Cahf.,  the  company  specializes  in  pnnt,  sound, 
video,  and  other  works  of  the  postmodern, 
alternative,  and  fringe  cultures.  Kevin  may  be 
reached  at  P.O.  Box  661245,  Los  Angeles 
90066;  http://www.essentialmedia.coin. 

Amy  Williams  (see  Thomas  L.  Moses 
III  -58). 


GS 


Earl  A.  Pope  '62  Ph.D.  received  the  Andrew 
E.  Murra\'  Peacemaking  Award  at  the  Lehigh 
Presbytery  meeting  at  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  in  January.  Earl  is 
professor  emeritus  at  Lafayette  College  in 
Easton,  Pa.,  where  he  held  the  Helen  H.P. 
Manson  Chair  and  served  as  head  of  the  reli- 
gion department  and  dean  of  studies  until 
1990.  From  1992  to  1994  he  taught  American 
studies  and  religious  studies  as  a  senior  Ful- 
bnght  professor  at  the  Univenity  of  Bucharest. 
In  1995  he  was  appointed  to  the  International 
Scientific  Council  of  the  Black  Sea  Univer- 
sity, and  in  1996  he  became  a  founding  trustee 
ot  an  ecumenical  foundation  in  Romania. 

Raymond  H.  Lopez  '63  A.M.,  Scars- 
dale.  N.Y.,  was  named  1996  volunteer  ot  the 
year  by  the  National  Association  of  Federal 
Credit  Unions.  Raymond  has  been  chairman 
of  the  Academic  Federal  Credit  Union  in 
Pleasantville,  N.Y.,  for  the  past  ten  years  and 
has  helped  the  credit  union  increase  its  loan 
and  investment  portfolios.  He  is  a  finance  .md 
economics  professor  at  Pace  University's 
Lubin  Craduate  School  of  Business. 

Margaret  Dickie  '65  Ph.D.,  Athens, 
Ga.,  published  .Stein.  liisliop,  and  Rich:  Lyrics 


of  Love,  War,  and  Place  (University  of  North 
(.Carolina  Press)  in  April.  The  book  examines 
the  poetry  of  Gertrude  Stein,  Elizabeth  Bishop, 
and  Adrienne  Rich,  investigating  how  each 
poetic  voice  expresses  both  public  concerns 
and  private  interests.  Margaret  is  the  Helen  S. 
Lanier  Distinguished  Professor  of  English  at 
the  University  ot  Georgia. 

Enrico  Garzilli  '70  Ph.D.,  Narragansett, 
R.I.,  has  composed  the  musical  Rage  of  the 
Heart,  which  premiered  at  'Veterans  Audito- 
num  in  Providence  this  spring.  The  play  is 
based  on  the  tweltth-century  story  ot  philoso- 
pher and  composer  Peter  Abelard  and  his  true 
love,  Heloise. 

Grace  Farrell  Lee  '71  A.M.,  '73  Ph.D., 
has  received  a  National  Endowment  for  the 
Humanities  Fellowship  for  1997-98  to  write  a 
book  on  Lillie  Devereux  Blake  and  nineteenth - 
century  American  culture.  For  the  past  several 
years  she  has  been  recovering  Blake's  uncol- 
lected fiction,  and  the  Feminist  Press  recently 
published  her  edition  of  Blake's  1874  novel, 
Tenered  for  Lite.  Grace  wrote  her  tirst  book, 
Lroin  E.\ile  to  Redemption:  The  Fiction  of  Isaac 
Baslievis  Singer  (Southern  Illinois  University 
Press,  1987),  under  an  NEH  Fellowship  and 
followed  it  with  LB.  Singer:  Coinvrsations 
(University  of  Mississippi  Press,  1992)  and 
Critical  Essays  on  LB.  Singer  (G.K.  Hall,  1996). 
For  G.K.  Hall.  Grace  is  also  working  on  Cn'fi- 
cal  Essays  on  Rebecca  Harding  Davis.  She  is  the 
Rebecca  Clifton  Reade  Professor  of  English 
at  Butler  University  in  Indianapolis.  She  lives 
in  Bloomington,  Ind.,  with  her  husband, 
Giancarlo  Maiorino,  and  their  children,  Lisa, 
Matthew,  and  Eliz.ibeth.  Grace  may  be  reached 
at  gtarrell@ruth.butler.edu. 

Judith  Wolder  Rosenthal  '71  Ph.D. 
(see  '67). 

