Summer Scene 2012 by Colgate University

scene Summer 2012

News and views for the Colgate community

Taking Comics Seriously The Tenacious Tenney Silent Stones

scene

Summer 2012

26 Taking Comics Seriously

Holy comic books, Batman! Professor Paul Lopes traces the birth of the American graphic novel.

32 The Tenacious Tenney

Incumbent NYS Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney ’83 faces a challenge following the state’s controversial redistricting; her path to politics started at Colgate.

36 Silent Stones

Student sleuths explore the mystery of Egyptian reliefs found in the Picker Art Gallery’s collection.

Message from President Jeffrey Herbst

Letters

Work & Play

In the funnies: cartoonist Harold “Jerry” Walter ’37

Life of the Mind

Arts & Culture

Go ’gate

New, Noted & Quoted

The Big Picture

Stay Connected

Class News 74 Marriages & Unions 74 Births & Adoptions 74 In Memoriam

Salmagundi: Puzzle, Slices contest winner, Rewind

DEPARTMENTS

On the cover: Danielle Scheer ’14 and Ali Meyer ’14 — along with more than 300 other students — festooned each other with color at the Hindu Student Association’s Holi festival in April. Watch a video of the event at youtube.com/cuatchannel13. Photo by Ashlee Eve ’14 Left: A serene moment on Taylor Lake. Photo by Andrew Daddio Top right: Watchmen, Chapter II, pg. 20 (DC Comics, 1986)

News and views for the Colgate community

scene team

Contributors

Volume XLl Number 4 The Scene is published by Colgate University four times a year — in autumn, winter, spring, and summer. The Scene is circulated without charge to alumni, parents, friends, and students.

Sociology professor Paul Lopes (“Taking comics seriously,” pg. 26) studies art movements and how popular culture is transformed from the margins. The author of Demanding Respect: the Evolution of the American Comic Book and The Rise of a Jazz Art World, he teaches courses such as Media and Modern Society, American Popular Culture, and Sociology of Culture.

Cartoonist Matt Madden (“Taking comics seriously,” pg. 26) teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. His recent work includes 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style; a translation (from French) of Aristophane’s The Zabîme Sisters; and Drawing Words & Writing Pictures and Mastering Comics, a textbook series collaboration with his wife, Jessica Abel. The couple are also series editors for The Best American Comics.

Art history professor Elizabeth Marlowe (“Silent stones,” pg. 36) specializes in ancient and medieval art, art of ancient Rome, reuse of ancient monuments in modern contexts, and museums. Her paper on the Arch of Constantine led to her appearance in the History Channel’s “Secrets of Christianity” series. Her forthcoming book is Shaky Ground: Context, Connoisseurship and the History of Roman Art (Bloomsbury Academic Press).

Writer and editor Ruthie Kott ’05 (“Ringside manner,” pg. 48) is the editor of Key Magazine in Chicago, where she enjoys being a tourist in her own city. Previously, she spent five years with the University of Chicago Magazine as a member of its awardwinning team of staff writers. She has also contributed to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye, CBS Chicago, Newcity, Eater Chicago, and Gapers Block.

Vice President for Communications Debra Townsend Managing Editor Rebecca Costello Associate Editor Aleta Mayne Director of Publications Gerald Gall Coordinator of Photographic Services Andrew Daddio Production Assistant Kathy Bridge

Contributing writers and designers: Barbara Brooks, Director of Marketing and Public Relations; Matt Faulkner, Assistant Director of Athletic Communications; Matt Hames, Manager of Media Communications; Jason Kammerdiener, Web Content Specialist; Karen Luciani, Art Director; Katherine Mutz, Graphic Designer; Timothy O’Keeffe, Director of Web Content; Mark Walden, Senior Advancement Writer Contact: scene@colgate.edu 315-228-7417 www.colgateconnect.org/scene Printed and mailed from Lane Press in South Burlington, Vt.

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If you’re moving... Please clip the address label and send with your new address to: Alumni Records Clerk, Colgate University, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346-1398.

Listen

Conversations on World Affairs: colgate.edu/ about/presidentjeffreyherbst/podcasts President Jeffrey Herbst talks with Durham University professor David Campbell, a world authority on visual culture and politics.

Watch

Transit of Venus: flickr.com/photos/ colgateuniversity Did you see it? The transit of Venus turned into a fun event on campus as professors and community members watched the rare occurrence.

scene: Summer 2012

Look

New website: colgate.edu In late summer, Colgate will launch a redesigned website, with improved navigation and search, responsive design for mobile devices, a virtual tour, and an enhanced social media presence.

Talk

Get social: facebook.com/colgateuniversity Join the discussion about all things Colgate on the university’s Facebook page. Feel free to share your ’gate-related photos, too!

Opinions expressed are not necessarily shared by the university, the publishers, or the editors. Notice of Non-Discrimination: Colgate University does not discriminate in its programs and activities because of race, color, sex, pregnancy, religion, creed, national origin (including ancestry), citizenship status, physical or mental disability, age, marital status, sexual orientation, veteran or military status (including special disabled veteran, Vietnam-era veteran, or recently separated veteran), predisposing genetic characteristics, domestic violence victim status, or any other protected category under applicable local, state, or federal law. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the university’s non-discrimination policies: Marilyn Rugg, University Harassment Officer, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346; 315-228-7288.

Message from President Jeffrey Herbst

“There is nothing more empowering

than making something happen. Going from thought to action, from theory to practice.” Those words, spoken by Andy Greenfield ’74, describe what I think is one of the most exciting initiatives at Colgate: the Thought Into Action Institute (TIA). The founder of an IT startup, a public school teacher, a health care worker battling an epidemic in Southeast Asia, or a local mayor addressing issues in your town all require entrepreneurial skills. Critical thinking and inquiry. The ability to put arguments into a broad perspective and to react and adapt well to rapid change. The practical and people skills needed to implement ideas and solutions. Add in chutzpah, persuasiveness, tenacity, and a knack for good timing — soft skills that can be honed through practice in a variety of settings. In every issue of the Scene, I find that story after story reflects the entrepreneurial spirit that manifests itself in our classrooms, professorstudent research collaborations, and student-initiated clubs and leadership organizations — not to mention in the many impressive endeavors of our alumni. Just to name a few examples in this issue: After uncovering some potentially historically significant ancient Egyptian reliefs, art history professor Liz Marlowe created a new course where her students gained many of the skills I mentioned above through professional-level research into the reliefs’ origins (pg. 36). The story of Maggie Dunne ’13 building support for her Lakota Pine Ridge Children’s Enrichment Project (pg. 9) is nothing short of astounding. Students in the Entrepreneurs Club are helping launch alumnus Dr. Mark Mandel’s cause-based beauty product sales campaign (pg. 16). And Professor Tony Aveni’s personal essay describing the roots of archaeoastronomy (pg. 12) reveals a quintessential example of a faculty entrepreneur who helped to create an entirely new academic field! One story that is particularly close to my heart is about the Colgate Innovation Awards, which I instituted in concert with our first Entrepreneur Weekend in April, to further encourage entrepreneurial spirit among our students (also on pg. 9). In this rapidly changing world, where everything from the economy to technology to national boundaries shifts in the blink of an eye, we are doing everything we can to make Colgate the ideal launching pad for tomorrow’s entrepreneurs — in the broadest sense. This is nothing new. After all, it all started with an enterprising endeavor: 13 men with 13 dollars and 13 prayers, founding the institution that would become the Colgate of today.

