R 1995 Com mence

Summer I995
Commence:m ent 1995
AIN COAT AND TASSLES FLUTtered across Fo under's Green, but the
rain held off just long eno ugh for 274 ·
Haverfordians to receitve their bachelor's
degrees in a chilly outdoor ceremony on
Su nday morning, May 14. T he graduates
received their diplom as from President
Tom Kessi nger after li stening to the proffered wisdom of five honorary degree
recipients: Roy W. Gutman '66, a
Pulitzer Prize-winning; journalist, correspondent and author, and the International ecurity Corresjpondent for Newsday; Katha Pollitt, a writer, poet, educator, political essayist, a nd feminist;
William Julius Wilson , the Lucy Flower
University Professor of Sociology and
Public Policy and Director of the Center
for the Study of Urbar1 Inequality at the
University of Chicago ; George Willoughby, a reacher activist, peacemaker and
Friend committed to nonviolence in the
struggle for freedom and equal opportunity; and Lillian Willoughby, dietician,
teacher, and Friend, and advocate for
nonviolent social change and personal
empowerment.
Excerpts from their speeches follow:
R
Lillian and George Willoughby receive honorary doctorates ofhumane letters from Pmidmt Tom Kessinger during
1995 commencement exercises.
Roy W. Gutman: "My only wish is that
you have no illusions. A political and
moral divide still exists in the real world.
The new frontier today is between civilization and barbarism. It is not hard to find,
just consult the headlines. The real news
today is about the breakdown of order,
and the attempt by governments, some
broke, some corrupt, to eradicate whole
mism are finally being retired. Ideas about
The People, Progress, Masculinity and
Femininity, The Family, Government. It's
a volatile and even scary time, true,
because all those old ideas helped keep
people steady. Helped them feel that they
understood the world, even if they didn't
always like what they saw. Be that as it
may, they no longer perform that function
any more. We are better off without them.
You young people of today have an excit-
cannot work together in a common cause.
It promotes the idea that Americans have
common interests and concerns that cross
racial and class boundaries. The divide
between the suburbs and the central city is
in many respects a racial one. It is vitally
important, therefore, to emphasize city/suburban cooperation, not separation. And
finally to endorse the idea, really endorse the
idea, that all groups, including those in the
throes of poverty, should be able to achieve
Roy W. Gutman
Katha Pollitt
William julius Wilson
nations. I'm tallcing about Bosnia, about
Rwanda, about Chechntya.
It is critical for the future of all of us
that the best-educated people from the sole
remaining super power, come to grips with
this real world. There will come a time
when you have to make a judgment, rake a
risk, stand up for something that matters,
and see it through. And with the foundation of personal and intellectual integrity,
the values you have absorbed and tested
here, and the discipline of honest integrity,
you will know what to do when it counts."
ing task before you. You must not only
understand the world, but you will have to
reinvent the very categories by which the
world can be understood. I wish you the
very best of luck. "
full membership in society because the
Katha Pollitt: "I think we're on the brink
of a very exciting age, one in which the old
ideas which motivated my youthful opti-
William Julius Wilson: "I want to take
the opportunity to present the following
challenge to the members of the graduating class: to take part in the slowly developing movement to promote racial unity
in this country.
I have in mind a vision that promotes
values of racial and inter-group harmony
and unity and rejects the commonly held
view that race is so divisive that whites,
blacks, Latinos and other ethnic groups
problems of economic and social marginality rest with the inequities in society at large,
not with group defi.ciencies."
George Willoughby: "One thing I found
very important and learned to cultivate all
these years is to question everything I've
learned. I am hopeful and assume you've had
a lot of training in that at Haverford: to
question that which your professors, the
experts, tell you-to question the culture
around you. This is what the inquiring mind
means to me. It will get you in trouble, but
trouble's a good thing: it keeps you awake.
The second thing I found very helpful
continued on Page 2
Page2
New Concentration in
Neural and Behavioral Science
W
Tree hundred and
six new faces
belonging to the
Class ofI999 will
arrive on campus
Wednesday, August
30. One hundred
and forty-five men
and r62 women,
including six foreign
and 4I minority
students, were
drawn .from 2,622
applicants-the
largest applicant
pool in the College·'s
history. Fifty-two
percent, or I78 stu·dents, hail.from the
Mid-Atlantic
region, while the
next largest group of
students, 20 percent,
represent the New
England area.
On this year's
program for ((Customs Week" is a
viewing ofthe
movie Edward
Scissorhands , a
satirical look at the
plight ofan outsider
entering an established community.
Small groups of
.freshmen, upperclassmen and faculty
will then discuss
how this modernday fable might
apply to their new
lives on campus.
HAT' IN A BRAIN?
T he answer to this
question may lie within the
grasp of Haverford students
thanks to the development of
a new concentration which
allows the merging of ideas
from psychology and biology
and provides opportunity for
students to explore behavioral research and the study
of brain structure and funcnon.
The Concentration in
Neural and Behavioral Sciences, administered by the
department of psychology at
Haverford and the departments of biology and psychology at Bryn Mawr, combine
traditional coursework in psychology, including laboratory
work, with a broad range of
courses in the natural and
physical sciences. Students are
expected to synthesize these
behavioral and biological
approaches in their senior theSIS .
Haverford psychology
chair and advisor for the new
concentration, Marilyn
Boltz, credits the rise of
interest in neuroscience to
advances in the synthesis of
biology and psychology.
"Over the past decade or so,
a new interdisciplinary field
called neuroscience has
emerged from the fields of
physiological/behavioral psychology and biology. At its
best, neuroscience is
informed both by sensitivity
to the difficulties in classifying and interpreting behavior
and by mastery of the tech nical skills needed to study
the phys iology of the brain.
In other words," says Boltz,
"the ideal neuroscientist is
trained both as a psychologist and a biologist. "
With this ideal in mind,
the Co ncentratio n in Neural
and Behavioral Science will
be of particular val ue for two
kinds of students: those planning to go on to medical
school and those planning to
continue the study of either
biology or psychology. Boltz
explains, "Many physicians
leave medical school with litde research training in the
behavioral sciences. Experience in the concentration
should put students one step
ahead if they choose to pursue a career in medical
research. "
Training in the neurosciences will also prepare students for graduate study and
careers in a variety of settings, including academic
departments in psychology
and biology and research centers affiliated with medical
schools.
Comme-n cement in Review
continued from Page I
is to trust that tiny voice of
.
.
.
conscience m me-not m you
or somebody else that says, "I
know"-but trust your own
conscience. It too will get yo u
into trouble. You'll make mistakes.
The third thing is to cultivate community. None of us
can do this alone. We need
each other; we need a community. I found a basic community in the Religious Society of Friends. I wasn't born
that way. I'm a "convinced"
Friend, but I had to learn, and
I'm still learning. W ithout
community, I could do nothing. That's a humbling
thought, but my few years of
life testify to it.
The fourth thing that's
important to me is to get
involved. Don't sit back and
say, "Oh, it's a hell of a wo rld
we're living in. It's a terrible
world. There's nothing I can
do." There is something you
can do.
I learned also that nothing
is permanent. Everything
changes. Tha1c's good to
remember, it's humbling. We
come into this world with
nothing, and we leave it with
nothing. In between those two
important events in our lives,
there's a lor of change. Don't
be afraid of change. Embrace
it. Enjoy it. It can give you a
lot of fun; it can also get you
in a lor of trouble.
Good luck to you as you
face this very troubled world,
and maybe you can make it
better."
Lillian Willoughby: "I wan t
to remind you that each one
of you is very precious. And
then next to you is another
precious human being, on the
right of you and on the left of
you and in the audienceeach one of us is a precious
human being. And we're all
here together to celebrate that.
But let us not forget that
every child, every adult and
every older person in the
world-each one is a precious
human being.
As I was thinking about
talking with you, a phrase
kept rumbling around in my
head. And the phrase was
"keep your head up," even
though all the rest of the people around you lose their
heads. And I think that's
appropriate today as well.
Keep our heads and our
hearts clear as to what we
believe and how we live our
lives. Come from our center,
and in my experience, every
time I come from the center
of where I am, everybody
respects 1r."
Conference Explores Education and the Culture of Peace
A
RETREAT-LIKE SETTING AND AN
atmosphere of renewal and enrichment made for a successful and informative June gathering when Haverford hosted rhe r6rh annual conference of the
Friends Association for Higher Education.
This year's theme was "Education and the
Culture of Peace: Teaching, Learning and
Decision-Making."
Several hundred representatives from
secondary schools, colleges and universities took part in a stimulating program of
lectures, workshops and discussions combined with excursions to local sites of
Quaker and historical interest.
The group focused on two queries
concerning the future of education: how
the classroom and institution would
change if the Quaker belief of God in
everyone was taken seriously, and how
governance in institutions would change if
they relied more fully upon rhe Quaker
decision-making process. Highlights of the
conference included a discussion of the
honor code at Haverford with Randy
Milden, dean of the college, athletic director Greg Kannerstein '63 and director of
psychological services, Richard Webb; the
opening plenary led by David Mallery '45,
an ed ucational consultant and director of
professional development for the National
Veteran Ha verfordian and active member ofthe Friends Service Committee Steve Cary '37 (center} joins Mary Arnett
ofthe Philadelphia Yearly M eeting Peace Committee and Kevin Clements of George Mason University for a discussion
ofteaching international peacemaking.
Association oflndependent Schools; and
keynote addresses by Michael J. Sheeran,
S.J., author of Beyond Majority Rule: vote-
less Decisions in the Religious Society of
Friends; and Mary Rose O 'Reilley, author
of The Peaceable Classroom.
Other popular workshops at the fi:mrday event included "Moral Development
in Friends Schools" with Irene McHenry
from the Friends Council on Education,
"Teaching Medical Ethics'' with P. Rand
Brown of the Johns Hopkins Medical
School and "Cooperative Learning
Through Living History and Story Telling"
with William C. Kashatus of th e William
Penn Charter School in Philadelphia.
Pagt3
Summer Research on Campus
HYSICS MAJOR SCOTI HARRISON
'96, is spending cime in the observatory this summer helping to complete a
research project undertaken by former
provost Bruce Partridge and Italian
astronomer Alberto Franceschini. Using
the "AIPS " (Astronomical Image Processing System) on the observatory's new
microcomputer, Scott is part of a team
measuring radio-quie1: galaxies which up
to now have received :little attention.
"Bright radio-loud sources, such as
quasars, have already been studied to a
great extent," says Scott, "but the low-end
sources are virtually uncharted territory".
The observatory's Spare 2 computer,
nicknamed "Icarus," is able to take raw
data from ob ervatories, such as the
renowned NRAO observatory (National
Radio Astronomy Observatory) in Socorro
ew M exico, and make image maps
which may then be analyzed.
FeUow re earcher and physics major Jennifer Batty '96 is based in Padua, northern
Italy for the summer working on final formu:lations and mathematical calcu1acions
for the project, which is slated to be published this fall. By "mapping out" astronomical images and analyzing each source
of energy, be it a nebu1a or exploding star,
the researchers hope to pinpoint the number and brightness produced by each lowend radio wave source, thus helping to
determine what mechanisms cause the sort
of energy these under-studied sources produce, and how faint sources have evolved.
Harrison and Batty are just some of the
P
installacion and creacion
of an operacion manual
for the CoUege's new 12
inch casse-grain telescope.
On another part of
campus, Mark Sloan '96,
Mathew Abraham '97
and Michelle Morreale
'97 are working alongside Haverford physicist
Walter Smith to study
conduccivity at the
atomic leveL The students are designing and
building two scanning
tunneling microscopes,
which are capable of
Scott Ha"ison '96 with the observatory's Spare 2 computer
imaging individual
35 students in the n at~Jral and social sciatoms. One will be used to study the ceUuences who are involved with the ongoing
lar skeleton, while the other will be placed
research of H averford professors this sumin an u1trahigh vacuum chamber designed
mer, including water turbu:lence and flow,
by Haverford students, where it will be
combinatorics, the study of U.S. industry
used for electrical! conductivity experiments
wages, the effects of ethnicity on elections
on "wires" which are only a few atoms in
in Africa, cell growth, and mutations in
diameter.
th e genetic code that affect the ways proUnder the supervision of biology proteins are combined inside cells.
fessor Ariel Loewy, Michele Lutz '97,
Summer research at Haverford provides
Matthew Howard '96 and Kevin Joseph
many students with praccical field experience
'98 are studying the isopeptidase enzyme
and the opportunity to develop their own
which researchers believe plays a part in
research interests as well. Other ongoing
breaking down dangerous blood clots. The
summer projects include improvement of
purification and characterization of an
photodynamic therapy (an exiscing cancer
isopeptidase cou:ld also illuminate some
treatment which uses porphyrenes and light
. important medical research, such as the
to avoid the harmful side-effects of treattreatment of diseases such as Alzheimer's
ments such as chemotherapy), the developdisease, which is caused by the absence of
ment of a natural red food coloring, and the
such enzymes.
Making strides in the
natural and social sciences,
thirty-five smdent researchers
are on campus this summer
under the tutelage ofsponsoring professors. Mark
Sloan '96 (top Left) and
Michelle Morreale '97 (bottom Left) work in the Lab of
physics professor Walter
Smith while Kevin joseph
'98 (bottom right) and
Michele Lutz '97 (top
right) assist in A riel Loewy's
biology Lab.
Pagt4
Bringing Math and Science to Philadelphia's Classrooms
T "fNDERA THREE-YEAR GRANT FROM THE
U
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's
Excellence in Education program, Haverford
professors have developed a partnership with
Philadelphia middle school teachers to create student-friendly science and math experiences and
uncover the joy of discovery.
Beginning this summer, professors from the
College's math and science departments have created innovative, hands-on and inquiry-based
experiments that middle school teachers can
share with their students.
"The key for me was to design lesson plans
middle school students would enjoy while they
learn. That made it a real challenge," says associate professor of chemistry and project director
Terry Newirth. "We had to think about the concepts they should be learning, as judged from the
new 'Benchmarks for Science Literacy,' and the
kinds of experiments that are possible within the
limitations of their classrooms and the range of
their abilities."
Haverford professors hosted the two-week
summer program of discovery-oriented units in
math, earth/space science, and in life science for
middle school teachers in the Philadelphia public
school system and Haverford and Bryn Mawr
students interested in education.
The goal of this collaboration between
Haverford and the Philadelphia school district is
to enable middle school teachers, many with limited math and science backgrounds, to teach students to do science, not just to learn facts, and to
use math, not just to do calculations.
"As college professors, we are able to identifY
key concepts in our disciplines and know how to
design and carry out experiments," says associate
biology professor Kaye Edwards. "But it is the
middle school teachers who know how to reach
their students. We're simply giving them more
ideas and tools to use in their classrooms. "
Following consultation with the school district, Haverford faculty designed and presented
lessons which addressed real-world problems in
math, earth and space science and cellular biology. Each lesson included material which the
j ennifer Oelberger '98 (right) discusses a biology experiment with Bryn Mawr College graduate Karen Blumberg.
Conference
honors Green
and Partridge
0
teachers plan to incorporate this full into several
45-minure student classes.
For example, math professor JeffTecoskyFeldman introduced a way to teach geometry
using "patty papers," the wax-paper squares
found between hamburgers. "The nice thing
about the paper is that once you fold it, you continue to see where it is creased, and the students
can visualize concepts of geometry,'' says
Newirth. "Rather than using numbers or memorizing theorems, the students can actually see the
math happening."