Carol  Holly  '72  Ph.D.  was  named  the 
O.C.  and  Patricia  Boldt/National  Endowment 
lor  the  Humanities  Distinguished  Teaching 
Professor  m  the  Humanities  at  St.  Olaf  Col- 
lege in  Northfield,  Minn.,  in  February.  Carol, 
an  English  professor,  will  teach  two  interdis- 
ciplinary seminars  in  the  humanities  and  pro- 
mote the  study  of  the  humanities  outside  the 
classroom  for  three  years  beginning  in  Septem- 
ber. She  joined  the  St.  Olaf  College  f^iculty 
m  1975,  and  she  teaches  courses  and  tutonals 
on  expository  writing,  Amencan  literature, 
American  biography,  and  women's  hterature. 
She  has  received  National  Endowment  for 
the  Humanities  Fellowships  for  College 
Teachers  and  a  Fulbnght  fellowship  to  the 
former  Yugoslavia.  Carol  lives  in  Northfield 
with  her  husband,  Alvin  Handelman,  and 
son.  Matt. 

Bernard  A.  Weinstein  '74  Ph.D.,  Willi- 
amsville,  N.Y.,  was  named  a  fellow  of  the 
American  Physical  Society.  Bernard  is  a  pro- 
fessor of  physics  at  the  University  of  Buffalo, 
where  he  conducts  research  in  high-pressure 
and  optical  properties  of  tetrahedral  crystalline 
semiconductors,  semiconductor  heterostruc- 
tures,  and  amorphous  semiconductors. 

Lynne  Joyrich  '84  A.M.,  '90  Ph.D..  has 
published  Re- 1  'ieving  Reception:  Television. 


BntJWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    •    53 


Gender,  and  Postmodern  Culture  (Indiana  Uni- 
versity Press.  1996).  She  is  an  English  professor 
at  the  University  of  Wisconsin  at  Milwaukee. 

Lauren  Feinsot  Riordan   85  Ph.D.  and 
her  husband,  Rob,  announce  the  arnval  of 
Elana  Casey  on  Sept.  27.  Big  sister  Emily  Shea 
is  4.  The  Riordans  live  in  Stamford,  Conn., 
where  Lauren  is  a  clinical  psychologist  and 
continues  to  specialize  in  children  with  cancer, 
the  work  she  began  while  at  Brown. 

Michael  Chapman  '89  M.A.T.  (see  '84). 

Susan  Elizabeth  Sweeney    89  Ph.D. 
(see  Michael  Chapman  '84). 

Josh  Fenton  '94  A.M.,  Woonsocket,  R.I., 
has  been  named  vice  president  of  marketing 
for  Leonard/Monahan  in  Providence.  Previ- 
ously, Josh  was  with  Rivers  Doyle  Walsh/ 
Dubois  Patch,  and  for  seven  years  he  was  assis- 
tant to  the  director  of  the  Rhode  Island  Depart- 
ment of  Environmental  Management.  He  is  a 
board  member  of  the  Rhode  Island  Zoologi- 
cal Society,  Family  Resources,  and  the  United 
Way's  Keel  Club  and  is  the  founder  of  the 
Billy  T.iylor  Educational/Recreational  Program. 

Robert  Valentini  '93  Ph.D.  (see  Hyun 
Kim  '91). 


MD 


R.  Scott  Dyer  '76  M.D.  (see  '69). 


Obituaries 


Arthur  P.  Merewether  '22,  Bayside,  N.Y.; 
Feb.  2.  Chief  meteorologist  for  Amencan 
Airhnes  for  twenty  years,  he  joined  the  U.S. 
Amiy  Air  Corps  in  1929  and  was  chief  of  its 
weather  service  from  1939  to  1942.  From 
1942  to  1946  he  commanded  the  8th  Weather 
Region  in  the  North  Atlantic.  During  a  rou- 
tine flight  over  Labrador  in  1943  he  discovered 
a  perfectly  round  lake  which  was  later  named 
Merewether  Crater  and  Merewether  Lake. 
President  of  the  American  Meteorological 
Society  from  1954  to  1956,  he  was  named  an 
honorary  Commander  of  the  Order  of  the 
British  Empire  and  received  the  Legion  of 
Ment  award,  the  Gorrell  Award  from  the  Air 
Transport  Association,  and  the  Losey  Award 
of  the  Institute  of  Aeronautical  Services.  A 
scholarship  in  his  name  for  the  study  of  mete- 
orology has  been  established  by  the  American 
Meteorological  Society  in  Boston.  A  member 
of  the  Brown  varsity  baseball  team,  he  had 
one  "at  bat"  with  the  Pittsburgh  Pirates,  and 
in  1 97 1  he  was  inducted  into  the  Brown  Ath- 
letic HaU  of  Fame.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife, 
Genevieve,  37-02  222nd  St.,  Bayside  11361; 
two  daughters,  and  two  sons,  mcludingjames 
'63;  and  a  sister,  Olga  Merewether  Angst  '32. 


Carolyn  Macdonald  Sherman  '22,  Provi- 
dence; Jan.  18.  Editor  of  the  C'hild  Study  Cen- 
ter newsletter  at  Brown,  she  was  a  teacher  at 
Warwick  (R.l.)  High  School,  Huntington 
(N.Y.)  High  School,  and  Fo.x  Meadow  School 
in  Scarsdale,  N.Y.  Previously  she  taught  at 
Western  Washington  CoUege  of  Education, 
Rhode  Island  State  College,  and  RISD.  She 
wrote  Willingly  to  School,  a  book  on  the  philos- 
ophy ot  the  modem  school,  which  was  awarded 
a  prize  by  Parents  Magaznie  in  1935.  A  former 
president  of  her  class,  she  was  a  member  of 
the  League  of  Women  Voters  and  was  active 
in  the  United  Negro  College  Fund  and  the 
Amencan  Cancer  Society.  She  is  survived  by 
two  stepsons,  including  John  '37,  651  Sinex 
Ave.,  Apt.  C-112,  Pacific  Grove,  CaHf  93950. 

Helen  Avery  Hetherington  "23.  Baltimore; 
Nov.  26.  1995.  She  was  director  ot  volunteer 
services  for  the  Baltimore  Mental  Health 
Association  before  retiring.  A  past  president 
of  the  Pembroke  Club  of  Baltimore,  she  pre- 
viously taught  zoology  at  WeUesley  CoUege. 
Phi  Beta  Kappa.  She  is  survived  by  her 
daughter,  Anne  McCullough,  P.O.  Box  408. 
Chester  Spnngs,  Pa.  19425. 

Ruth  Kerns  Lane  '31,  Evanston,  111.;  Feb.  7. 
She  was  an  alumnae  representative  tor  two 
high  schools  and  was  a  past  board  member  of 
the  Pembroke  Club.  She  is  survived  by  her 
husband,  John  '31,  3200  Grant  St.,  Evanston 
60201;  and  four  sons,  including  William  '58 
and  John  '62. 

Katherine  Burt  Jackson  '32,  North  Kings- 
town, R.L;  Feb.  i.  She  was  manager  of  the 
Community  Homemaker  Service  until  her 
retirement  m  1975.  Previously  she  was  a  social 
worker  specializing  in  pubhc  welfare  and  med- 
ical social  work  in  New  Orleans  and  Provi- 
dence. During  the  early  1960s  she  was  a  psy- 
chiatric social  worker  at  the  former  Rhode 
Island  Medical  Center.  She  was  a  former  mem- 
ber of  the  National  Association  of  Social 
Workers,  the  Rhode  Island  Conference  ot 
Social  Work,  and  the  American  Association 
of  University  Women.  Chair  of  her  65th 
reunion,  she  was  a  past  chair  ot  the  academic 
committee  for  the  Pembroke  Alumnae  Asso- 
ciation. Phi  Beta  Kappa.  She  is  survived  by 
her  husband,  Frederick,  20  Narragansett  Ave., 
#3C,  Pier  Village,  Narragansett,  R.l.  02882; 
two  sons;  a  daughter;  a  brother-in-law,  Her- 
bert A.  Howard  '28;  and  a  nephew,  David 
J.  Howard  '89. 

Morton  J.  Simon  '32,  Philadelphia;  Nov. 
17,  of  congestive  heart  failure.  A  1935  gradu- 
ate of  Harvard  Law  School,  he  speciahzed  111 
business  communications  law.  He  was  the 
author  of  several  books,  including  Public  Rela- 
tions Law,  The  Laiu  for  Advertising  and  Marhel- 
ing,  and  Tlie  Advertising  Truthbook,  and  he 
wrote  frec]uently  for  the  communications  trade 
press  and  general-interest  publications.  He 
created  and  taught  a  course  on  legal  and  ethi- 
cal advertising  and  communications  at  Charles 


Morris  Price  School  and  was  a  frequent  lec- 
turer at  Temple  University  and  the  University 
ot  Pennsylvania.  A  U.S.  Navy  veteran  of 
World  War  II,  he  served  as  an  anti-submarine 
warfare  specialist.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania  bar  associations 
and  was  a  past  secretary  of  the  Philadelphia 
Brown  Club.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Carol, 
8108  Cadwalader  Rd.,  Elkins  Park,  Pa.  19027; 
and  sons  Morton  Jr.  '66  and  Lawrence  '69. 