Andrew Daddio

Greenfield founded the TIA Institute with fellow alumni Bob Gold ’80 and Wills Hapworth ’07 to help students make their ideas “go live.” However, this practical entrepreneurship program is no ersatz business school. It is an intensive monthly seminar where, under the guidance of alumni and parent mentors, students gain experience in refining, testing, and assessing the uniqueness of their ideas; problem solving and learning to deal with failure; creating action plans; building and managing teams; effective marketing and presentations; and managing their personal “brands.” This year alone, more than two dozen participants developed projects ranging from a zipper that will never get stuck in fabric (James Frankel ’13), to a mobile system that tracks the whereabouts of the Colgate Cruiser (Justin Altus ’14), to an interactive website that promotes reading between young children and their parents (Courtney Mills ’13). Roughly half of the projects developed by TIA students have been in the nonprofit sector. The TIA Institute (tiainstitute.com) is just one example of the ways in which we foster entrepreneurship in our students. This is an important distinction — because, while some may consider the notion of entrepreneurialism to be the domain of the business world, I see it as something broader. What entrepreneurs do is identify a need and develop solutions to meet that need. The qualities that make a successful entrepreneur are essential to the globally and technologically savvy scholar-citizens we foster through Colgate’s unique brand of liberal arts education, no matter what life path they choose.

Demaine Francis ’13, left, explains his project — multitouch technology tables that offer compelling ways to display information — at the Thought Into Action Institute’s presentation session during Entrepreneur Weekend in April.

News and views for the Colgate community

Letters Inbox

scene

Fan mail

Spring 2012

News and views for the Colgate community

Foolish perseverance Should I or Shudhify? Beautiful things

The Scene welcomes letters. We reserve the right to decide whether a letter is acceptable for publication and to edit for accuracy, clarity, and length. Letters deemed potentially libelous or that malign a person or group will not be published. Letters should not exceed 250 words. You can reach us by mail, or e-mail sceneletters @colgate.edu. Please include your full name, class year if applicable, address, phone number, and/or e-mail address. If we receive many letters on a given topic, we will print a representative sample of the opinions expressed. On occasion, we may run additional letters online.

Your spring 2012 issue just arrived, and after 2 days of intermittent reading (the eyes can only take so much at age 84!), I am basking in the glory of remembering those wonderful years in the late 1940s among a student population made up of predominantly ex-service guys brought together in a male-only institution. Like so many of us, I wondered what the college would come to when, in later years, our trustees decided Colgate would become coed. I would like to voice a loud opinion that there should never have been any concern. The “Old Maroon Institution on the Hill” is a much better and richer college as it stands today than it was back then! The Maroon and Salmagundi were the only school publications then, and I participated on the Maroon staff at that time. We could never have imagined producing a publication like the Scene that I have just devoured. It is 80 multicolored pages delving into any and every facet of Colgate life. Keep up the excellent work of letting us old guys know what’s going on today at the ’Gate. We made sure to forward this letter to the proper authorities at ColgatePalmolive. And since we love it when young people take initiative, we also sent Jenna a Colgate T-shirt.

David N. Wilson ’50 Pompton Plains, N.J.

Ian White

More on the college/business comparison

On “Foolish perseverance” I want to thank you for printing Erik Stolhanske’s speech (“Foolish perseverance,” spring 2012). As an orthopaedic surgeon who takes care of children with disabilities in Ethiopia, I read it with great interest. Although his specific desires as a youth in Minnesota don’t relate directly to youths in Ethiopia, his inspiration transcends cultural barriers. Eric Gokcen ’84 Medical Director, the CURE Hospital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

scene: Summer 2012

Although Drew Bixby expresses remarkably good faith about how businesses operate (Letters, spring 2012), I still wouldn’t grant that President Herbst’s comments (President’s message, winter 2012) seem uninformed. Today’s economic climate is remarkable in its ability to elicit (and reward) the attitudes to which Herbst refers. Many highly successful companies operate on precisely the principles that Bixby denies. Colgate is not a big business, nor a small business, but a nonprofit university. “The illusion of validity” is the belief that, because success can sometimes be demonstrated by such metrics, one must measure success by them — and seek to maximize them. Education is not designed to raise average salaries, place people at Fortune 500s, or the like. While this characterizes some types of success, Colgate produces many who would be considered failures by such metrics, despite being happy and successful.

There are qualitative measures that can characterize other aspects of success. Satisfaction with job placement or other outcomes, for instance, accounts for the fact that not everyone requires the highest-possible salary to consider their outcome “successful.” Some nonprofit institutions face scrutiny for fudging or misrepresenting data used for such metrics to improve rankings. For-profit institutions are in even worse shape. But endowments are funded by people. Colgate should focus on the people it serves: students. Students become donors, or motivate donors, when they achieve success by their own standards. GPA, income, etc. — none of these measure whole student outcomes directly. Let’s not start thinking so. That leads to grade inflation, dataobsession, and inappropriate stewardship of the responsibilities students and parents entrust to Colgate. Kellen Myers ’08 Piscataway, N.J.

Opposes football scholarships decision This letter is the first I have written to any editor, but I am so concerned about Colgate’s recent decision to start awarding 60 football scholarships (Spring 2012, pg. 25) that I felt the need to put pen to paper. I have at least four reasons for objecting to that decision. First, the increasing body of data demonstrates that football players at all levels of competition sustain serious short-term and long-term physical harm. Indeed, I attended a game in high school in which a player suffered a broken neck that made him a paraplegic. In my opinion, exposing student-athletes to that type of risk is incompatible with Colgate’s values as a liberal arts college, not to mention exposing it to potential legal liability. Moreover, other sports can inculcate the positive lessons traditionally associated with intercollegiate athletics. Second, the economics associated with fielding a football team simply make no sense, especially for small universities such as Patriot League members. Colgate earns little revenue from ticket sales based on my observations and I doubt that TV revenue generates much income. In addition, it is unfair to exploit our studentathletes by scheduling games with teams such as Penn State and Syracuse, with no hope of being competitive, in order to provide a big payday needed to come closer to balancing the football program budget. Third, Colgate can get a bigger marketing bang for its buck by focusing its limited financial resources on supporting sports such as lacrosse, hockey, and soccer. Those teams play more games each season and can secure matchups and successfully compete with big-name programs. The Raiders can do so with smaller rosters and much-lower expenditures for scholarships, travel, equipment, and coaches than in football. For example, the 2012 men’s lacrosse team defeated No. 6–ranked University of Maryland and received a bid to the 16-team NCAA tournament, where it beat No. 1–ranked UMass and played Duke in a nationally televised quarterfinal game. Peter Baum generated more publicity for Colgate when he won the Tewaaraton Award as college lacrosse’s best player in 2012. The fact is that Colgate cannot afford to compete on a sustained basis even with major Division 1AA football

programs such as the University of Delaware and Appalachian State, so why pretend to the contrary? The glory days of Andy Kerr and “undefeated, untied, unscored upon, and uninvited” are 80 years in our rearview mirror. Fourth, I suspect that a survey would show that many, if not most, alumni and current and prospective students have as much, or more, interest in the non-football sports named above. In fact, fewer young men in the pool of potential applicants targeted by Colgate are playing football in high school. That decline has prompted notable sports commentators such as ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser to predict that, over the next 25 years, football will go the way of boxing in terms of lost widespread popularity and participation. When Kurt Warner and other former NFL players say they do not want their sons to play football due to the risk of debilitating injury, you know the sport is in long-term and irreversible trouble. In light of that trend, why should Colgate continue to finance an athletic anachronism that is on life support? Indeed, as an attorney, I am concerned about my alma mater propping up a sport that is generating significant potential liability for medical problems experienced in the short and long term by players at all levels. I hope this letter sparks a debate within the Colgate community and leads to a reconsideration of the university’s decision. R. Michael Smith ’70 Ellicott City, Md.

To ’gate or not to ’gate Admittedly a late joiner, I have not seen previous debate on use of “the ’Gate” (Letters, spring 2012); however, I’d like to offer a counterpoint to George Happe’s letter regarding using the term to refer to our alma mater. I think certain nicknames add familiarity and, yes, perhaps a dash of “style.” “Ike” comes to mind as a frequent and in no way demeaning reference to a national hero and former president who garnered great respect from this nation and much of the world. While I do not have Mr. Happe’s experience in marketing, as a consumer, I can think of one brand name that stands above almost all others and celebrates both its formal name and its more familiar name: Coca-Cola and its (also trademarked) nickname

Call for Nominations: Colgate Board of Trustees The Nominating Committee of the Board of Trustees welcomes recommendations from alumni, parents, and friends of the institution for candidates who will bring guidance and wisdom to the university’s governing board. The board seeks energetic and committed candidates who possess expertise in various important areas including, but not limited to: higher education, finance, the arts, technology, global learning, legal affairs, marketing, or media relations. Those nominated should display the ability to exercise informed, independent judgment and to act in the best interests of Colgate to properly steward the university’s academic, program, and fiscal resources. Candidates should be willing to fully immerse themselves in the work of the board. They should place Colgate as a priority in terms of time and philanthropy, and be committed to staying abreast of the changing landscape of higher education. The full board meets in Hamilton at least four times a year, and trustees must be committed to actively participating in board meetings and committee meetings that may be scheduled at other times of the year. Trustees are also often asked to attend and/or host other university-related events. Each year, the board will have opportunities for three to five new trustees for a three-year term that may be followed by two additional three-year terms. The Nominating Committee welcomes recommendations for future consideration, which may be made through the online form at www. colgate.edu/about/boardoftrustees/buildingtheboard or by mail to: Trustee Nominating Committee, Colgate University, 13 Oak Drive, Hamilton, NY 13346.

“Coke.” In fact, so familiar is that nickname that it is used as the generic term for cola as often as not. When they came up with the ad campaign “have a Coke and a smile,” I think that was their executives and shareholders smiling all the way to the bank. I also like to think of one’s alma mater as an opening onto the future, and in that way, Colgate has been the ’Gate for each and every one of its alumni. Alan Ploetz ’82 Maple Grove, Minn. Steve Abrams and George Happe are on the mark with their comments concerning the name of our alma mater. The name is Colgate and not ’Gate. The name ’Gate would be like calling Colgate’s predecessor, Madison University, Maddie. Nicknames don’t work in the marketing and communications worlds. Is Du Pont’s public name “Dupie”? Please, let the true name of the university always be Colgate and not ’Gate. This includes football helmets. Let’s hope Steve’s and George’s letters

motivate more of us to write to help build a large groundswell to make Colgate the only name heard in the Chenango Valley. Thanks, Steve and George, for your leadership in helping remind us all to use the true name Colgate. Go, Colgate! Roger B. Clark ’56 New Castle, Del.

Correction Editor’s note: In the Page 13 biography of George Gavin Ritchie (Scene, winter 2012), the family member who accepted his posthumous honorary degree was not Daniel, but Donald, Ritchie.

News and views for the Colgate community

work & play

Campus scrapbook B

Swedish DJ Avicii performs during Spring Party Weekend. Photo by Ashlee Eve ’14

A Thirteener woos a Swinging ’Gate during their Spring Jamboree in the chapel. Photo by Janna Minehart ’13

Waiting in the wings before the fashion show by Cinderella’s Closet, a nonprofit organization that provides free, gently used dresses to make prom dreams come true for needy teens in the area. Photo by Ashlee Eve ’14

Rhythm is a dancer: A variety of groups and styles took to the stage for spring Dancefest. Photo by Ashlee Eve ’14

Carrying a torch for Colgate at Reunion 2012. Photo by Andrew Daddio

Pretty in pink: Courtney Burke ’13 posts on her wall the old-school way as she studies for her Mandarin Chinese final exam. Photo by Andrew Daddio

Hamilton community members joined Colgate students to dig in as part of a reforestation effort for Colgate’s 13 Days of Green. Photo by Duy Trinh ’14

Picking up goodies at the first farmers’ market of the season. Photo by Andrew Daddio

scene: Summer 2012

D E

News and views for the Colgate community

Andrew Daddio

work & play

Packers president shares life experiences with graduates

Seniors get ready to take part in Colgate’s 191st commencement exercises.

Andrew Daddio

Commencement speaker Mark Murphy ’77 dons a cheesehead, the headwear made famous by Green Bay Packers fans, as he concludes his remarks.

scene: Summer 2012

Life, it turns out, isn’t always what it is cracked up to be, even for the president of one of the most well-known franchises in the history of professional sports. Mark H. Murphy ’77, president and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, said that in addition to making sure that MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers is happy, he needs to keep happy the thousands of shareholders who own the NFL team. Take Patrick, from California, who wrote a letter to him that said: “I’ve been to Lambeau Field three times in the last four years. On December 5th, I did have some issues come up that I wasn’t very happy with, and thought that I would let you know. The concession stand outside Section 123 ran out of bratwursts in the third quarter. How can they be out of brats at a Green Bay Packer game in Wisconsin? I look forward to working with you.” That anecdote was one of several Murphy shared with members of the Class of 2012 and their families and friends who gathered in Sanford Field House for Colgate’s 191st commencement. The class’s graduation rate of 89.7 percent was the highest in recent decades. After his stint as captain of the Raiders football team, Murphy played eight seasons with the Washington Redskins, and is believed to be the first person to earn a Super Bowl ring as both a player and a team chief executive. In addition to serving as assistant executive director of the NFL Players Association and trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, he was athletics director at Colgate and at Northwestern University before joining the Packers in 2007. Donning a cheesehead — made famous by Packers fans around the

country — Murphy talked about all that Colgate has given him: the invaluable education, lasting friendships (he met his wife, Laurie, on campus), and a job that changed his career path. In his concluding remarks, Murphy wished the men’s lacrosse team good luck as they prepared to play Duke in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament that afternoon [sadly, they lost]. Because they were missing their graduation ceremony on campus, nine seniors on the team received their diplomas during a special ceremony overseen by Board of Trustees member Gus Coldebella ’91 the previous day. Check out more coverage of commencement weekend at colgate.edu.

Honoris causa

In addition to speaker Mark H. Murphy ’77, the following were given honorary degrees at commencement: Eboo Patel, founder and executive director of Interfaith Youth Core and a member of President Obama’s Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. This year’s baccalaureate speaker, Patel first visited Colgate last October to talk about his life and work, including his memoir Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation, which was the first-year reading for the Colgate Class of 2015. Nancy Cantor, 11th chancellor and president of Syracuse University. Cantor has been an advocate for the status of women in the academy, racial justice and diversity, and the role of universities in serving the public good. Robert Darnton, scholar of French cultural history and pioneer in the field of the history of the book. A recipient of the National Humanities Medal in 2011, Darnton is Harvard’s Carl H. Pforzheimer University Professor, director of the Harvard library, and founder of the Gutenberg-e electronic publishing program. Francesca Zambello ’78, worldrenowned director of innovative opera and theater productions. Zambello is general and artistic director of the Glimmerglass Festival and artistic advisor to the Washington National Opera.

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Commemorating Krivitski

Vic Krivitski ’12, whom friends and family remember as being larger than

Views from the hill What is the best summer job you’ve ever held? I worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at NASA as an intern with the supplier outreach and process control assurance department in 2007. I got to talk to the suppliers of the materials for the satellites, rovers, and spacecrafts used for the different missions. — Tsune Brown ’13, studio art major, from Pasadena, Calif. I worked on a farm in Hamilton my sophomore summer. We did odd jobs like building haystacks, painting fences, and cleaning chicken coops. — Andrew Nairin ’14, environmental geography major, from Los Angeles, Calif. Being a camp counselor for Brewster Day Camp. Last summer, I was the field sports head, so I was working with all ages and taught them different sports. This year, I am the LEAP [Learning, Exploring, and Playing] head, so I’ll work with toddlers to young kids. I’ll teach them the values of courage, hope, good spirit, and peace. — Kelly Cattano ’12, double major in Spanish and English with an emphasis in creative writing, from New Providence, N.J.

Richard Branson launches Entrepreneur Weekend

Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson kicked off Entrepreneur Weekend on Colgate Day, Friday, April 13. His presentation, which was part of the fifth annual Kerschner Family Series Global Leaders at Colgate,

Awarding innovation

Janna Minehart ’13

Sir Richard Branson

Before Sir Richard Branson took to the stage on April 13, President Jeffrey Herbst talked of entrepreneurial ideas and technology, and how important it is to try new things in order to prepare for the future. He then announced the winners of the Innovation Awards — cash prizes for ideas that would use technology and social media to improve the student experience either on campus, during the admission process, or after graduation. The winners are: Maroon: Srikar Gullapalli ’13, Brian Lemanski ’14, and James Zhang ’13, “More than 13 Reasons: A Visual Search Engine” (share a $1,000 prize) Silver: Christopher Crane ’12 and Andrew Greene ’12, “Colgate Research

Back on campus Reunion 2012

More than 1,500 alumni gathered under the tents on Whitnall Field in celebration of Reunion 2012 in early June. In addition to catching up with old friends, alumni and their families participated in dozens of intellectually stimulating and entertaining Reunion College sessions. Alumni of various class years discovered the art of connecting via social media in a lecture about building your personal brand, delivered by Internet networking guru Juston Payne ’02, business developer for the location-based social networking company foursquare. Payne helped the audience navigate through the torrent of emerging, and sometimes confusing, popular consumer platforms like LinkedIn, Google+, and Twitter while instructing them on how to promote their businesses and themselves. In recognition of the late Colgate icon Andy Rooney ’42, his longtime friend (and boss) Jeff Fager ’77, chairman of CBS News and executive producer of 60 Minutes, led a conversation about Rooney’s legacy and presented a film honoring his life and career. In his lecture “American Comedy in the Sixties,” Mel Watkins ’62 provided

Connect” (share $500 prize) Bronze: Lisa Lee ’12 and Stephen Trostle ’13, “CommuniGate: Connecting Incoming Students with the Colgate Community”; Isaac Lee ’13, “The Colgate App” (each team shares a $250 prize)

Student triples support for nonprofit

For Maggie Dunne ’13, one good deed yields another, and another, and another. As winner of the 2012 grand prize in Glamour magazine’s Top 10 College Women Competition, she received $20,000 for the work she has accomplished through her nonprofit Lakota Pine Ridge Children’s Enrichment Project. She decided to donate the prize to her organization, and leverage its prestige to raise even more money.

Natalie Sportelli ’15

launched the weekend tribute to the business acumen of Colgate students, alumni, and parents, and the translatable skills of a liberal arts education. In a nod to Branson’s roots in the recording industry, members of the student rap group Swagged Up Squad warmed up the crowd of more than 4,000 in Sanford Field House. The music continued as a flash mob emerged and escorted Branson, wearing a Raiders jersey, to the stage. What followed was a wide-ranging conversation between President Jeffrey Herbst and Branson, covering Branson’s philosophy of business, roots in entrepreneurialism, and vision for the future of his company. “Most businesses specialize in one area,” Branson told the audience. “Virgin has 400 companies, and we’re more of a way-of-life brand.” It started with a record company, founded because Branson heard a tape and thought it was brilliant. He wanted it to be heard. Virgin Airlines was born after Branson was bumped from a commercial flight. “I’ve gone through life and been frustrated with experiences,” he said. “I thought, ‘We can do it better; let’s give it a go.’” The same spirit that has turned Virgin into a commercial success is also driving Branson’s nonprofit efforts. While on campus, Branson met with members of Colgate’s Thought Into Action Institute, the Entrepreneurs Club, and the Benton Scholars. Asked his opinion on the biggest mistake one could make in starting a business, Branson cautioned against pursuing dollars: “Embark on something you can sing about.”

life, was honored twofold during commencement weekend. Krivitski lost an eight-month battle with cancer in August 2011. But he lives on in the Victor Krivitski ’12 Memorial Scholarship Fund, created under the leadership of the Senior Class Gift Committee. In addition to the fund, at the awards convocation in May, Krivitski was commemorated with this year’s 1819 Award, which is given annually to one senior “whose character, scholarship, sportsmanship, and service to others best exemplify the spirit that is Colgate.” His parents, Victor and Roxane, came to the stage on his behalf. In just five semesters at Colgate, Krivitski left an indelible mark. The 21-year-old was a geology major, rugby player, member of the Geological Society, a WRCU radio host, and recruitment chair of Phi Delta Theta. President Jeffrey Herbst quoted a faculty member who knew Krivitski well: “He showed us how to face our own destinies with an outstretched hand — inviting us to not be afraid of the inevitable, but rather, to embrace every moment with a contagious sense of humor and deep gratitude.” Krivitski was also given an honorary, posthumous bachelor of arts degree. Thanks to 680 gifts to the Krivitski fund, the Class of 2012 set a new senior class gift participation record of 95 percent. A total of 1,318 students, alumni, parents, and friends invested in the scholarship, which now holds more than $96,000.

The Colgate Thirteen’s 70th Reunion

the laughs as he discussed how events in the late 1950s and early 1960s were shaped by previous generations and how they contributed to the emergence of the satiric edge of African-American humor. Past and present Colgate Thirteen members celebrated the a cappella group’s 70th Reunion with a concert, delighting the standing room–only crowd with songs representing each decade. In commemoration of their centennial anniversary, more than 100 Theta Chi brothers gathered at their fraternity house to enjoy a pig roast, live music, and other festivities. Also celebrating an anniversary was the London Economics Study Group, which honored their 50th with a discussion and reception.

Opportunity landed a few weeks later, when Sir Richard Branson visited Colgate. During the Q&A session, Dunne boldly introduced herself and asked how she might use her Glamour prize money to motivate humanitarian celebrities to donate to her cause. She held up the oversized check she “happened” to have brought. To Dunne’s amazement, and that of everyone in the room, Branson agreed to match Glamour’s $20,000 award through his nonprofit Virgin Unite, provided she could secure another $20,000 from a certain prominent Colgate alumnus, who wishes to remain anonymous. So Dunne steeled herself for another big ask. Now, with two CEO donations and the Glamour prize in hand, Dunne’s recent awards total $60,000. To sustain the momentum, she has added

News and views for the Colgate community

Andrew Daddio

scene: Summer 2012

Andrew Daddio

work & play

a donation link to her website and hopes to raise another $20,000 from the community at large. “She has made a difference in the lives of thousands of Lakota children and deserves a chance to do more,” said Branson. “It is my pleasure to support her work.” Dunne met the children of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota while on a volunteer trip during high school in Scarsdale, N.Y. She started small, with a local coat drive and modest fundraising, and today her organization has distributed more than $100,000 worth of coats, boots, and books to members of the Oglala Lakota Sioux Tribe who live there. At Colgate, Dunne found many students who wanted to get involved. Through the Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (COVE), she held campus fundraisers and started a summer camp on the reservation. Through the university’s Thought Into Action Institute, she received advice from successful alumni who teach students to create jobs for themselves through entrepreneurial means. Dunne’s experience reaches beyond Native American populations.

The art of conversation: Students are invited to share suggestions for Frank Dining Hall through comment cards. Dining Services then writes responses on them before posting them in the entryway. The artistic submissions of one former student, known by the alias “Russell, Senior Wilderness Explorer,” have given both the wall and the conversation an element of color.

She has spent summers in Bangladesh, learning the language and working with Grameen Bank, the microfinance organization that gives small loans to the poor. In 2011, she received the Newman Civic Fellowship for “promising college student leaders

Erected by the American Legion Post 375 in September 2006, the Hamilton-Area Veterans’ Memorial commemorates those who have served in the nation’s military forces. Personalized brick pavers inscribed with veterans’ service information — name, service location, rank, military branch, and honors — constitute the walkway ringing the central memorial column. Six stone benches, one for each branch of the military, flank the perimeter of the plaza. Veterans or families of veterans can buy brick pavers in two sizes: 4" x 8" for $50 and 8" x 8" for $100. Chuck Wittig ’45 and Hal Heim ’45, who both served in World War II, were inspired to purchase bricks following their 65th Reunion. Recalling the fateful day that Pearl Harbor was bombed, Wittig said, “Within a few days, our whole class signed up for some branch of the service. Patriotism was at its highest.” Order forms are available online at www.villageofhamilton ny.org or by calling 315- 8241111. Fun took flight during this year’s Father’s Day Fly-In

who have demonstrated an investment in finding solutions for challenges facing communities throughout the country.” Follow Dunne’s progress at: http://www.razoo.com/story/LakotaChildrens-Enrichment.

Pancake Breakfast at the Mid-York Business Airpark. Exciting activities included helicopter rides, a hot air balloon walk, and a classic car show. In mid-July at the second annual Instrument Petting Zoo on the Village Green, children had the chance to become acquainted with a vast array of musical instruVillage Green ments, from an accordion to a didgeridoo. Also for the youngsters, the Kids’ Circus Workshop put on a classic three-ring show (minus the tigers and elephants) at the Earlville Opera House on August 3. Children who participated performed their newly acquired skills — clowning, tightrope walking, and juggling. Featuring an ever-changing assortment of goods, garments, art, and delicacies produced by Colgate alumni entrepreneurs and artisans, Gate-Made is a new rotating display at the Colgate Bookstore. The commencement and reunion crowds checked out inspirational Quotable Cards by Matt Fernandes-Vogel ’92 and Gillian Simon ’92; paintings and prints of iconic Colgate campus scenes and student activities by Don Rith ’56; and the “Tumbalina” line of handcrafted greeting cards by Oak Atkinson ’87. See what’s new next time you’re in the bookstore’s first-floor gift wing.

Hangover-free fun

“College is short. Remember your nights.” So reads the poster for Late ’Gate, hanging in the Center for Leadership and Student Involvement. Late ’Gate is a student-led organization that “offers fun nighttime activities not centered on alcohol and other drugs.” This past semester, Late ’Gate put on a series of events, some new and others tried and true. Among their regular offerings are two held at Huntington Gym: the popular “Late-Skate” roller-skating and “Late Night at the Climbing Wall.” In addition, Late ’Gate events help celebrate the holidays. For Valentine’s Day, their “Stuff-A-Bear in the Coop” was like Colgate’s own “Build-A-Bear” but better: the stuffed animals were all free to assemble. When they closed up shop, all that remained was a box of wispy stuffing. All of the events start after 8 p.m., and, because anything “free” is a college student’s dream, they are well attended by students from all different corners of campus.

Go figure: Colgate Day 13th Every Friday the 13th is Colgate

Day

2007 First year Colgate Day was celebrated

Colgate days in 2012; each separated by 13 weeks. This only happens every 28 years.

200 Approximate number of attendees

who reveled at Bar 13 on 13th Street during a Colgate Club of New York City alumni event on January 13

Late ’Gate members also work with other groups on campus to co-sponsor activities. For example, when The Game’s Afoot — a student group that organizes gatherings to play board, video, and card games — hosted an event with support from Late ’Gate, it became the most well-attended in their history. During this year’s Spring Party Weekend, an event often associated with excessive drinking, Late ’Gate partnered with Sisters of the Round Table (SORT) to host two alcohol-free dance parties. “#$$& It! Let’s Dance!” at La Casa and “Insomnia” at the Hall of Presidents focused on eclectic music and provided an inclusive environment for students. The parties, lasting until the wee hours of the morning, were bumping with rap and hip-hop favorites. “Insomnia,” and its music from a DJ hired by SORT, inspired circles of break-dancing, something not usually seen on Colgate’s campus. “I stayed so late, I’m still making up my sleep two days later, but it was totally worth it,” said Jenny Uribe ’13. — Katie Rice ’13

Feeling like a kid at Sidekicks carnival

Energetic children dashed around Huntington Gymnasium, eager to explore an inflatable obstacle course, join potato-sack races, and play basketball during the annual Sidekicks carnival in April. The musical stylings of the Swinging ’Gates and Pep Band welcomed local children, Colgate students, and the public to the fun. For more than a decade, students have been mentoring Hamilton Central School children through the

Sidekicks program, organized through the Center for Outreach, Volunteerism, and Education (COVE). Representatives from several campus groups — some who participate in the Sidekicks program and others who just wanted to help make the event special — set up tables around the gym. Each club offered a creative project, from mask making with the Italian Club, to face painting with the sisters of Delta Delta Delta and Kappa Kappa Gamma, to creating cornhusk dolls with the Native American Student Association. This past year, more than 35 students mentored Hamilton children ranging from 6 to 13 years old. “Sidekicks is a great way to connect with the community and balance my college life,” said Kapua Aiu-Yasuhara ’15. “And when I hang out with my sidekick, I feel young again!” Although students are only required to commit to the program for two semesters, they oftentimes forge lasting friendships with their “sidekicks” and mentor them for their entire four years on campus. That was true for Suzanne Collier ’12, whose relationship with 11-year-old Clara blossomed over time. “I have loved becoming close to her and her family,” Collier said. “I have really enjoyed spending birthdays and Hanukkah with them.” Clara piped up, “I think she always lets me win when we play dreidel.” Even when Collier spent a semester abroad, she corresponded with Clara through postcards and letters. In anticipation of Collier’s graduation, the friends promised to write to each other and maintain their close bond. — Natalie Sportelli ’15

Talking points “Education is my mother and father.” — Gabriel Bol Deng, a Lost Boy of Sudan, spoke in Love Auditorium about the importance of education for Sudanese children as well as his nonprofit organization Hope for Ariang. “Anti-Muslim bigotry is not a Muslim problem. It’s an American problem.” — Reza Aslan, religious scholar and best-selling author, during his lecture “Islamophobia” in Love Auditorium “I wouldn’t say ‘race over’… but it may well be the beginning of the end of race as we have known it.” — Glenn Loury, prominent author, economist, and social sciences professor at Brown University, in a conversation with President Jeffrey Herbst about the future of race relations “It’s all about deviating from tradition, and breaking the rules.” — Calvin Wiersma, a violinist with the Manhattan String Quartet, spoke about the evolution of classical music to students in Core 152: Challenges of Modernity.

300+ Meals given out to hungry and

homeless men, women, and children in lower Manhattan by students led by Bill Powers ’73, in celebration of April’s Colgate Day

50 Dancers escorted Sir Richard Branson into Sanford Field House before his speech for the Kerschner Family Series Global Leaders at Colgate on April 13

6,290

Natalie Sportelli ’15

Miles from Colgate to Samarkand, Uzbekistan, where associate dean of admission Katryna Swartwout Ryan sent Facebook greetings on Friday, April 13

p.m. Shotgun start time for the Annual Alumni Golf Tournament on July 13

Suzanne Collier ’12 with her “sidekick” Clara

News and views for the Colgate community

work & play

Passion for the Climb On serendipity and science By Tony Aveni

Andrew Daddio

The late ’60s at Colgate were about as educationally free-wheeling as any of the other progressive movements going on in the world off the hill. I’d been experimenting with the abbreviated semester known as January Term since its inception in ’64, and I vividly recall conducting a J-Term class on Theories of Cosmology in ’69. We met in one of the old Case Library seminar rooms and, as we pondered Aristotle’s Spheres and the Mystery of Stonehenge, I was distracted by horizontal streams of snow driven by a wind that screamed across the valley. I wondered: could there be a better place to hang ten on new waves of knowledge than Hamilton, N.Y., in the coldest month of the year?

With all the dire prophecies, theories, and predictions about the arrival of December 21, 2012, Professor Tony Aveni, author of The End of Time: The Maya Mystery of 2012, has spent a lot of time lately talking to the media about the roots of this phenomenon and a recent major discovery that relates to it (read more on page 14). Considered one of the founders of Mesoamerican archaeoastronomy, he reflects on how it all started.

scene: Summer 2012

That’s when geology professor Bob Linsley and I, over a post-lunch game of billiards in the Merrill House Faculty Club basement, conceived a plan to take students to Mexico to explore the astronomical alignments of pyramids during the next J-Term. The linchpin had been a vague footnote in Gerald Hawkins’s book Stonehenge Decoded alluding to the possibility that other megalithic monuments of the world might have been designed to line up with key positions of the sun, moon, and other cosmic deities when they appeared over the local horizon. So, we wrote a proposal and created an itinerary. Early on the second morning after Christmas of 1970, a dozen of us (including our own Bruce Selleck, then a junior, and two Skidmore transfers) embarked in two station wagons loaded with a plane table, an alidade, and a surveyor’s transit — the requisite alignment data–collecting tools of the day. With overnight stops in Richmond, Ind.; Muskogee, Okla.; Laredo, Texas, (where we crossed the border); and Monterrey, Mexico, we arrived in Mexico City on New Year’s Eve. Our first stop was Teotihuacan, where even Montezuma’s revenge failed to deter us from our appointed task. But in our zeal, we had failed to secure permits for bringing our surveying equipment up to the 250-foot summit of the great Pyramid of the Sun. So, we were promptly arrested, scolded, and remanded to the Office of the National Institute of Anthropology and History downtown to fill out the requisite forms before being allowed to return to the pyramid. I didn’t realize the gold mine we’d tapped into until we arrived at our second site, Monte Alban, in Oaxaca. There, we encountered “Structure J,” a building shaped like home plate on a baseball diamond. The site guidebook we had carried along stated that the point of home plate marked where the sun set on the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. We showed our papers to the guide at the gate, who allowed us in to view the phenomenon (the sun on January 2 is quite close to the solstice position), measure the alignment, then spend the night under the stars in our sleeping bags. Imagine our shock when we witnessed the sun set 40 degrees off its scheduled position! The next morning, we complained to

the guide, who shrugged his shoulders and replied with a Spanish version of “How do I know? That’s what it says in the book!” Apparently, nobody had ever witnessed the phenomenon, and certainly no one had ever measured and mapped the site with any sort of precision. The same was true of Teotihuacan, and Tenayuca, and Caballito Blanco, and on and on. On that inaugural trip, we logged 11,000 miles and 29 sites in 31 days. Along the way, we were confronted by various professional archaeologists who, after questioning us about what we were up to, invited us to measure and analyze the astronomical alignments at their site excavations. Forty years later, I’m still exploring the role of cosmology and astronomy in ancient city planning. With the demise of J-Term in ’89, I labeled the one-month field trips “Extended Study” and attached them to the front end of a stretch-model spring term course. Like the fall term prerequisite, I named it Archaeoastronomy, which I would later define as “the study of the practice of ancient astronomy using both the written and the unwritten record” (i.e., archaeological remains of architecture). The textbook I wrote for the course (Skywatchers of Ancient Mexico, 1980: revised 2001) came to be known as “The Gospel According to St. Anthony” by affectionate colleagues in anthropology, archaeology, astronomy, and the history of astronomy who would teach similar courses in the new interdiscipline we helped found. Having trained in astronomy, to what do I attribute my unanticipated interdisciplinary academic career, 100 percent of which I’ve spent at Colgate? Three factors. First, blind luck — being in the right place at the right time. Add to that the generous length of rope my Colgate mentors always seemed willing to let out to accommodate my desire to stretch intellectually and come up with novel ways of imparting knowledge. Finally — and above all — being with my students, whose dilating pupils I delight in witnessing whenever they encounter the unknown.

Read more essays from our Passion for the Climb series at colgateconnect.org/scenepfc.

In the funnies Cartoonist Jerry Walter ’37 In many ways, Susie Q. Smith was just like any other teenager. She babysat rambunctious children, tolerated the advice of her well-meaning parents, and tested the waters of the dating scene. But, she just so happened to be a cartoon character. Her life story was dreamed up during the “golden age” of comics by alumnus Harold “Jerry” Walter ’37 and his wife, Linda. From 1945 to 1959, premier comic strip syndicates including King Features and the New York Daily News featured Susie Q.’s many misadventures in both the Sunday and daily papers. Meanwhile, from 1951 to 1954, Dell Comics published a series of four comic book issues featuring new Susie Q. stories. At first, working in tandem, Walter did the writing while his wife illustrated his stories of the freckle-faced brunette and her various friends and family members. Later, they shared the writing and illustrating roles. In order to depict authentic teenage experiences, Walter spent one day a week with teens to discern their dress, habits, and lingo. This “field experience” inspired Walter’s narratives featuring Susie Q.’s colorful personality expressed via thought bubbles and dialogue. The couple often subtly inscribed their signature on objects within every comic strip, from a newspaper held by Susie Q.’s father, to a street curb. In addition to “Susie Q. Smith,” the cartoonists used their talents to bring two other creations to life: “Jellybean Jones” in the late 1940s and “The Lively Ones” in the mid-1960s. Walter had begun his illustrious career in comics at Colgate, as editor of the Banter, the student humor publication. Ironically, one of Walter’s Delta Upsilon fraternity

brothers was Thomas Nast III, the grandson of the acclaimed 19th-century editorial cartoonist Thomas Nast; yet, it was Walter, not Nast, who later became the famed cartoonist. Walter also gained notoriety as a freelance abstract painter. In 1956, he had his first one-man art show in New York City, at Chase Gallery. When he passed away in 2007, he donated his collection of 80 abstract paintings and a sizeable fortune to eight local charities in Queensbury, N.Y., where he lived his final days. — Natalie Sportelli ’15

“The Lively Ones”; 1965

Harold “Jerry” Walter in his 1937 Salmagundi photograph

13 Page 13 is the showplace

Susie twirls to impress a boy in “Susie Q. Smith,” mid 1950s

for Colgate tradition, history, and school spirit.

Andrew Daddio

In her research with Professor Jun Yoshino on the effects of melatonin on multiple sclerosis in mice, Marvee Gay Espiritu ’12 made a surprising discovery.

scene: Summer 2012

Brain teaser

The neurohormone melatonin, which Colgate researchers had been investigating as a possible way to decrease the clinical severity of multiple sclerosis in mice, has actually been shown to have the opposite effect, found Marvee Gay Espiritu ’12. Since her first year at Colgate, Espiritu has been one of the student researchers led by psychology professor Jun Yoshino in the study of mice with the Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis model of MS. Secreted primarily by the pineal gland, melatonin regulates the circadian rhythm and has antioxidant properties. “So, our theory was that melatonin was going to help the animals get better — because one of the pathological hallmarks in MS is the production of free radicals, and we know that antioxidants can counteract free radicals,” Espiritu explained. That hypothesis had been proven in the past by other students on Yoshino’s research team, but when Espiritu took over the research for her senior thesis, her findings turned the whole study on its head. “The melatonin actually made the animal in my study sicker,” she explained. Now, a new crop of students has taken over the study, and they’re trying to replicate her findings. So far, so good. Although she has graduated (with honors in neuroscience), Espiritu still gets updates from the current research group, which is getting the same results.

All of those hours spent in the lab (she estimates that she spent at least 48 hours a week) have paved the way for Espiritu to meet her career goal of becoming a neurosurgical physician’s assistant. In the fall, she will begin the Physician’s Assistant Program at Le Moyne College in Syracuse.

Not the end of the world as we know it Hollywood films and sensationalists have been prophesizing about the predicted day of humanity’s demise on December 21, 2012, which is alleged to be based on the Mayan calendar. But Tony Aveni, professor of astronomy and anthropology and Native American studies, has become the voice of reason with a recent discovery.

Mayan calendar

SPAN 352: Spanish Literature: In the Golden Age MW 2:45-4:00, Lawrence Hall 206 Fernando Plata, Professor of Spanish Course description: With an emphasis on the Renaissance and Baroque readings of the “Golden Age” of Spanish literature, this course aims to examine love and honor as interconnected themes appearing in theater, poetry, and prose. Students analyze the overarching themes in the assigned readings via discussion and reflection along the way, enhancing their ability to both speak and write in Spanish. On the reading list: E.L. Rivers, Renaissance and Baroque Poetry of Spain; Miguel de Cervantes, “El celoso extremeño”; María de Zayas, “El prevenido engañado”; Francisco de Rojas Zorrilla, “Del rey abajo, ninguno”; Tirso de Molina, “El burlador de Sevilla”; and a Spanish-English dictionary Key assignments/activities: Frequent discussion periods for which students are asked to prepare and participate in conversations conducted completely in Spanish regarding the assigned texts. Group and individual oral presentations. Three comprehensive essays and exams.

iStock

life of the mind 14

Syllabus

The professor says: “Students acquire the tools to analyze narrative, poetry, and drama of the period. In that sense, the class will equip them with tools more normally acquired in an English literature class, with the added advantage of learning them in a foreign language and context. Students also learn how to read complex texts critically. Moreover, in examining questions of gender, race, love, and religion, students come face to face with a world chronologically and geographically different from their own. This forces them to understand, appreciate, and embrace different ways of understanding the world, thus challenging their own preconceived notions and prejudices.”

Prized professors

From a university teaching award to the prestigious Pulitzer Prize, spring was a notable season for Colgate professors both present and past. The late Manning Marable, founding director of the Africana and Latin American Studies Program at Colgate, was awarded the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for his book Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention. The Pulitzer was awarded in April, a year after Marable passed away at age 60. He died right before the release of Malcolm X, which he had been working on for years. At nearly 600 pages, the biography has been characterized in media accounts as a re-evaluation of Malcolm X’s life that challenges long-held beliefs about the civil rights leader. Another Colgate scholar honored for penning important historical

works was Professor Peter Balakian, who received the Alice and Clifford Spendlove Prize in Social Justice, Diplomacy and Tolerance. Balakian, who directs the creative writing program, has authored numerous books on the Armenian Genocide. Back on campus, Tony Aveni, Russell Colgate Distinguished University Professor of astronomy and anthropology and Native American studies, was given the third annual Balmuth Teaching Award. Colleagues, friends, and alumni gathered in the Hall of Presidents at a ceremony with award founder Mark Siegel ’73 and the prize’s namesake, Jerry Balmuth, Harry Emerson Fosdick Professor of philosophy and religion emeritus. Also in the sciences, Ken Belanger, Raab Family Chair and associate professor of biology, received an Academic Research Enhancement Award from the National Institute of General Medical Science of the National Institutes of Health. The $325,282 grant over three years will help pay for expensive fluorescent microscopy equipment and molecular biology supplies that are needed for his research that studies how cancer develops and spreads. The grant also funds students in Belanger’s lab this summer, in a research tutorial next spring, and beyond.

Venus in transit

More than 60 stargazers, amateur astronomers, and interested observers gathered at Colgate’s Observatory on June 5 to see the rare phenomenon of Venus crossing in front of the sun.

the approximately seven hours that it took Venus to make its transit, the planet could be seen in Hamilton for about two hours, before the sun set. Roger Rowlett, Gordon and Dorothy Kline Professor of chemistry, took photos with his handheld camera over a telescope’s eyepiece. Of his picture (left), he said, “Sunspots are just visible through the clouds on the center left of the sun’s disk. They look like dust smudges, but are probably the actual size of whole continents.” Professor Roger Rowlett explained how he took this photo of Venus crossing the sun: “Taken 7:06 pm with a Nikon S-600 camera, using a 3-inch refracting telescope fitted with an H-alpha filter.”

Four accepted as National Geographic interns

Beforehand, Jonathan Levine, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, delivered a lecture in the Ho Science Center. Levine discussed the science and history of Venus transits, including why they occur when they do and the role they played in helping us understand the size of the solar system. Then, a crowd formed at the Observatory to view the astrological event that won’t be seen again until 2117. Tom Balonek, professor of physics and astronomy, coordinated the details to help people safely watch the small dot float across the blazing sun. There were three viewing options: through solar-viewing glasses (with aluminum-coated mylar) that were handed out, telescopes equipped with special filters, and the image was projected from a telescope onto a screen. Over

Tom Balonek

A paper co-authored by Aveni and published in the May issue of Science has drawn much media attention. It highlights the excavation of an area in Xultún, Guatemala, that has a “wall painting accompanied by a numerical table and a series of long numbers that appear to have functioned like those found in astronomical tables in the codices discovered in the earliest known Mayan calendar.” This wall painting, the oldest Mayan calendar to be found by scientists, foresaw another 7,000 years beyond December 2012, giving humanity a generous several thousand years longer than previous calendars. “Why would they go into those numbers if the world is going to come to an end this year?” Aveni recently pointed out to ABC News. “You could say a number that big at least suggests that time marches on.” The outpouring of concern over the sensationalized Mayan Doomsday prophecy has roots in misunderstood Mayan time-keeping methods, which, unlike modern-day calendars, worked cyclically. The ancient people never actually calculated a definitive end; rather, they used the stars to chart cycles that ended in rebirth, or renewal. December 21, 2012, is not the end, but a new beginning. “It’s like the odometer of a car, with the Mayan calendar rolling over from the 120,000s to 130,000,” explained Aveni. “The car gets a step closer to the junkyard as the numbers turn over; the Maya just start over.”

Solar-viewing glasses were handed out to observers watching Venus‘s June 5 transit across the sun.

Four geography majors from Colgate were nominated for competitive internships at the National Geographic Society (NGS), and, in a clean sweep, all four were accepted for assignments this year. This newest group of interns builds on the relationship Colgate has with the NGS, which goes back some two decades. One or two geography majors have been awarded an internship nearly every year and, in many cases, the internship leads to full-time employment. In fact, one of the latest recipients, Cassie Lawson ’12, will be working with Samantha Zuhlke ’10, who majored in geography at Colgate, interned at NGS, and now works there. Another alumna, Meg Hanley ’11, has just accepted a job at National Geographic after working there as an intern. She, too, was a geography major. “We’re delighted that all four of our nominees were accepted into this wonderful program,” said Maureen Hays-Mitchell, chair of the geography department. “We have a strong track record with the NGS internship program, and this certainly solidifies the relationship.” Hays-Mitchell pointed out that Colgate students compete against graduate students during the rigorous selection process, and the fact that they do so well speaks highly about their undergraduate preparation. In addition to Lawson, who will be working in the oceans program, the other recent grads who received internships are Allison Gramolini ’12, who will be working in the FieldScope program, which uses GIS to teach about environmental issues in schools; Dayne Weber ’12, who will be focusing on global media standards and practices; and Eric Spencer ’12,

News and views for the Colgate community

life of the mind 16

scene: Summer 2012

who will be part of the education program. “I have wanted to work for National Geographic ever since I decided to be a geography major, so I am so happy to have been selected for this internship,” said Weber. “This is the perfect way to start my career.” Lawson said she thinks her internship will provide some clarity in terms of her career goals. Right now, she is considering working for a nonprofit environmental organization or in environmental education.

Colgaters receive top NSF grant

When Weston Testo ’12 arrived at Colgate in 2008, little did he know that he would form a strong professional bond with James “Eddie” Watkins, an assistant professor of biology hired that same year. But, thanks in part to their research and publication partnership, Testo has received the single-most prestigious early career accomplishment for a young biologist: a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The award provides Testo with a three-year $30,000 annual stipend, a generous cost-of-education allowance to his graduate institution, and other resources. Next year, Testo will begin a PhD program at the University of Vermont, where he will work with David Barrington, one of the world’s leading authorities on fern evolutionary biology. Remarkably, three recent Colgate biology majors received NSF Graduate Research Fellowships this year. Testo, however, was the only one to receive the award as an undergraduate. “I’ve never put up an undergraduate student for this because it is hypercompetitive, with most awards going to early career graduate students,” Watkins said. He added, “Wes is unique. I have watched him grow into a creative, critical-thinking, engaged scientist.” Testo has worked in Watkins’s lab since his first year, studying many aspects of fern biology. They spent two summers together in Costa Rica and traveled widely while engaged in their research. One of the hallmarks of this collaboration has been Testo’s primary research on an endangered fern that grows in that region. Testo is lead author on two of the three peer-reviewed journal papers he worked on with Watkins. A fourth

is now under review, with two more papers to be submitted. He has received many other honors, including an undergraduate student research award from the Botanical Society of America and a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship honorable mention. Colgate’s other 2012 NSF grant recipients are: Adam Pellegrini ’10, a PhD candidate in ecology at Princeton, and Peter Minchella ’08, who entered the doctoral program in international nutrition at Cornell in 2011. Pellegrini is currently in South Africa studying the long-term effects of fire treatment on ecosystems of the savanna, thanks to a Mellon Foundation grant. He’ll work on a comparative study in the Brazilian cerrado (tropical savanna). Minchella’s current research focuses on the protective effects provided by the BCG (Bacille Calmette-Guérin) vaccine against tuberculosis.

preneurs Club in spring 2011. Club founder Bharadwaj Obula Reddy ’12 accepted the challenge. “I’m on financial aid, so when Dr. Mandel initially talked about how he was going to help someone else go to college, I really loved that idea,” Reddy said. “And once I got into the process, it was amazing to have the experience of launching a new product.”

“One can be an entrepreneur at any age,” said Dr. Mark Mandel ’60 who, at age 73, has tapped Colgate students to help him launch a new philanthropic endeavor. Through the sales of highend hair care products, Mandel will grow a college scholarship fund called the Foundation for the Advancement of College Education. Its acronym, F.A.C.E., is aptly named for Mandel’s lifework — he’s a longtime Beverly Hills–based plastic surgeon. Calling himself “a neophyte in the business arena,” Mandel pitched his concept to the university’s Entre-

Dr. Mark Mandel ’60

Alumni-student entrepreneurship venture

Weston Testo ’12

Mandel commissioned two chemists who had developed all of Paul Mitchell’s formulations to create his trio of sulfate-, paraben-, and formaldehyde-free shampoo, conditioner, and glossing serum. Reddy was tasked with developing the marketing — relying partly on social media — and strategizing distribution. Another member of the Entrepreneurs Club, Julia Won ’15, researched marketing to young adults. Although the line is for everyone, the team believes that young adults will have

Fostering fellowship

From the Ukraine to Taiwan, young Colgate alumni will be spanning the globe as they embark on new adventures through the Fulbright Program. Kathryn David ’12 will conduct a research project in Ukraine titled “Rebuilding Jewish Community in Odessa.” Through immersion within the community, contacts at the Odessa Literary Museum and Moria archives, and a formal affiliation with I.I. Menchikov Odessa National University, David will examine how the Jewish community is rebuilding itself after the fall of the Soviet Union. Andrew Lorraine ’12 will serve as an English teaching assistant in Slovakia at the secondary level, helping students develop their writing and conversational skills as well as an understanding of American culture. Lorraine also plans to explore his own Slovakian heritage while learning about the history and geography of the Slovak Republic. Lauren Shively ’11 will teach Eng-

lish language and American Studies in Taiwan, and in turn gain a greater understanding of Taiwan’s educational system and culture. Josh Smeltzer ’12 will teach English at a German high school using experiential learning to add an interactive dimension in the classroom. Catherine Murray ’12 plans to serve as a resource to students in the French Caribbean as they advance their English language skills and learn about American culture. Murray is a French Ministry of Education Teaching Program Grantee for 2012–2013 through a Fulbright recommendation.

Get to know: Julia Martinez

Andrew Daddio

an interest in supporting a cause that benefits their own generation. Reddy has reached out to representatives at other college campuses to spread the word. Art student Abi Conklin ’13 was brought on board to design the logos and branding. In addition, Conklin has been working with Reddy on a commercial as well as social media outreach. “As an artist, it’s awesome real-world experience,” Conklin said. Noting that Mandel has been openminded and flexible to work with, Conklin said she thinks “it’s really nice to see somebody from another generation looking out for us.” Reddy expects to fully roll out their marketing efforts by the end of summer, but the products are currently for sale in the Colgate Bookstore, campus C-Store, JJ’s Salon in Hamilton, and online. A basket of Dr. Mandel Beauty Products was also auctioned off at the Konosioni auction in April. A minimum of three $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to eligible high school seniors this fall, and additional scholarships will be given as proceeds grow. Showing his commitment to the endeavor, Mandel will supplement any scholarship funds that the product sales do not cover. For more information, visit http://facescholarship.org and http:// getmandel.com.

Academic symposia

On March 17, Colgate’s geology department hosted 10 academics for an interdisciplinary dialogue about the destabilization of ecosystems in the northeastern United States due to human-induced habitat destruction, climate change, and biodiversity loss. Participants in the Mass Extinction workshop brought perspectives of philosophy and ethics, as well as ecology, biology, paleontology, and, of course, geology to the discussion. “Without a doubt, the workshop turned out to be the most sustained intellectual effort that I have ever engaged in,” said Paul Pinet, professor of geology and environmental studies at Colgate, who organized the meeting along with Jeremy Bendik-Keymer, a philosophy professor from Case Western Reserve University. “The interactions and the queries that emerged from those intellectual couplings were continually deep, complex, innovative, and dynamic,” said Pinet. Pinet said the group outlined two papers for future publication and discussed meeting again as their ideas evolve. “If we do, we plan to engage other specialists with the complex ecological, geological, and moral issues that are embedded in the elevated extinction rates of the present,” he said. Colgate also hosted “Wars beyond war: Mass violence in an age of terror, catastrophe, and the responsibility to protect.” Coordinated by the Peace and Conflict Studies Program, the symposium brought intellectuals from China, Sweden, Canada, the United Kingdom, and prominent universities across the United States to engage in two days of presentations and discourse.

– Assistant professor of psychology since August 2011 – BA, Dartmouth College; PhD, University of Missouri-Columbia – Plays flamenco guitar, blues jazz piano, and banjo What piqued your interest in the psychology behind alcohol and drug use? As an undergraduate, I did research under a physician who was studying how a person’s memory of a recent trauma contributed to post-traumatic stress disorder. We excluded all the people who had been drinking right before the trauma because alcohol can affect memory. However, there had been a large percentage of people who had been drinking, and who were essentially being ignored. So, I went on to study alcohol use and abuse in graduate school, and I have been doing it ever since. It is a really interesting area of clinical psychology because it is so prevalent across age, race, and socioeconomic status. Do you specialize in a particular area of alcohol studies? My biggest interest is how drinking in the college-age group develops into an alcohol use disorder. It’s a myth that alcoholism is most prevalent in older groups; it’s actually most prevalent in the 18- to 25-year-old range. People are most at risk during that time. Tell us about your current research studies. I have three campus-based studies going on this summer that are examining college drinking and the things that promote the development of alcohol use disorders. Two of these are about social reinforcement — peers encouraging people to drink, and encouraging pathologic behavior around drinking. In one study, a student and I are examining how people portray their alcohol use and behaviors on Facebook, and to what extent certain behaviors and pictures are “liked,” and how that relates to a person’s actual drinking. In another study, we’re asking students to relate their most positive and negative drinking stories, along with the social components that may make them seem positive or negative. It is interesting that the things people experience at the onset of their drinking career may be the things that promote or discourage further drinking. The third study is looking at how college is both a time when people develop their problem-solving abilities and decision-making skills, yet also may engage in drinking behaviors that are not always consistent with good decisions, such as continuing to drink despite it causing problems with friends or classwork. One of my students is assessing problemsolving skills by administering neuro-psychological tests — games or riddles — to students. The way people solve them indicates their problem-solving and decision-making abilities and correlates with long-term functioning. How should universities address the problem of drinking among students? For those already suffering from an alcohol use disorder, there are many therapy techniques and other treatments that work, but may improve with adjustments that focus on the unique situation of college students. For risk prevention, the latest research has been looking into enriching the college experience. Colgate is at the cutting edge in terms of thinking about environmental ways to reduce campus drinking problems (which remain a major health concern at universities throughout the nation). There needs to be consistently enforced and well-known regulations about drinking on a campus, and there also needs to be a vibrant atmosphere that directs students’ attention away from the drinking culture and toward becoming involved in fun ways to improve oneself academically and socially.

News and views for the Colgate community

Andrew Daddio

arts & culture 18

Preview

Accompanied by Colgate Vietnam Society members, Dao Anh Khanh (foreground, left) created moving art.

scene: Summer 2012

A stunning display of cultural fusion

Red spotlights hit the stage of the Palace Theater, illuminating Dao Anh Khanh’s silhouette behind an opaque sheet. As the performance artist began to move, his calculated motions were synchronized with alternating colored lights, powerful noise, musical harmonies, video, and smoke. The overall effect was like moving art. In its second year as a campus organization, the Colgate Vietnam Society (CVS) presented Khanh’s show, “East Meets West,” in early April. An internationally known performance artist from Vietnam, