)l-.- II B?' ill 'f^l- ^-^•■V.^; '•■;-.-■' i ?S^°.'-oC y??'^*- ''.SS.^'' SWEDEN, .40 AND MW-ALC/VOL (80 AND 100 PROOF). 100% GRAIN NEaTRAL SPIRITS. ASSOt^OUNrtV OF SWEDEN VODKA & LOGO, ABSOLUT, /feOLUT BOTTLE DESIGN AND ABSOLUT CALLIGIWM^'ARE TRADEMARKS OWNED B.Y VSS V»m SPRIT AB. ©1995 V&S VIN iJ^mjimMmb^^lfbUSi Of SEAGRAM, NEW YORK, NY. PHOTOGRAPHED BY Sllill BRONSTEIN. J«\-. ' ' : ,-' ..r^f - THOSE WHO APPRECIATt"QUMi»ENJ™ii^BlSlBLY. i»S February 1996 BROWN iiiet TlnLe When the noise recedes and learning begins iiiS*li»i'*w Until rcccntlyjundiwuulal gcomelry forced siispaision engnurrs to choose between a ride that was soft and stable (see figure A), or one that wasijuick and niiuhle (see figure B). Our cnomcers didn't accept this. So they desioned internal rebound sprinos, as well as an optional electronic air suspension, which employs advanced g sensors. This allows a car to he smooth when you want it to he and responsive when you need It to be. Tins superb system is available on the IS /fOO (see yourL-xus dealer). Inertia. GraYit) These Things Meai Floating panels in the front seats, supported by coil and tension springs, act as a suspension system to help stabili.^ movement duriiio ■B-'''\ ji\ cornering. Of course, sitting is believing. i a Inertia is the tendency cfa body in motion to stay in motion ^ty^ e unless acted upon by an outside force, such as wind. Consequently, you'd expect a full - sizjd luxury sedan, with its greater surface area, to be significantly slowed down by the wind. Tl:en how would Sir Isaac Newton explain that the most aerodynamic car sold in America is the IS /fOOp Many body components are comprised ofhioh-tensile steel, a stroiio but lioht material known for its energy-absorbing properties. ]\l:ile this may seem like a contradiction in terms, it's agreat comfort should youfind yourself in an accident. entri W Force, khing 10 Our En^ neers. AMiilc ir sr.mds ro reason rh.u all auromohilcs arc sub)ccr to the ph\-sical laws ot nature, the LS400 appears to ha\e been sinaiilarh- exempted. Perhaps this is due to the tireless efforts ot Lexus engineers who, m another anomah' oi nature, seem to ha\e been blessed with a limit- ^ ^'\ \ t^^^^k. I^^fc less supph- of eneri^\- and ideas. It's cngmccnng auoniino tc the laws cf Lexus. ^ — ^ The Relentless Pursuit Of Perfection. BROWN ALUMNI MONTHLY Under the Elms 12 Cops and guns . . . McNamara and Vietnam . . . film and archi- tecture . . . blacks and whites and Cornel West . . . how to build a bomb and other useful skills . . . Since Last Time . . . and more. DEPARTMENTS Here & Now 4 Carrying the Mail 5 Humanitarian aid experts Thomas Weiss and Larry Minear Sports 20 Triathlete Keith Casserly '97 Studentside 21 Are You my University? By Tabitha Teresa Anne Suarez 'gy Books 35 Echo Park by Jon M. Cosco '93 The Ci^sses 36 Obituaries 53 Finally. . . 56 Down and Out in the Big Apple. By Amy Sohn '95 Sanctuary 22 Beneath the surface bustle of university life is the still, small place where discovery begins. By John Foraste and Norman Boucher Portrait: Inheritance 28 Novelist Edwidge Danticat '93 M.F.A. is a prospector. Instead of dust, she sifts through memories of her childhood in Haiti and finds gold. By Jennifer Sutton 0, Pioneer! 30 Think it's tough having a career and a family these days? Try it seventy years ago — with enough children to field a soccer team. A look at the Providence years of Brown's third woman Ph.D., Lillian Moller Gilbreth '15. By Jane Lancaster cover: Photograph by John Foraste. Volume 96 • Number 5 / February 1996 Skeptics notwithstanding, First-Class Mail is on time 87% of the time. flT^'"77^ As part of our ongoing effort to serve you better, l\ r \l ^^ asked Price Waterhouse, an independent research service, to find out how good we are at dehvering local First-Class Mail on time. It turns out that we're doing better than ever. Not only was our national average up four points from last year, to 87%, but we hit 90% for the first time in a major city, San Francisco, and hit a heady 94% in Wichita, Kansas. We also did significantly better in Baltimore (up 15 points to 81%), New York (up 14 points to 83%), Miami (up 13 points to 85%), Philadelphia (up 13 points to 83%) and Chicago (up 11 points to 82%). Altogether, things are improving in 85 of the 95 cifies measured. And while the survey gives us something to boast about, it also helps us identify problem areas. ^-^ UNITED STATES We promise to get working on them too. f^^ POSTAL SERVICE. We Deliver For You. Here & Now Death in the Family w \/\/ hen death strikes close to home, T ▼ capriciously and without warn- ing, It rends the comfort ot mundane rou- tine and contracts one's world to a sliver of disbelief. "Oh, HO." It was 12:30 a.m. on Thurs- day, December 21, and I was up past bed- time icing a tray of Christmas cookies when from the living room I heard my husband groan. Wiping my hands on my apron, I hurried in and followed Michael's stricken gaze to the TV screen. News bulletin: an American Airlines flight had crashed in the Andes en route from Mi- ami to Call, Colombia. We both knew, even as we prayed it was not so, that our friend Maria-Teresa Otoya, a psychotherapist in Brown's office of psychological services, had been on that plane with her husband. Professor of Computer Science Paris Kanellakis, and their two children, Alexandra, seven, and Stephanos, four. The family had left the previous morning to spend the holidays with Maria-Teresa's parents in Call. Dur- ing a night of frantic phone-calling and Web-surfing, Michael and I went from disbelief {please, no) to denial (snow iimsl have delayed their flight out of Boston) to anger (why?) and, by daybreak, grief On the campus empty of students, staff and faculty reeled at the loss of two admired colleagues. News reports flashed a snapshot of the smiUng family so many times that it is now engraved as fn-mlv in my memory as is the sight, on Sunday mornings, of Maria-Teresa's trim tweed shoulders in front of us at Mass, the line of her bobbed brown hair, the gentle curve of her mouth as she whispered to Alexandra, a dark-eyed sprite preparing this year for her first communion. To salve the pain, we who had known the Kanellakis family told stories to one another. They were stories of interna- tional romance: the Greek-born Paris and the Colombian-born Maria-Teresa met in Cambridge, Massachusetts, during their graduate-school years. They were stories of professional success: Paris, a star in his field of database systems and logic, was said to be next in line to chair Brown's prestigious computer science department; Maria-Teresa, with a doctorate from Har- vard, had been counseling troubled Brown students since 1989 and was revered by young expatriates struggling with loneli- ness. And they were stories of two smart, happy kids. "What can I say?" said a fam- ily friend. "They were wonderful people." In the days after the Cali crash I found myself thinking of another December 21, seven years earlier, when Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 270 passengers and crew. The The Kanellakis- Otoya family in Greece last July: Alexandra, Maria-Teresa, Stephanos, and Paris. day after Christmas 1988, as I worked alone in the BAM office, the phone be- gan ringing. "We thought you should know," began the callers - that an alum- nus or alumna had been on that plane and had died. Stuart Barclay '82, David Dornstein '85, Mary Lincoln Johnson '85, and Andrea Rosenthal '88 were four young people who may never have known one another but whose futures, shining with promise, lay ahead of them - until Lockerbie. Our lives are poems, said the Rev. Robert Randall '60 Ph.D. at a children's Mass for Alexandra Kanellakis's second- grade friends last month. Some are as short as haiku, others as long as epics fill- ing many volumes. Each is complete in ways we may not understand. That is a comforting thought, and I think it is a true one. Yet when Brown loses some of its own, whether young or old, at the beginning of a career or at the peak, we falter. It takes a while to see the poem when your eyes are filled with tears.- A.D. A campiis iiicnioria! icrvicc for the Kanellakis jaiiiil)' iras scheduled lo he held in Maiming Chapel on jainiary 29. BROWN ALUMNI MONTHLV February 1996 Volumt' 96, No. 5 Editor: Anne Hinman DifFily '73 Managing Editor: Norman Boucher Art Director: Kjthryn de Boer Assistant Editor: Jennifer Sutton Editorial Associate: Chad Gaits Sports: IVtor Mandel "81 A.M. Photography: John Foraste Design: Sandra Oeiany .ind Sandra Kenney Business Manager: Pamela M. Parker Board of Editors Chair: Ralph Begleiter '71 Vice Chair: Cathlecn M. McGuigan '71 Tom Bodkin '75, Dana B. Cowin '82, Rose E. EngcDand '78, Erie Gertler '85, Debra L. Lee '7*^' Edward Marecki '65. Martha K. Matzke '66, John Monaghan '55, Carolyn Cardall Newsoni '62, Ava L. Seave '77. Tenold R. Sunde '59, Benjamin Wejser '76, Bill Wooten '68 Ph. D.Jill Zucknian '87 Local Advertising 401 S63-1 14s National Advertising Representative Ed Antos. Ivy League Magazine Network 7 Ware Street, Cambridge, Mass. 0213S (617) 496-7207 (Q fi}()() by Brown Aluiimi Monthly. Pub- iisiicd monthly, except January. June, jnd August, by Brown University, Providence. R 1. I'rintcd by The Lane Press, P.O. Box ijo. Burlington.Vt, 05403. Send changes of address to Alumni Records, PO, Box 1908, Prov- idence. R-i. 02912; (401) 863-2307; alum^'brownvni, brown, edu. Send editorial correspondence to Box 1854, Providence, R,I. 02912; (401) 863-2873; PAX (401) SG3-9S95; BAMffl'brownvm. brown. odu. Web page: httpi//www. brown edu. /Administration /Brown _Alunmi_Montlily/ Address correction recjuestcd PRINTED IN THK U.S.A. 4 ♦ FEBRUARY 19^6 Carrying the Mail Alaska imperiled In "Northern Exposure" (November), Roger Leo '68 laments efforts now under- way to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to oil and gas development. And with good reason. The refuge constitutes the only conservation unit in the United States that protects a complete spectrum of arctic landscape features and wildlife populations in near- pristine conditions. It development is allowed to go tbrward, the region's deli- cate ecology and sensitive wildlife will be irreparably harmed. The principal lesson to be learned from the Ex.xcii laldez oil spill is that we cannot count on an accident-free envi- ronment where the production and deliv- ery of oil IS concerned. The irrevocable destruction of ANWR and its resources simply cannot be justified, especially when energy conservation — a cleaner, more immediate, more cost-effective, and completely nondestructive "source" of energy - has only barely been tapped. Born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, i now live in New York City, where I practice environmental and corporate law with Shearman &: Sterling. In 1991, while working for the Northern Alaska Envi- ronmental Center in Fairbanks, I assisted a successful effort to block oil and gas devel- opment plans for ANWR being pushed by the Bush Administration. I have spent time in ANWR camping and hiking (1 was even charged by a grizzly bear pro- tecting her two cubs) and can attest to its natural wonder. Kriiloplu'}- D. Broil'}! '8g New York City Bravo to the BAM tor publishing Roger Leo's eye-catching photos and eloquent observations of the Arctic National Wild- life Refuge. Yet another reason to preserve the coastal plain of the refuge is the profusion TO OUR READERS Letters are always welcome, and we try to print all we receive. Preference will be given to those that address the content of the magazine. Pltiisv limit letters to 200 ivords. We reserve the right to edit for style, clarity, and length. of birds that breed there, raising their young on the fantastic "insect bloom" that occurs in the brief Arctic summer. With many species of North American birds in decline, we can ill afford to degrade this important breeding ground. Brunonians should write President Clinton in support of his vetoing legisla- tion that attempts to open the coastal plain to oil drilling. Fred Baiinigartcii '79 New York Cit>' fbaumgarten@audubon.org Tlie writer is coordinator of the Important Bird Areas Project of the National Audubon Society. — Editor Stunning elegy You've done it to me again. Virtually every BAM carries some kind of think piece that hits me squarely between the mas- toids and behind the sternum. You've done It again with Ruth [Bains Hartmann '38] and Erich Hartmann's stunning elegy on an era of horrors many wish to forget and others trv to deny ("The Children ot BuUenhuser Damin," October). Last spring in New York I experienced their "In the Camps" exhibition. Erich's photographic images and the eloquence of Ruth's captions riveted me, raised within me a wave of fiiry, and finally, made me weep. Your excerpt revived all those reactions. I've known Erich and Ruth more than twenty years. They are among the most gifted people I've ever known, and prob- ably the most civihzed. J. Roy McKechnie '33 Toronto Ivy League® Class OF 1954 Reunion Weekend i Bermuda You are cordially invited to an exclusive and unique reunion for Class of '54 Ivy League alumni in Bermuda, May 3-7, 1996, at the luxurious Lantana Colony Club. You 'II enjoy dramatic ocean views from your spacious suite and savour gourmet meals in the dining room or al fresco at the waterside La Plage Restaurant. Relax in the freshwater pool or stroll through the lush gardens. Play tennis, or golf at the nearby Robert Trent Jones-designed Port Royal Golf Course. ♦ Your extended weekend will feature private dinners and cocktail receptions as well as golf and tennis tournaments. But there will be plenty of leisure time to rekindle old friendships and begin new ones. ♦ For more information on the Class of '54 Ivy League reunion weekend, please call Copley Travel at (800) 989-4454 or (617)423-0660. BROWN ALUMNI MONTHLY ♦ 5 Eloquent reminder Bravo, '"Cover Girl" Lauren Wilcox '95 (Mail, October). Her response to Messrs. Chambrun and Fordon is an eloquent reminder that the Brown they attended isn't the only Brown. Bciijniuiii Hall '88 Los Angeles Irish history In his letter (September), Christopher Hewitt '71 Ph.D. rejects John Hume's comparison of Northern Ireland and South Africa. The conflict in Northern Ireland, Hewitt writes, "results from the unwillingness of the Nationalist minority to accept the desire of the overwhelming (Protestant) majority to remain part of the U.K." In tact, the roots of the conflict date back to at least 1541, when Henry VII crowned himself "King of the land of Ireland as united, annexed and knit for- ever to the imperial crown of England." During ensuing centuries the Enghsh government confiscated more than 75 percent of the arable land, abolished the Irish Parliament, and made it a crime for the Irish to speak their native language. In 1918 they refused to accept the results of the general election in which the pro- independence Sinn Fein parry won 70 percent of the vote. Then, after two years of fighting Nationalist forces. Parliament responded with the English Government of Ireland Act of 1920, which divided Ireland into two separate entities. Six counties remained under English rule, while the other twenty-six were granted independence. The six counties constitut- ing "Northern Ireland" had a population of 820,000 Anglo-Protestants and 430,000 Catholics. This was simply ger- rymandering on an international scale. The English continued their repressive regime. Civil rights marchers were attacked by LJlster police in the 1960s, and in Jan- uary 1972 British paratroopers shot and killed thirteen unarmed demonstrators on "Bloody Sunday." From 1971 to 1975 more than 2,000 predominantly Catholic men and women were "interned" m pris- ons for up to four years without being charged or brought to trial. That Mr. Hewitt fails to see the paral- lels between the repression of Catholics and Nationalists under English rule and the repression of black South Africans under apartheid is puzzling; that he com- pletely Ignores 450 years of history in forming his opinion is inexcusable. Conor Bohan '92 Newport, R.I. More action in Asia As a resident of Bangkok since April and an admirer ot John Foraste's work since I was an undergraduate, I was interested in his photo essay about Asia in your September issue. I thought the trip that he and [Assistant Editor] Jennifer Sutton took sounded great, it a bit whirlwind, but then I noticed something odd about all of his pictures. Most of the places Mr. Foraste and Ms. Sutton visited are large metropolises, teeming with cars and bikes and all man- ner of people. But what Mr. Foraste's photos depict are oddly quiet, solitary moments: an elevator shaft in Taipei, a doorway in Seoul and one in Bangkok, a Korean outdoor bookstore, old documents ^m^m^. «?"<■• •t^fe?.;"' 'S-:^. ■ ■j-:'.-M-^> -^ ■■:■:>*- j^ .1^^ m %:^^ tors r> r vC ■' «199G PalneWebberMamber SIPC Ill Taiwan, some Chinese men reading a bulletin board. Even those pictures shot in settings which are undoubtedly noisy ^ riders sitting in the back of a Beijing bus, a subway in Seoul, kids playing in Taipei, samlors making their way across a street in Thailand - seem strangely silent, one single moment in the midst of din. Clearly Mr. Foraste is interested in shapes and colors, but I would have liked to see more of what I think of when I think of Asia: vibrancy and movement •ind - sometimes - chaos, not static quiet. Yishaiic Ll'c 'gi Bangkok University Relations Photographer John Foraste rephes: The sampling of images to which Ms. Lee refers came together after seven other stories on East Asia had drawn from the same well of photographs. We felt there was still good material to share. While I didn't ignore the din during our wonderful trip, I agree that most ot the images beyond the opening spread - jammed with activity - are quiet. Yes. But static? No. I do naturally gravitate toward the quiet, wherever it may be. And I did- n't have to wander all that far to find it. Most significantly, however, I believe it's the photographer's job to compose - to present all manner of things in an or- ganized way - so that the quiet has move- ment and the chaotic is approachable. Egalitarian families I tbund Frances Goldscheider's review of Rhona Mahony's ('79) Kidding Ourselves (Books, October) disturbing, particularly in its use of the term "egahtarian family." By their definition, my wife and I are not raising an egalitarian family. I find such a notion objectionable. My wife graduated near the top of her class fi^om law school, but chose to stay home with our children because it was something she truly wanted to do. We dis- cussed our childrearing plans very care- fully, and each of us knows that the con- tributions of the other to our children's lives are valued and respected. It's hardly surprising that the famihes Mahony describes are having a tough time. At the risk of sounding heretical, per- haps there are some advantages to a divi- sion of labor in childrearing. But if that division is reached through a process of commitment, honesty, and understanding, isn't that egalitarian too? Barry Fagin '& Colorado Springs, Colo. Save the co-ops I recently learned that Brown plans to terminate the leases on Carberry and Mil- hous, two of the houses run by the Brown Association of Cooperative Housing (BACH). I am very unhappy with this decision and urge Brown to reconsider. As a former Watermyn House mem- ber, I tbund the experience extremely rewarding. I shared the basic elements of life with other people committed to work- ing harmoniously. Together we settled disputes, ate, cooked, bought food, cared for the house, managed our finances, and played basketball and music. The co-ops always have many more applicants than available rooms. I strongly encourage Brown to permit the contin- ued existence of Carberry and Milhous. Within the co-ops lives the spirit of self- They know It's na longer the g^overnment or corpiqrations. This economy in the coming years are probably clients of PaineWebbir. Because while other investment firms still believe the;: economy will continue to be fueled by corporate America, the investment straitegists ^^ra ,4^f thinking we bej^^fe fflete PaineWebber apart. But of greatest irnportance to, 91^ s is the .ability of our PaineWebber Investment Executives to apply research insiights to each client's individualized investn)|njt plan., To better understan* into your investment strategy' call 1-800-47t-9993 ■;^,. or a PaineWebber Investment Executive.^&«^ 'consumer comeback" may fit With More Intelligence. reliance and cooperation - values which ought to be promoted, not destroyed. Daniel Berg '93 St. Louis CHOATE ROSEMARY HALL SUMMER PROGRAMS • celebrating our 80th summer • experienced faculty • afternoon sports program • varied course offerings 'Challenge your potential in proven programs that make learning fun." Completed grades 8-12 Academic Enrichment/Credit Kennedy Institute in Government English Language Institute Writing Project Study Abroad in Paris or Spain Completed grades 6-8 CONNECT a Math/Science Program for Girls Individual program dates vary For more information call: (203) 697-2365 • fax (203) 697-2519 http://www.choate.edu NOW AVAILABLE ON THE WORLDWIDE WEB- THE BAM! starting with the April 1995 issue, portions of the Brown Alumni Monthly are available on the Internet. To reach the BAM on the World Wide Web, have your Internet connection up and a Web client program running. You will find the weSAM at http://www.brown.edu/Adminlstration /Brown_Alun-ini_Monthly/ If you need help, send s-mail to BAM@brownvm.brown.edu. Students live m the co-op houses because they want to. They are committed to building community and are learning how by doing it, not by taking a course. If the leases on Milhous and Carberry are re- voked, the number of students who get to experience this way of life will be greatly limited. It's been working well for twenty-five years. Why not continue a great Brown tradition? Jivie Berkinaii 'S4 Seattle Simihir letters were received jrom t 'irginia Biiig '85, Michel Selva '76, Barbara Gordon' 86, '87 M.A.T., and Emily Steiner '9?. - Editor \ 'ice President of Administration Walter Holnies replies: The leases forWatermyn and Milhous, which were signed and agreed to by members of BACH, allow the University the option ot discontinuing the leases with two years' notice. Because the Uni- versity has pressing space needs, particu- larly in the academic area, we have exer- cised our option to terminate the BACH leases as of August 1997. Poor sports What "great" sports coverage we continue to have in the magazine! It's gone from "wonderful" when [the late Associate Editor] Jay Barry ['50] was there to "why bother" now. In the November issue a one-and-a- half-inch-long column said, "Football 3-2, Field Hockey 