Weslene  DollofTTroy  '34,  Bristol,  R.L; 
Jan.  28.  A  longtime  professor  and  foreign 
student  advisor  at  RISD,  she  was  named  pro- 
fessor emeritus  in  1977.  She  was  a  group  psy- 
chotherapy counselor  at  the  East  Bay  Mental 
Health  Center  and  a  member  of  the  North- 
eastern Society  of  Group  Psychotherapy.  Phi 
Beta  Kappa.  She  is  survived  by  her  daughter. 
Martha  Troy,  47A  N.  Main  St..  Jamestown, 
R.L  02835;  '"id  two  sons. 

Harriet  Walker  Batchelder  '35.  Naples.  Fla.; 
Nov.  24.  She  spent  eighteen  years  at  Yale  as 
an  administrator  in  the  medical  school,  where 
she  helped  establish  the  department  of  human 
genetics.  She  is  survived  by  her  husband, 
Richard  '35.  2880  Gulf  Shore  Blvd.,  #404. 
Naples  34103. 

Barbara  Gaisford  Eggleston  '35.  Bedford, 
Mass.;  Jan.  21.  She  was  a  founding  member 
and  past  president  of  the  Kent  County  Pem- 
broke Club  m  Wai-wick,  R.L,  and  a  member 
of  St.  Barnabas  Episcopal  Church.  She  is  sur- 
vived by  two  daughters,  including  Betsey 
Anderson,  64  Wildwood  Dr.,  Bedford  01730. 

Miller  Simon  '35,  New  York  City;  Oct.  6, 
1995.  He  was  a  producer  at  the  Educational 
Broadcasting  Corp.  in  New  York  City.  He  is 
survived  by  his  wife,  Phyllis,  300  Central  Park 
West.  #i6B.  New  York  City  10024. 

Allen  W.  White  '37,  New  Carrollton.  Md.; 
June  19.  He  worked  for  the  federal  govern- 
ment for  thirty-four  years  and  was  head  tech- 
nical budget  analyst  for  the  U.S.  State  Depart- 
ment for  sixteen  years,  retiring  in  1974.  He 
is  survived  by  his  wife.  Eva  Mae.  5710  83rd 
Place,  New  Carrollton  20784. 

Henry  F.  Capasso  '38,  North  Providence, 
R.L;  Jan.  30.  He  was  professor  emeritus  of 
Italian  at  the  University  of  Rhode  Island  and 
served  as  chaimian  of  its  Department  ot  Mod- 
ern and  Classical  Languages  and  Literature. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  Modern  Language 
Association,  the  American  Association  of 
Teachers  of  Italian,  and  the  Rhode  Island 
Foreign  Language  Association.  A  founder  of 
the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  chapter  at  U.R.L,  he  was 
a  member  of  the  Phi  Sigma  Iota  International 
Foreign  Language  Association  and  an  hon- 
orary member  of  the  National  Hispanic  Soci- 
ety. Phi  Beta  Kappa.  He  is  survived  by  his 
wife,  Margaret  Fico  Capasso    40,  20  Wal- 
nut Street,  N.  Providence  02904;  two  sons; 
and  two  daughters. 


S  4    ♦    MAY    1997 


Philip  H.  Glatfelter  III  "scS,  Spring  Grove, 
Pa.;  Jan.  i  v  He  was  director  and  fomier 
president  and  chaimian  of  the  P.H.  Glatfelter 
Co.,  making  hull  the  fourth  generation  ot 
family  to  head  the  company.  He  was  an  active 
member  of  the  American  Forest  and  Paper 
Association,  the  Pnnting  Paper  Manutactiirers' 
Association,  the  University  of  Maine  Pulp  and 
Paper  Foundation,  and  the  National  Council 
for  Air  and  Stream  Improvement  Inc.  In  I9yi 
he  was  awarded  an  honorary  degree  from 
Gettysburg  College.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in  the 
U.S.  Navy,  serving  in  both  the  Atlantic  and 
Pacific  theaters  aboard  the  U.S.S.  Arkansas  in 
World  War  II.   An  avid  outdoorsman,  he  was 
past  director  of  the  Pennsylvania  Wildlife 
Federation.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife,  Anne, 
201 1  Rosewood  Ln.,  York,  Pa.  17403;  and 
two  daughters. 

Margaret  Campbell  Brigden  '39,  Indian 
Shores,  Fla.;  |an.  is.  unexpectedly  dunng 
recovery  from  surgery.  She  had  a  short  career 
as  a  school  teacher.  She  raised  six  children 
and  lived  in  Euchd,  Ohio,  moving  to  Indian 
Shores  in  1978.  She  is  survived  by  three  sons, 
including  William,  741 1  Rossmore  Ct.,  Day- 
ton. Ohio  4S459:  and  three  daughters. 