Intensive workshops in math covered concepts such as estimation, measurement, patterns,
probability and statistics. In earth/space science
the teachers studied light, energy, the earth-sun
system and water oxidation. And topics in life science included water, microbes and microscopes.
"Across the country, many teacher and scientists are gathering experiments and materials to
support inquiry-based learning for all levels of the
curriculum," adds Edwards, "I find it exciting to
be part of this advance in education. Inquirybased learning helps convince students that math
and science are important in their lives, that they
are not irrelevant subjects."
For two exhilarating weeks this summer, professors and teachers alike gathered together for
lectures, demonstrations, hands-on laboratory
experiments, brainstorming and journal-writing.
In the full, Haverford and Bryn Mawr students who participated in the summer program
will visit the middle school classrooms and help
demonstrate the experiments developed over the
summer. At the same time, three school-year
workshops will assess the implementation of
these experiments, offering feedback and finetuning as the program continues.
The program promises to continue helping
generations of middle school students to come:
written materials on the experiments and lessons
are being developed into a notebook to be revised
each year. Philadelphia middle school teachers
will al o be provided with the equipment and
supplies necessary for these experiments.
Fords on the Web
N OCTOBER 7 IN SHARPLESS HALL
Auditorium several astronomers and
astrophysicists from around the country are
returning to their alma mater to celebrate
the contributions in teaching and research
of two of their former faculty members:
emeritus professor, Louis Green, who has
been associated with the college's astronomy
department for 50 years, and Bruce Partridge, a member of Haverford's astronomy
faculty for 25 years and the Bettye and
Howard Marshall Professor of Natural Sciences. Among those graduates who will
make presentations during the day-long
symposium are: Eric D. Feigelson '75 of the
Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Penn State University; Alexander
Rudolph '82 of the Department of Physics
at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont,
Cal. ; Julie A. Thorburn '88 of the Yerkes
Observatory at the University of Chicago;
John F. Hawley 'So of the Department of
Astronomy at the University ofVirginia;
1993 Nobel Laureate and the James S.
McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University Joseph H.
Taylor '63 and Michael W Werner '63 of
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Summn worlttr Ryan TriWmllri '97 IZSSists in gating tht homrpage offthe ground.
World
Wule Wtb also has acCt:SS to tht
ntW Haverford homepagt, which prtsmts tht very latest information on
Haverfordfaculty, campus lift, athletics,
academic departmmts, rtUnion information and alumni tvtnts. Acct:SSible at
A
nyont with acct:SS to tht
http:I!U~U~U~.haverforrl.tdu,
tht homepagt is txptcted tobt ht.lpfol to
alumni. parents andprosptaive studmts
alikt, who may now acetss admission
andfinancial aid infonhation at tht
touch ofa ktyboard. Tht homepagt also
allows tht ustr to conntct to Haverford's
consortia! schools-Bryn Mawr and
Swarthmort Colkgt!S-(lnd to information on othtr Philadelphia institutions,
tvents, andpublic transportation.
Pagt5
-
Serendipity!
s the hottest days ofsummer approached, the campus became a
mmmer playgroundfor 150 area children who took part in the
college's Serendipity Summer Day Camp. For seven weeks, beginning on June 26, the camp offired girls and boys ages 6-r4 a host of
mmmer activities including sports, arts, crafts, games, swimming
and field trips into and around Philadelphia. Founded by a Haverford student in I963, Serendipity was Led by 25 counselors, prim~rily
Haverford students. Serendipity's sliding fee schedule enables it .to be
one ofthe most diversified summer camps in the region. Funding
and facilities are donated from the college with additional assistance
from individuals, organizations, and the proceeds from a popul~r
Gospel concert held on campus each year.