3-9," etc. No mention of who they played, yards gained, scoring by quarters. Come on, sports tans - if you agree the editors can do better, please let them know. Robert Finlay '30 Akron, Ohio The November issue of the BAM (re- ceived here in early December) was yet another disappointment. Nestled among some great articles on Alaska was one (count it - one) article on sports, and that was a human-interest story on cross- country. On the same page was a small box entitled "Season Results" with the team records for the fall teams through October 16 (remember, we're talking about a pub- lication received in early December). Nowhere to be seen were articles on our great soccer team (9-0 as of October 16) or on the football team or any other team. Why? Clint Magniissen '68 Phoenix Wliile the late delivery of Mr. Magnussen's November issue is a mystery only the U.S. Postal Service can solve, u>e hasten to point out that the final deadline for Sports copy for our November issue was October 6. (We squeezed the updated season results in at the last minute.) Tlie BAM is mailed on a disk to ow' printer by the fifteenth of the month pre- ceding publication, but the writing and produc- tion occur weeks and months in advance. Please note that the football team was featured on our September sports page, the men's and women 's soccer teams in October, and men 's soccer again in December. For detailed cover- age, the Brown University Sports Foundation publishes a newsletter — weekly in the fall, biweekly the rest of the year— that is mailed to anyone who makes a modest annual contri- bution. Please contact Dave Zucconi '33, Director, Brown Spwrts Foundation, Box i()2S, Providence, R.I. 02gi2; or call (401) 86j-igoo. - Editor Last word on the Gospels I should like to point out that every- thing Pauline Seidler '92 (Mail, October) said about the authors of the Gospels ascribed to Matthew and John supports my argument. To show that the gospels of John and Matthew contain some verifiable histor- ical facts m no way proves that their writers were eyewitnesses to what they were writing about. Moreover, the pres- ence of some historically verifiable facts does not prove that all statements are true. To support taith with demonstrably unverifiable historical claims serves only to undermine that faith. In matters of faith, history, which is bound by the intel- lectual limits of human cognition, is usu- ally a "staff of broken reed, whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand and pierce it" (Isaiah 36:6). Allen M. Ward '64 Storrs, Conn. Congregational 'cultist' The editor's rejoinder to a letter from Jonathan Edwards '84 (Carrying the Mail, November) is strictly a cheap shot. The eighteenth-century Jonathan Edwards was a dingbat, a holy-roUer, a member ot the same religious cult that brought us the Salem witch trials and executions and the Massachusetts law that anyone could, on sight, kill with impunity the governor of the state of Rhode Island. Jonathan Edwards was finally driven 8 ♦ FEBRUARY I996 ( ■ \ mars & co • we are a strategy cmisulting firm serving top management of leading corporations; • since our inception in 1979, we have chosen to work for a limited number of leading international firms with whom we build long-term relationships; • we apply fact-based, quantitative analysis to competitive problems and get involved, in the implementation of our re^ommenAations; • we develop consultants with cross-industry and cross-functicmal experience; • we promote from within; • we are looking for well-balanced recent graduates with exceptional and demonstrable quantitative abilities and, language skills to join at an entry level; • if you wish to join our team, please send your resume to framine even at '^mars plaza", 124 mason street, greenwich, Connecticut 06830. -paris - london - new york - son francisco- from his pulpit because his own parish- ioners found hmi a bit too far out. John Harry Hill '^g Providence Most references give the CongregatioiiaUst cleric more credit than does reader Hill. The current edition o/'Britannica Onhne, /cr exaniple, concludes its biographical sketch of Jonathan Edivards with this observation: "Edwards's abilit)' to condiine religions intensity with intel- lectual rigour and moral earnestness, the cosmic sweep of his theological vision, his emphasis on faith as an \\\iste}iliar response to reality, his hisislence that loir is the heart of religion, and his uncompromising stand against all forms of idolatry are sonw of the reasons his lije and writings arc again being seriously studied. " — Editor Ashamed of classism I enrolled at Brown for the freedom and diversity, academic and otherwise, it promised its students. While academic freedom appears sacred, rumors ot the whittling-away of personal freedom abound: on-campus housing required tor juniors (i.e. revenue), kegs abolished (Wriston Quad, not beer, is the problem). the closing ot the co-ops, a new insular bar-code economy (more revenue!). Beyond this are the B,4Afs monthly neoliberal aristocracy reports and the president's not-quite-monthly requests for financial support of Browns "higher iiiission."The September issue contained a letter from the president discussing education and Brown's philosophy -"to encourage experimentation and intellec- tual expansion by the student." While this and similar phrases refer to our curricu- lum, shouldn't they be equally applicable to the rest of the college experience? If you're going to teach us differenriy, why not treat us ditTerentlyPThe sad truth is that our curriculum is the only thing that fundamentally separates us from our Ivy co-conspirators. Rarely is this tact more apparent than in your October reprinting of a Wall Street journal article explaining why Chev- rolet chose to advertise its new S4S,ooo Corvette in the Ivy League Magazine Network - median income of readership, $ I IS, 200. It's clear to me what President Gregorian meant when he referred to us as the "top i percent of this nation's youth." 1 could not be more satisfied with my education and the people I worked. THERE ARE DISCOVERIES TO BE MADE AT EVERY AGE. AT 65, IT'S WILLIAMSTOWN. Located in the beautiful Bcrksliires, Williamstown combines great natural beauty, a rural quality of life, cultural sophistication and the vitality of a New England college town. To this add gracious living facilities, an independent life style, community services and superb medical care available as needed. For more information please write or phone Howard Brookner at Sweetwood. iweetwooD Continuing Care Corrmiimity 1611 Cold Spring Road, Williamstown, MA 01267 413.458.8371 thought, and laughed with during my four years at Brown. Yet I am ashamed and disgusted by Brown's social, political, and economic function and the class(ism) It perpetuates. Please reach for the higher ground, humanize the philosophy behind your curriculum, climb out of the Ivy- choked morass, and set a substantive ex- ample for academia and the nation. Please realize that what you teach us is a small fraction of what we learn at Brown. The more you let us and encourage us to live, the better equipped we will be to improve the lives of others. Until that happens, leave me off the fundraising list; I'm sav- ing for a new Corvette. Kyle Young 'gi Ferndale, Calif. As a point of clarification, the Wall Street lournal reprint appeared in an advertisement placed by the Ivy League Magazine Network, which sells space for a consortium of Ivy alumni magazines and Stanford. - Editor Washburn remembered Your article ("To Struggle with God") in the September issue described the min- istrv of the late Rev. Arthur Wishburn at Brown. Even before his official appoint- ment as chaplain, he was a familiar figure on campus. He was especially supportive of my brother ('39) and me when we decided to seek ministries in the Episcopal Church. On a visit to St. Andrew's School in Barrington, Rhode Island, where our father was headmaster. Rev. Washburn said he considered the young men of Brown to be his special family. Rev. John H. Evans '40 Portsmouth, R.I. Grammar and probability Your October issue is before me. While it might he appropriate to claim (you did not) thatjosiah Carberry had missed more meetings than anyone, it is definitely not the case that Jack Lubrano '24 ("The roads taken") has "seen more home games than anyone." Although it is probably ten years since I last saw him. Jack was defi- nitely sonu'onc at that time. Therefore, it is possible that he has seen more home games than anyone else, but not more than anyone. On another subject, Alan Brown '69 M.A.T. points out in July's mail column that ceasing to have children after the first boy does not alter the gender mix of the population. This subject was also 10 ♦ FEBRUARY 1996 The Paul Stuart Label. Not available at fine stores everywhere. To RECEIVE A COPY OF OUR NEW Spring C4r/lLOGL/£, CALL 800.678.8278 RvuFSOiart MADISON & 45™ • NEW YORK JOHN HANCOCK CENTER • CHICAGO 800.678.8278 treated some months ago in Marilyn Vos Savant's column m Parade. How to explain the difference between theory and exper- iment? One possibihty is that, while the independent probabihties of having a boy or a girl are the same, the dependent probabilities after having already had a girl may not be. Paul F Sullivan '68 Ph.D. Westwood, Mass. Scholar's query I am a graduate student at the University of Manchester writing my doctorate on novelist Angela Carter and researching her journalism. As Angela Carter taught cre- ative writing at Brown in the 1980s, I am writing to inquire whether she ever con- tributed to any Brown University pub- lications. Anyone with leads on Angela Carter's journalism may get in touch with me either via e-mail (mfcpgcc@fsi.art.man. ac.uk) or at Department of English. Uni- versity of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, England. Thank you very much. Charlotte Crofts Manchester, England In praise of October Belated kudos on the October 199s issue, which was outstanding from cover to cover. Arthur Blaustein's essay and bibli- ography were particularly timely for me as I prepared a lay-led liturgy on home- lessness and hunger, with readings from Ironweed, for my local Methodist church. I was also very pleased to learn of Brown's plans to occupy the Old Stone building, an unforgettable Providence landmark; I am mailing my check to assist with this effort today. Thanks for keeping me posted on things Providential. Patricia R. McMillen '73 Chicago Oi^ A NEW LOOK The B.-\M was last redesigned nine years ago. and it seemed to the editors that it was time tor a change. Credit for the new look in this issue goes to Art Director Kathr>'n dc Boer and Designer Sandra Delany. who began working with us on the redesign last summer; and to the generous advice of editorial board member Tom Bodkin '75, design director of the NewYork Times. You'll also notice several new departments. The revamped BAM'\% a work in progress, and we welcome your comments. - .A.D. Ireland's very green. Of course, it's yellow, fuchsia and violet, too. The Irish countrysitie is heautijul and the people are charming But did you know about Duhlm's ma^ni/icftil theatres, our legendary (fo\j courses or our lolfc century castlfs? These are just a lew thmgs our Discover Ireland vacations ofjer You can ei'eii cfcoose to stay IH cozy BbcB's, country manor homes and, oj course, luxurious castles Prices start at $42 a day The details are in our colorful 1996 Discover Ireland brochure For a free copy, call i . 800 SHAMROCK, ext i And discover how colorful Ireland really is DISCOVER IRELAND VACATIONS hr AerLingus ifir S42/person/(lay based on twin occupancy. Includes Group A cat rental and BtB accommodations- Through 5/31/96. Airfare additional. BROWN ALUMNI MONTHLY ♦ I I Under THE Elms IVY LEAGUE campuses are generally perceived as oases of quiet libraries and sedate classrooms. But at an urban university such as Brown, the violence of modern Mfe can suddenly come crashing in. At a Sayles Hall parry three-and- a-half years ago a Providence teenager aimed a loaded gun at a student and pulled the trigger, despite a Brown police officer's attempts to intervene. Fortunately, the gun did not fire. More recently, students last fall reported hearing shots during a brawl at an Alumnae Hall fraternity party where a Brown police ofEcer and a fire marshal were assaulted. Such incidents added urgency to President Grego- rian 's decision in December that Brown's pohce will re- main unarmed. The decision came after months of public and private debate among police, students, faculty, and administrators. Some partici- pants argued that educational institutions by their nature are models of civil society where students and faculty- can think and live without weapons. Others - including many of Brown's police offi- cers - find this view naive and believe that shielding an urban campus is increasingly risky without the last resort of firearms. At the heart of the debate is the deterrent value of a loaded weapon. Would stu- dents have been in less danger if the officers at the 1992 and 1995 incidents had been armed? Not necessarily, says George Smartt, director of security at Columbia, whose seventy-five security officers do not carry guns. (Dennis Boucher, director of Brown's police and security- services. SLAN LYN( H Biting the Bullet The debate — again — over anuiiiq Bwum police and his supervisors declined to be interviewed tor this report.) "Sometimes guns are a reason for the escalation of physical confrontation and violence," Smartt observes. He says he will never recommend arming his officers, even on a New York City campus where one of them was shot and killed by a trespasser eight years ago. With the NYPD minutes away, he says, "1 don't think there's a need." In New Haven, Connecti- cut, however, the Glock 9-mm semiautomatic guns carried by Yale police officers are a fact of campus fife. The pistol is "a defensive weapon only," explains Chief of Police Allan Guvet. "I've never heard a word of controversy about it."Yale IS not alone. A recent survey by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators reveals that the larger the campus, the more likely it is patrolled by armed officers. Guyet believes each uni- versity must evaluate its prox- imity to local violence and crime, but, he adds, "one would think urban institutions would be more prone to that." Brown's pohce officers may agree, yet students - the people they're protecting - voted overwhelmingly against arming police in a November nonbmding referendum. Gregorian's decision, which ensures that Providence police will continue to han- dle serious crime on campus, has quelled the controversy — for now. It is the second time the president has ruled on the matter in three years, an indication that the question, which first surfaced twenty- seven years ago, is still very much alive. After all, as a con- sultant studying the issue back in 1969 noted, criminals "do not look upon the col- lege campus as a sanctuary that is off-limits." That attitude IS unlikely to change. - J.S. What's in a name? For the new Brown Alumni Association - rechristened from the Associated Alumni of Brown University (AABU), the group's moniker since 1919 - the answer is: a whole new identity. "When I said 'the Associated Alumni' to people, they'd ask, 'What's that?' " says association president Carolyn "Kelly" Cardall Newsom '62. "So I'd say, 'the alumni association,' and they'd know just what I meant." But the change from AABU to BAA represents more than a clar- ification. "Re-launch and renewal is what this is all about," says Newsom. Last year an AABU task force rec- ommended that the association add more services and double the number of alumni involved in its activi- ties. Those recommendations are being implemented this year. - A.D. Shearing a Name A )!cu' aluiiuii association - sort of 12 ♦ FEBRUARY I996 Under THE Elms McNamara's War /);'(/ two iiiillioii people Ihwe 10 (He? J.\MES BLIGHT, research asso- ciate at the Watson Institute fur International Studies, didn't know what to expect when former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara plioncd List February. The two men had become actquamted through Blight's 1993 "critical oral history" project at Brown on the Cuban missile crisis. The lanky American: James Blight compares notes in Hanoi with Luu Doan Huynh, formerly Viet- nam's ambassador to Thailand and the country's senior expert on the United States. Now. with McNamara about to publish a book on the Vietnam War, would BUght be interested in taking the same approach toward that subject? "Since the Watson Institute is the last bastion of complete and utter dilettantism," Blight drily notes, "we said, 'Viet- nam? Sure, whv not?' " Nine months later McNamara and Blight were on a flight to Hanoi. McNamara's book, /)/ Rcf- iosi>cct: The Tiuijci/)' tiiid LcsiOiis of I 'icnujDi, triggered bold headlines and withering criti- cism last spring for the admis- sion that McNamara and his colleagues in the Kennedy SINCE LAST TIME... The CIA recruited on campus for the tlrst time in five years. . . . The undergraduate student council formed HUGS, a conmuttee to study why Brown students don't date more. . . . More than 2,500 people applied for early admission, 10 percent more than last year, prompting Dean of the College Kenneth Sacks to call Brown "the hottest University in the country, and perhaps the world.". . .After a record sixteen wins, the men's soccer team ended their season with a NCAA tournament loss to number-one ranked Virginia. . . . Having raised $482 million by the end of 1995, the Comprehensive Cam- paign hopes to reach Ssio million by June 30; more than 70 percent of the faculrv has participatecl. ... In Decem- ber |ohn Carter Brown library officials discovered a map missing from a seventeenth-century book, apparently one of many rarities stolen from libraries along the East Coast by a man looking to profit from the rapidly grow- ing market for antique maps. . . .The 1996 wall calendar "Studmuftlns of Science" was published, featuring assis- tant professor of biomaterials Robert Valentini as "Dr. September." and Johnson administrations "were wrong, terribly wrong" to intensify' the war. The public response to the book convinced McNamara that something more was required. He wanted explanations, and if possible, vindication. Didn't his decisions have a rational basis, even if history has shown them to be tragically wrong? And didn't his coun- terparts in North Vietnam also make horrific mistakes that prolonged the war and con- tributed to the deaths of more than two million Vietnamese? In Hanoi in November. Blight, McNamara, and several scholars began the politically delicate task of organizing an unprecedented conference, which will take place there in late 1996 or early 1997. Previ- ously secret U.S. and Viet- namese documents will be declassified and studied before- hand to help a small group ot Wreckage of an American B-52 bomber on display in Hanoi. "I was far from the only veteran of the 1960s antiwar movement in our group to fight back tears while staring at this pile of metal," Blight says. former top-level American and Vietnamese officials discuss their reasoning in conducting the war. Interest is already high. "I must have put oft' 100 people already," Blight says, including such prestigious writers as Neil Sheehan and Anthony Lucas. McNamara is due to speak at Brown on February 15, in part to attract more publicity for the conference. The attitude of the Viet- namese has so far been en- couraging. Blight says. "They are very surprised that the war IS not behind us. as it is more or less tor them. They are hoping this wiU increase their o\-erall credibilitv' with the American people. They feel thev grovel as much as they can tor normalizing relations with the United States, and still some Congressman can stand up with a list of eight people missing in action and hammer away at them." As for McNamara, Blight savs he is "almost a hero" in Vietnam. On their second day in Hanoi, according to confer- ence organizer Janet Lang, one young hotel worker approached and asked if he could have his picture taken with McNamara. "Four other people dropped what they were doing and ran over to get into the picture." Lang says, describing an event repeated several times during their stay. Blight e.xplains that the Vietnamese have a tradition in which the old warrior returns lace 111 life to the scene of his greatest battle. "Now," Blight says, "they see this old, coura- geous man coming over just to pay tribute. "What he's doing leaves them speechless." - N.B. BROWN ALUMNI MONTHLY ♦ I Under THE Elms Building Codes Movie sets fake center stage WHEN Dietrich Neu- mann watches Blade Runner, he's less interested in Harrison Ford than in the buildings around him. To Neumann, an architectural historian, the 1982 film's sets are tableaux of director Rid- ley Scott's grim vision ot the Los Angeles of 2019. They are, m Neumann's words, a nightmare realization of today's "fears of urban decay, [of] the growing threat ot pollution and potentially de- structive class differences." Neumann, an assistant professor of art and architec- ture, examines sets from cin- ema's past seventy years in his exhibit Film Architecture: Set Designs from Metropolis to Blade Runner, which opened this winter at the Bell Gallery. "What we tried to do," he says, "is look first ot all at architecture that was created only for a film, and therefore enters a very spe- cific relationship with the plot, mood, and psychological conditions of the movie." hi the sets, as well as in the models, drawings, and paint- ings used to guide their con- struction, Neumann found subtleties not always apparent ill a film's acting and script. Most interesting to Neu- mann IS the criticism of con- temporary architecture that emerges from popular films, a criticism tar more intluential with the public than the specialized writings of archi- tectural commentators. Neumann sees the tradition beginning in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), m which German e.xpressionist design is a setting for insanity. But it is Fritz Lang's Metropolis (1927) that sets the standard for acer- bic architectural criticism; in it the director looks at the rise ot the modern city and creates, according to Neu- mann, "a dystopian projection ot an ominous future mega- lopolis." A more sympathetic vision is rendered in The Foitntalnhead (1949), in which Gary Cooper portrays an architect struggling to over- come old-tashioned prejudices against the modern sky- scraper he wants to build. Many of Neumann's insights were inspired by the models and set paintings he includes in Tlhn Architecture. "When you watch a film," he explains, "you're confined to the amount of time the director chooses to dwell on [the architecture] ."Because that may be only a tew sec- onds or minutes, Neumann and his colleagues can more thoroughly understand the director's ideas by later e.xam- ming the models and paint- ings. Unfortunately, the break- through represented by the recent movie Toy Story means that such sketches and mod- els may soon become obso- lete, as sets increasingly are designeci using the more Above: The City at Night. From Dick Tracy (1990). Matte painting, acrylic on glass, by Harrison Ellenshaw, Peter Ellenshaw, Paul Lasaine, Michael Lloyd, David Mattingly, and Leon Harris. Left: Dr. Caligari's Hut. From Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari (1920). Colored pencil and pastel on brown paper, by Walter Reimann (German, 1887-1936). ephemeral tool of computer graphics. On the other hand, such sophisticated new technolo- gies can create imaginary worlds never before possible. Neumann is already thinking about those depicted in virtual reality programs and in such CD-ROMs as Myst. For most of this century, he says, "Film has been a testing ground tor new architectural ideas." For most of the next, those ideas are likely to become wilder and more vividly real- ized than ever before. - N.B. Film Architecture: Set Dcsl'^ns from Metropolis to Blade Runner opens April 4 at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills, California. 4 ♦ F H B R U A R Y I 9 9 6 Under THE Elms Prisoner of Hope Coiiiiini to icniis with a history we'd rather conceal CORNEL WEST gripped the podium, knit his face into a fierce scowl, and let his voice rise to a bellow then fall to a whisper. On stage at the Salomon Center on December 12, the grandson of a Baptist minister resembled a preacher in his pulpit, lead- ing the congregation to ulti- mate truth. When he finished speaking, listeners reached out to shake his hand as if he possessed a healing touch. It's not, however, a gentle touch. West, a professor of Afro-American studies at Har- vard and author of the best- selling book Race Matters, splits open wounds inflicted by subtle, unconscious racism as well as by the deliberate Cornel West: "How hypocritical can you get?" and overt kind. Consider "wel- tare queens," he suggests, a popular metaphor among con- servative politicians. For years black women worked the fields, cleaned plantation owners' houses, and cared tor generations of white children. Where did the reputation tor laziness come trom? West wonders. "How hypocritical can you get?" When he was a Har\ard uiiderijraduate and racial issues A Brutal Peace As A MIDDLE EAST POLICY ANALYST and a Clinton advisor, Martin Indyk has long been m the busi- ness of interpreting diplomacy's subtle and nuanced maneuverings, a talent particularly useful in his present job as U.S. Ambassador to Israel. Yet less than three weeks after the November assassination of Israeli Prime Minis- ter Yitzhak Rabin, Indyk (pictured above at left with Rabin) reminded a packed Salomon Center that some- times the meaning of events is all too clear. "Sadly, like Moses before him, Rabin was denied the opportunity to guide his people into a real promised land of comprehensive peace," Indyk said during his Stephen A. Ogden Lecture. Rabin's death, he continued, reminds both Arab and Jew of the "brutal" way "that historic opportunities, particularly in the Middle East, don't linger." Seize diem, he said, "in the moment they present themselves," or they may suddenly be snatched away. - Richard P. Morlii came up in class. West remem- bers, everyone looked at him and asked, "What does black America think?" A similar lumping-together happened last fall during the Million Man March in Washington, D.C., when many whites assumed that Louis Farrakhan spoke for all black people. "Can there be only one head Negro in charge?" West asks. Racism cannot be over- come until we have the courage to "attack" our own deeply held convictions, he believes. "To talk about race in America." West says, "is to explore the wilderness inside ourselves and to come to terms with a history that we'd rather conceal."West isn't optimistic that Americans can lav down their prejudices to meet people different from themselves halfway. But he is always, he says, "a prisoner of hope." — /. S. Tribal Pride Watching over native traditions HER NAME -Wilma Man- killer - puUs the curious into lecture haUs across the country. The writer and for- mer chief of the Cherokee Nation admits, to the disap- pointment of some, that it is not an earned nickname, but a title awarded to families Former Cherokee Chief Mankiller who lead and watch over vil- lages. In the Salomon Center on December 1 1 , Mankiller reminded her audience of the injustices done to native Americans over the centuries: tribes forced repeatedly from their homelands and their governments disbanded. Man- killer was herself "relocated" from her home in Oklahoma during a 1957 uprooting. His- tory has convinced her that "we do better as a people" when governed by members of their own tribes and not by the U.S. government. "From the outside," she said, "you may see all the social indica- tors of decline, but from the inside I see an extremely tenacious people interested in holding on to their tradi- tions."— J. S. BROWN ALUMNI MONTHLY ♦ I <, Under THE Elms Budget Talk All update on Brou'ii's balance sheet Market value of Brown's endowment as of June 30, 1995: $688 million Highest level ever of the endowment: $6XH million Increase in value of endowment during FY 1994-95: $r)6 million Rate of return for endowment during FY 1994-95: 7.8 percent Money the Campaign for the Rising Generation raised by June 30, 1995: S4>o million By December 31, 1995: S482 million THE confusing economic vertigo of the 1990s goes on. With the Federal Reserve trying to tweak the economy into motion by lowering interest rates, the dizzying growth of a decade re- cedes further into a malaise of corporate downsiz- ings, demands for balanced budgets, and reckon- ings with debt. In Brown's newly released annual report, Donald Reaves (left), the University's chief fi- nancial otTicer, outhnes a number of steps Brown has taken to adapt. The goal has been for Brown to solidify Its finances while increasing its endow- ment. In the eyes ofWall Street, the measures are paying oft": Last June, in the first upgrade since 1980, Moody's Investors Service raised the Uni- versity's credit rating to its highest level yet, only one step below the highest ranking of AAA. How did Brown manage this? Of course, any institution that depends on federal money for part of its budget must take into account the volatility of Washington politics. Reaves and his colleagues have compensated by keeping their assumptions about income conservative while aggressively rais- ing new money, especially through the compre- hensive Campaign for the Rising Generation. The bottom line has been a budget that has grown less than five percent in each of the last five years and has been balanced every year since 1978-79. "Still," Reaves concludes in his report, "the need tor fiscal caution persists." — N.B. A Hard Look Brown heioines an alcoliol-stiii1ic< leader IT was, no doubt, a temper- ate celebration last tall after the Center tor Alcohol and Addiction Studies, whose di- rector is physician David Lewis '57, received two landmark gifts propelling it to the front line ot alcoholism scholarship. The first, a $i.9-million grant, will fund a study of emergency-room patients with alcohol-related injuries and the intervention techniques that may help prevent their re- currence. The second gift was a is.ooo-item collection on alcoholism and Alcoholics Anonymous, a hodge-podge ot books, pamphlets, posters, and other miscellany that illumi- nate the role of the American temperence movement and the impact ot AA on Ameri- can culture and societv. How to Do Everything Self-help hooks are older than yon think LONG BEFORE do-it-your- selt gurus Norm Abrams and Martha Stewart ever dreamed ot picking up a cord- less drill or stenciling brush, Benjamin Franklin was advis- ing colonists how to build /;;'.< latest creation: the Franklin stove. His 1744 instruction manual, An Account of the New Iiit'ciilcd Pcniisylvanian Fire- places: Wliercin tlieir Construc- tion and Manner of Operation is Ptuticiilarly Explained, may not have been as popular back then as Martha's 1992 Rcno- vating u'itli Style is these days, but judging from Franklin's illustrations facing page), the two home-improvement atficionados certainly share an eye tbr detail. Franklin is one ot several authors the John Carter Brown Library has featured in an exhibit of colonial how-to books this winter. The books began springing up during the isoos, after Europeans developed print- ing techniques and began 16 • FEBRUARY 1996 Under THE Elms Turn the sound off: To judge from these illustrations, do-it- yourselfers in the centuries before public television were not so bad off. Left: From Peter Apian's Astronomicum Cae- sareum (1540), an illustration describing the movements of heavenly bodies. Below: From Benjamin Franklin's An Account of the New Invented Pennsyl- vanlan Fire-Places.... (1744). Digging Out Stats Snowed by the ntiDibers Hk:h winds, sleet, and the Blizzard of '96: So far this winter the mtrepid Brown bear has faced down the Northeast's riunous weather, though storms did shut down the University administration on three separate days. Re- porting for work even then, however, were crews from the plant operations department, who moved close to a million cubic feet of snow from November 27 to January 15. Total seasonal snow accumulation through January 11: sf).? inches Total accumulation from January I through January 11: 33.2 inches Total cost of snow removal through January 15: Si 7s. 000 Total snow budget for 1995-96: $150,000 Total sand used: 120 tons Total salt used: ^s tons looking beyond their borders to the New Worlcl and other exotic locales. Titles in the exhibit run the gamut from the 1668 How 10 be a Parish Priest to Indians to How to Make a Bomb, no doubt a bestseller in pre- Revolutionary 1748. One ot the earliest volumes in the library's display is the 1599 blockbuster Hon' to Conquer llic New World, by Bernardo de Vargas Machuca — surely the How to Win Friends and Influence People of its time. -J.S. Raw Material WHERE DO POEMS COME FROM? Enquiring minds often ask ques- tions like this of John Ashbery (left), the Pulitzer-Prize-wmning poet who spoke at the Salomon Center 111 November as part of the President's Lecture Series. The answer often comes as a surprise. "I was eating sushi the other day," Ashbery said 111 introducing his poem "Snow." "The wrapper had a short line, then a longer one, then a short one - and so on, with a long sloppy line at the end. I decided to write a poem that looked like that." c>^ BROWN ALUMNI MONTHLY ♦ I7 Thomas Weiss and Larry Minear The co-directors of the Hunuviitarianism and War Project argue that indecision only steepens the cost of helping countries gripped by barbarism and genocide. Thomas Weiss title: Associate Director, Watson Insti- tute for International Studies. education: B.A., Harvard; M.A., Ph.D., Princeton. specialty: International security issues; the United Nations. Larry Minear title: Co-director, Hunianitananisni and War Project. education: B. a., Yale; M. a., Yale Divin- ity School; M.A., Harvard. specialty: International humanitarian and development issues. Recent U.N. and U.S. inicnvntions In such places as Rii'anda and Bosnia have fn^ijijciri/ widespread debate on the Inlerphiy between hnnianitarlan and tiilhtary aid. How can both be efjectli'e? LM: You can't have a one-size-fits-all approach. You can't parachute in aid peo- ple who haven't done their homework in understanding the nature of a conflict: Is It civil war, genocide, a scarcity' of re- sources? Close collaboration ber^veen aid personnel and international troops may or may not be useful. As the U.S. moves away from the certainties of the Cold War - when whatever counteracted the global communist threat was deemed a legiti- mate reason to commit forces — it is hav- ing to develop new approaches. It's in that crossroads area that the U.S. and the U.N. are trying to choose among the forks in the road. hn V theie also the groniu}; criticism that hu- manitarian-aid organizations sometimes appear i}iore Interested In ensuring tluir oii'ii future snrvh'al than in helping countries oi'ercome their dependence on such aid? TW: Humanitarian agencies are not unlike the rest of us - they are concerned about the size of their budgets. One ot the most effective strategies for fundrais- ing and making your organization more visible often means becoming a "crisis junkie." The former director of Oxfam once called it a medieval morality play, in which white kniiihts arrive from the European or North American continents to save the helpless, hopeless, hapless local victims. It's an effective fundraismg strategy, but It also creates inappropriate images of local populations. The ii'ar In the Balkans has also called into question the efficacy of the U.N. Is It realistic to think NATO troops will succeed when U.N. soldiers did not? TW: The U.N. force was a crazy quilt, not a serious military operation. They had the rhetoric fi:om [headquarters in] Ne\v York to do what was necessary, but on the ground they had no means of doing what was necessary. It was a series of cha- rades, which has detracted from U.N. and NATO credibility. LM: While NATO may have a more as- sertive mandate and more political will than the U.N. peacekeeping operation, some of the realities on the ground have not changed. More than military muscle will be necessary to turn the corner on violence. President Clinton, in announcing the deploy- ment oj U.S. troops In Bosnia, said they would return in about a year. How much difference can a year )nake In an ethnic confllcl with such deep historical roots? TW: There is an absolute arrogance in thinking things can be frxed in a year. You need to look at this as a long-term police measure. If we really provide time for these societies to get themselves back to- gether, you're talking about a quarter- century. Not at the level of 60,000 troops, but a long time 111 which you'd have to have outsitie, police-hke soldiers around. Wliat difference would earlier interreinlon by Europe and the I ' .S. have made? LM:The dissolution ot the Yugoslav Re- public, the bloodshed, and the sutfenng of the past three or tour years is a major in- dictment of the international community for failing to act earlier. Had there been tougher measures taken as the unraveling was beginning, there would have been less suffering and more efTective humani- tarian work. 117;)' didn't that happen? LM: It was hard for Europeans to fashion a Europe-wide foreign policy when there were bilateral relationships coming into play - for example, the Germans have his- 18 • FEBRUARY 1996 tone ties to Croatia, so they moved quickly to recognize Croatia without any preconditions. And the U.S. was in the throes of the Soniaha ordeal, a bitter expe- rience that taught Americans the dangers of intervening and caused a puUing back of U.S. involvement in international efforts. .S(i Bosiiiii irprc\