Charles  E.  Spencer  III  "42,  Southbury, 
Conn.;  Jan.  2S,  of  cancer.  He  was  executive 
president  of  the  Delson  Hinge  Corp.  A  lieu- 
tenant in  the  U.S.  Navy  dunng  World  War 
II,  he  was  awarded  the  Bronze  Star,  Purple 
Heart,  and  a  Commendation  Ribbon  for  his 
service  in  the  Pacific  Theater  and  the  Philip- 
pine liberation.  He  was  vice  president  of  the 
New  Haven  Brown  Club.  He  is  survived  by 
his  wife,  Catherine  A.  Spencer  '42,  Cher- 
rywood  Lodge.  East  Hill  Woods,  Southbury 
064S8. 

Edward  F.  Swanezy  '42,  Dallas;  Dec.  i. 
He  was  a  sales  manager  at  Celanese  Chemical 
Co.  Previously  he  was  a  meteorologist  and  a 
captain  in  the  U.S.  Air  Force.  He  is  survived 
by  his  wife,  Stacey,  5702  Over  Downs  Dr., 
Dallas  75230;  and  a  son,  Scott  '77. 

Henry  J.  Pilote  '43,  Tucson,  Ariz.;  Jan.  16. 
He  was  a  longtime  educator  and  lecturer.  He 
is  survived  by  his  wife,  Ann.  2500  Shade  Tree 
Ln.,  Tucson  H5715. 

Patricia  McSweeney  Reed  '44,  Stuart,  Fla.; 
Aug.  30,  1994.  She  is  survived  by  her  husband, 
Paul,  91  S.  Sewells  Point  Rd.,  Stuart  34996. 

Bennet  B.  Fuller  '45,  Falmouth.  Mass.; 
Dec.  iS.  He  worked  in  sales  and  engineenng 
for  Allied  Cork  in  Walpole,  Mass.,  unril  his 
retirement  in  1985.  Previously  he  worked  for 
the  Foxboro  Co.,  which  was  founded  by  his 
grandfather.  He  was  a  U.S.  Army  Air  Corps 
veteran  of  World  War  II  and  spent  time  as  a 
P.O.W.  after  his  fighter  plane  was  shot  down 
over  Germany.  An  Eagle  Scout,  he  was 
involved  in  the  Boy  Scouts  ot  Amenca  for 
more  than  fifty  years  and  received  the  organi- 


zation's Silver  Beaver  Award.  He  is  survived 
by  four  daughters,  including  Nancy  Porter, 
P.C^.  Box  55,  Falmouth  02541;  and  a  son. 

John  W.  Murphy  '45,  River  Edge,  NJ.; 
Nov.  14.  He  was  a  research  chemist  until  his 
retirement  in  1988.  Previously  he  was  a  lieu- 
tenant in  the  U.S.  Navy.  He  is  survived  by 
his  wife,  June,  926  Myrtle  Ave.,  River  Edge 
0766 1 . 

John  A.  Lewis  '48  Sc.M.,  "50  Ph.D.,  Sum- 
mit, NJ.;  Dec.  12.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
technical  staff  in  the  mathematical  research 
department  of  Bell  Laboratones.  An  expert  in 
classical  mathematical  physics,  he  specialized 
in  elasticity,  heat  transfer,  viscosity,  acoustics, 
optical  fibers,  and  semiconductors.  His  most 
significant  achievements  were  with  edge  and 
comer  effects  in  electrical  fields  and  in  the 
control  of  satellites.  He  served  as  an  electron- 
ics officer  in  the  U.S.  Navy  in  World  War  II. 
He  was  a  lifelong  member  of  the  New  Jersey 
Table  Tennis  League.  He  is  survived  by  his 
wife,  Betsey  Leonard  Lewis  '46,  109  Maple 
St..  Summit  07901;  two  daughters;  and  a  son. 

Merle  I.  Hampton  '50,  Piscataway,  NJ.; 
Nov.  26.  He  was  a  retired  chemist.  He  is  sur- 
vived by  his  wife,  Betty,  425  Shirley  Pkwy., 
Piscataway  08854. 

David  J.  Brodsky  '52,  Pnnceton,  NJ.;  Jan. 
13.  He  joined  the  Educational  Testing  Ser- 
vice in  1955  as  a  planning  officer  and  went  on 
to  become  the  company's  controller,  trea- 
surer, financial  vice  president,  senior  vice 
president,  and  executive  vice  president  in 
charge  of  all  financial,  legal,  administrative, 
technological,  and  operational  areas.  After  his 
retirement,  he  continued  to  make  tops  to 
China  and  the  fonner  USSR  to  assist  in  mod- 
ernizing their  standardized  testing  techniques. 
He  taught  management  courses  at  the  Rut- 
gers Institute  of  Management  and  Labor 
Relations.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Middle- 
sex Region  board  of  trustees,  the  National 
Foundation  for  Advancement  of  the  Arts,  and 
International  School  Services  Inc.  He  was  a 
fonner  board  member  and  treasurer  of  the 
Jewish  Center  of  Pnnceton.  He  is  survived  by 
his  wife,  Judith,  53  Clarke  Ct.,  Princeton 
08540;  a  daughter;  and  a  son. 

Dorotea  Giffoni  DiOrio  '52,  North  Provi- 
dence, R.I.;  Jan.  26.  She  is  survived  by  her 
husband,  Amano,  26  Oak  Grove  Blvd., 
North  Providence  0291 1;  three  daughters; 
and  two  sons. 

Thomas  J.  Cashill  '54,  Barrington,  R.I.; 
Feb.  4.  He  was  owner  and  president  of 
Comm  Tech.  He  was  in  the  Air  Force  from 
1953  to  1957.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife, 
Alice,  24  Meadow  Brook  Dr.,  Barrington 
02806;  a  son;  and  a  daughter. 

John  W.  Sjostrom  '56,  Cape  May,  NJ.; 
May  I,  1996. 


Robert  M.  Bewlay  '59,  Westerly,  R.I.;  Feb. 
4.  He  was  vice  president  and  chief  operating 
officer  for  the  Westerly  Community  Credit 
Union  and  chairman  of  its  credit  committee. 
A  past  member  of  the  Credit  Union  Execu- 
tive Society,  he  served  on  many  committees 
for  the  Rhode  Island  Credit  Union  League. 
He  is  survived  by  his  wife.  Donna,  140 
Watch  Hill  Rd.,  Westerly  02891;  two  sons; 
and  a  daughter. 

Amedeo  DeRobbio  '61  A.M.,  Providence; 

Jan.  7.  A  retired  mathematics  and  science 
teacher,  he  began  his  career  with  the  Provi- 
dence school  department  in  1936.  He  taught 
at  Mount  Pleasant  High  School  for  twenty- 
three  years  and  was  chair  of  mathematics  from 
1967-77.  He  went  on  to  become  the  mathe- 
matics area  supervisor  until  his  retirement  in 
1 98 1.  After  retiring,  he  taught  mathematics 
part-time  at  Bryant  College  until  199 1.  He 
was  a  U.S.  Anny  veteran  of  World  War  II. 
He  IS  survived  by  his  wife,  Elena,  198  Garden 
City  Dr.,  Cranston  02920;  and  a  son. 

Raymond  G.  Boesch  '76,  Santa  Monica, 
Calif ;  June  i,  1995,  after  a  long  illness.  He  is 
survived  by  his  brother,  Philip  "71,  1751  Old 
Ranch  Road,  Los  Angeles  90049;  and  a  sister. 

Donald  T.  Fusco  '79,  Nutley,  NJ.;  Dec.  22. 
He  IS  survived  by  his  parents. 

Noreen  M.  Coachman-Burton  '84  M.D., 
Flonda;  Feb.  6.  She  was  a  stafi  physician  in 
radiation  oncology  at  Roger  WiUiams  Medical 
Center  and  a  clinical  instructor  at  Brown 
until  1994.  A  recipient  of  the  Amencan  Can- 
cer Society's  Clinical  Oncology  Award,  she 
specialized  in  radiation  therapy  for  locally 
advanced  prostate  cancer  and  in  combined  mo- 
dality treatment  with  chemotherapy  in  locally 
advanced  head,  neck,  and  pancreatic  cancers. 
She  IS  survived  by  a  brother  and  two  sisters. 

Katharine  Mayerson  '97,  New  York  City; 
March  28,  from  injuries  suffered  in  an  auto- 
mobile accident  in  Memphis,  Tenn.  Mayerson 
and  Shari  Hirshman  '97,  who  was  senously 
injured  in  the  accident,  were  on  a  spnng- 
break  road  tnp.  Mayerson  was  a  public  policy 
concentrator,  past  president  of  the  Brown 
CoUege  Democrats,  and  a  former  executive 
editor  of  the  Brown  Daily  Herald's  Good  Clean 
Fun  weekly  supplement.  She  also  worked  as  a 
computer  consultant  and  held  numerous  posi- 
tions in  the  co-ed  fraternity,  Zeta  Delta  Xi. 
She  is  survived  by  her  parents,  Donald  and 
Bonnie  Mayerson,  One  Lincoln  Plaza  #401 P, 
New  York  City  10023;  and  a  brother.  O^i 


BROWN    ALUMNI    MONTHLY    •    5  5 


Finally... 

BY  JOHN   M.   RODERICK   '74  PH.D. 

Passing  the 
Torque  Wrench 

It's  the  sort  of  day  you  anticipate  with  a 
mixture  of  dread  and  hope.  This  Sat- 
urday my  father  is  coming  over,  and 
together  we're  going  to  figure  out  why 
my  newly  purchased  second-hand  lawn 
tractor  is  leaking  oil.  That  means,  I  know, 
that  we  are  going  to  take  the  machine 
apart. 

My  teenaged  son  will  be  joining  us.  In 
a  single  morning  I  can  show  my  father 
that  I've  finally  learned  something  about 
motors  while  simultaneously  passing 
along  the  knowledge  to  my  son.  It  will  be 
like  a  spiritual  relay  race,  with  my  father 
setting  a  steady  pace  and  handing  off  to 
me,  while  my  son  contributes  youthful 
speed  on  the  final  lap. 

Growing  up,  I'd  often  join  my  father 
in  the  garage.  Our  first  project  together 
involved  rebuilding  a  195 1  MG-TD  we'd 
picked  up  for  $150.  If  I  was  going  to  be 
driving  cars,  my  dad  said,  I  should  learn 
how  they  work.  On  a  warm  August  day,  I 
prepared  to  crawl  under  the  MG  -  wear- 
ing a  pair  of  leather  gloves.  "What  are 
those  for?"  my  father  barked.  "It's  the 
hottest  day  of  the  year!" 

"I  don't  want  to  get  my  hands  dirty,"  I 
said  sheepishly.  Dad  laughs  about  it  now, 
but  I  don't  recall  any  mirth  in  his  voice 
when  he  ordered  me  to  take  off  those 
blankety-blank  gloves.  This  was  a 
machine,  and  you  had  to  get  dirty  when 
you  tackled  machines. 

Another  time,  we  faced  a  twenty- 
year-old  Scott  outboard  motor  bolted  to 
a  water-filled  barrel.  My  motivation  to 
help  was  to  avoid  sitting  out  on  the  bay 
yet  again,  watching  my  father  pull  the 
starter  cord  4,000  times  and  learning  a 
host  of  useful  words  to  employ  in  such  a 
crisis.  (Those  words  still  come  in  handy 
when  I  smash  my  thumb  with  a  hammer.) 

Then  there  was  my  first  motor 
scooter.  It  was  a  1947  Cushman,  a  classic 
collector's  item,  although  at  the  time  it 
just  seemed  old.  The  centrifugal  clutch 
needed  tweaking,  but  my  father  thought 


I)   H,  SMITH 


new  piston  rings  couldn't  hurt,  either. 
Soon  we  had  the  engine  reduced  to  its 
essentials:  a  large  pile  of  greasy  parts.  My 
father  always  knew  how  to  put  everything 
back  together  and  make  it  work  —  a  mira- 
cle, to  me,  right  up  there  with  the 
Immaculate  Conception. 

Today  I  poke  my  head  into  my  son's 
bedroom:  "Time  to  get  up  -  Grandpa 
will  be  here  any  minute."  My  father 
always  likes  to  get  an  early  start  on  life's 
Big  Jobs.  Surely  a  tifteen-year-old  Sears 
Craftsman  tractor  with  a  leaking  ten- 
horsepower  Briggs  and  Stratton  engine 
falls  into  that  category. 

I  open  the  creaking  garage  door,  and 
sure  enough,  there's  my  father  standing 
outside,  two  steep  ramps  in  his  hands  "in 
case  we  need  to  crawl  under  her,"  he 
explains  even  before  saying  "good  morn- 
ing." This  exemplifies  one  of  Dad's  lessons 
in  the  art  of  mechanical  repair:  always 
anticipate  the  worst.  Another  lesson  is 
tucked  under  his  arm:  a  spray  can  of 
Gunk.  "It's  always  better  to  work  on  a 
clean  engine,"  he  says. 

Again  I  shout  for  my  son. Then  I  join 
Dad,  who  is  already  on  his  back,  peering 
under  the  tractor.  "Start  her  up  and  we'll 
see  where  the  oil  is  seeping  froin,"  he  says. 
1  crank  the  engine  and  it  purrs  just  as  it 
did  the  day  I  bought  the  tractor  -  last 
week.  I  creep  underneath  with  my  fither. 

"What  do  you  think?"  he  asks.  What 
do  1  think?  My  father  never  asked  me 
what  I  thought  about  repairs  when  I  was 
a  kid.  But  I'm  no  longer  a  kid;  heck,  my 
kid  is  hardly  a  kid  anymore. 

"I  think  It's  leaking  from  the  front, 
where  the  oil  pan  is  attached,"  I  venture. 

"Yeah,  me,  too,"  Dad  agrees,  sitting  up. 


"Well,  get  to  work." 

For  the  next  two  hours  my  father 
hands  me  tools  and  occasionally  points 
out  a  wire  I've  forgotten  to  reattach.  His 
seventy-five-year-old  joints  take  longer 
to  get  down  to  my  level  and  back  up 
again,  but  he  can  still  tell  at  a  glance  if 
the  next  nut  needs  a  three-quarters-  or  a 
five-eighths-inch  socket.  This  morning, 
though.  Dad  defers  most  of  the  mechani- 
cal decisions  to  me. 

We  work  well  together,  a  team  that's 
had  half  a  century  to  get  it  right  -  except 
now  my  father  is  handing  the  wrench  to 
me,  not  vice  versa.  Suddenly  someone's 
shadow  blocks  the  sunlight.  "Boy,  you  two 
are  filthy!"  says  my  son.  His  hair  is  still  wet 
from  the  shower,  and  he  has  on  a  clean  T- 
shirt  and  plaid  shorts.  I  wipe  my  grease- 
smudged  hands  on  my  dirty  trousers  and 
invite  him  to  join  us. 

"There's  no  room  under  there  for  a 
third  person,"  my  son  points  out.  "I'll  be 
in  the  house  if  you  need  me."  Then  he's 
gone.  MTV  music  filters  out  to  us  as  I 
wipe  my  hands  again,  this  time  on  my 
shirt. 

Aligning  the  last  bolt,  I  feel  a  pang  of 
disappointment  that  my  son  chooses  to  sit 
on  the  couch  while  his  father  and  grand- 
father are  up  to  their  armpits  in  grease. 
Then  I  think  about  that  1951  MG-TD. 
From  the  other  side  of  the  tractor,  I  catch 
a  hint  of  a  smile  on  my  father's  face.  As 
rock  music  pours  from  the  house,  I  want 
to  believe  my  father  is  thinking  about 
those  gloves  I  wore  on  a  hot  August  day 
years  ago.  O^i 

John  Roderick  is  a  professor  of  English  iiiid 
rhetoric  at  the  University  of  Hartford. 


56   ♦  MAY    1997 


Elizabeth  Z.  Cbace  '59  and  Malcolm  G  Chace. 


The  Brow^n  Sports  Foundation  salutes 

Liz  '59  &  Kim  Chace  (vaie  56) 

Donors 

of  the 

First  Athletic  Coaching  Chair  ($1,000,000) 

for  Women's  Athletics  at  Brown 

THE  LIZ  TURNER  '98  CHAIR 
FOR  WOMEN'S  BASKETBALL 

The  first  such  Women's  Athletic  Chair  in  the  Ivy  League 


Liz  II  (Acadetnic  All  American  and  Captain  of 
Basketball  Liz  TurnerJ  uith  Liz  I  (All  University 
Liz  Chace). 


Head  Basketball  Coach  ami  Chair  Hohlerjeanie  Burr  and  Captain 
Liz  Turner  happily  present  an  autographed  ball  and  team  picture  to 
the  Chaces 


Kim  and  Liz  address  the  oierjlow  crowd  in  the  Joukowsky  Room  of  the  Pizzitola 
Sports  Center  as  President  Vartan  Gregorian  and  BUSF  Executive  Director  Dave 
Zucconi  '55  enjoy  the  proceedings. 


Liz '  mother  Elsa  Zopfi  and  Chancellor  Artemis 
foukowsky  '55  look  on  as  Liz  admires 
"The  Cake. " 


We  also  honor  the  Chaces  for  their  additional  gift  of 

$400,000  to  the  Women's  Athletics  Endowment  for  the 

general  support  of  all  17  of  Brown's  Women's  Sports 


THE  BROWN  SPORTS  FOUNDATION 
Gordon  Perry  55,  President  •  Liz  Chace  59, Vice-President  •  Bob  Hall  66,  Treasurer  •  Bernle  Buonanno  60  Secretary 

For  more  information  on  the  Turner  Chair  or  to  find  out  how  you  can  help  Women's  Athletics  at  Brown, 
contact  Dave  Zucconi  '55  at  the  Brown  Sports  Foundation  (401)  863-1900  (401)  863-3691  (FAX) 


SK^w^-'/Y  'Ofessa 


,^v      The  Glenlivet  Single  Malt.  ^ 

yjnce  discovered,  always  treasured.       ^ 

Those  who  appreciate  quality  enjoy  it  responsibly.  ^^ 

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