A
Clockwise from upper left: counselor Padraig Nash '96 tosses
camper Maya Orchin up in the swimming pool; campers follo•w
the lead ofcounselor Brice Dorwart '96; camp co-directors David
Bickham '95 and Jodi Burrus '95 spend time with campers Chris
Sullivan and Abby Goldberg; counselor Petra Riviere '96 tak.~s a
break with campers Alexandra Wake (Left) and Amber Blunt
(right); and cotJnselor Rachel Teicher '98 offers a towel and a hug
to camper Gabrielle DeRosa.
Page6
Award-Winning Students Travel the ~Globe
A
A
community
theatre expressly for
members ofthe college community is
coming to campus
this fall. Inner Light
Theatre is the inspiration oftwo
Haverford alumni
who now work on
campus.
Kristi Littell 94,
the student activities
intern in the dean's
office and admission
counselor Brian
Poon 93 believe
there are a number
offrustrated writers,
producers, directors,
actors and 'techies'
among the Haverford faculty, students, alumni and
friends ofthe college,
and they're inviting
everyone to join in
their efforts to pro.
mote ''commumty
through theatre. "
Inner Light will
start in October
with three one-act
plays.
CADEMIC EXCELLENCE AND A
passion to learn has rewarded several
Haverford smdents with fellowships to follow their interests off campus this summer.
English major Hilary Edwards '95, of
Amherst, Mass., was awarded a Keasbey
fellowship to research the papers ofT.E.
Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of
Arabia. The Keasbey Foundation periodically invites a select number of colleges to
submit nominees for their scholarship
award, which is based on academic
achievement in addition to extracurricular
and athletic activities. Open to men and
women of U.S. citizenship, the Keasbey is
tenable at a select group of Colleges at
Cambridge and Oxford as well as the University of Edinburgh and University College of Wales at Aberystwyth.
Edwards, whose senior thes is described
how Lawrence's personal letters, documents and diaries might be read as literature, will receive two years of full support
from the Keasbey to pursue a master of letters research degree at Trinity College,
Leonard is the latest of more than 30
Haverford graduates daring back to 1972
who have won Watson Fellowships. The
Warson Foundation, of Providence, Rhode
Island, this year recognized 6o seniors
from 43 different liberal arts colleges
throughout the U.S. on the basis of success in academic work and extra-curricuJar
activities and the merit of their proposed
projects. The fell ows receive $16,ooo fo r
the year to carry out smdy projects all over
the world.
Astronomy major Randy Dorwart '96,
who is engaged in research this summer at
the Wyoming Infrared Observatory in
Laramie, Wyoming, will fund part of his
final year ar Haverford with a scholarship
from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship
and Excellence in Education Program.
The $7,000 scholarship rewards undergraduates who plan to continue with graduate study in mathematics or the sciences .
He plans to study the distances to galaxies
by the method of "surface luminosity fluctuations" using the infrared techniques he
investigated ar Wyoming during the summer. He also plans to continue a project to
solve the equations of stellar structure
using a relaxation technique. If successful
this computation will become a standard
project for an advanced stars course at
Haverford.
U.K.
She plans to continue studying
Lawrence's primary sources to explore the
ways in which he thought of himself and
created his image, as one of a fictional
character. She will also consider the cultural reception of this fictional character as a
hero, noting the large number of biographies and the common recognition of
"Lawrence of Arabia," a figure from the
early twentieth century.
Fellow May graduate and captain of
Haverford's 1995 baseball ream Steve
Leonard of Bethesda, Md. has been named
a Thomas J. Watson Traveling Fellow for
1995-96. A Russian major, Leonard will
travel to Russia and Ukraine to investigate
professional sports organization there,
especially in baseball and basketball. A
starting left fielder for Haverford, Leonard
also expects to have a chance to play and
coach his favorite sport in the former
USSR.
Summtr1995
HAVERFORD
Published by the Office of Public Relations
Haverford College, Haverfo rd , PA 19041-1 392
Address Correction Requested
Student researcher Matthew Ho ward '96, is cooking things up in the biology lab this summer.
See page 3·
Keasbey Fellow, Hilary Edwards '95
Watson Fellow, Steve Leonard '95
Goldwater Scholar, Randy Dorwart '96
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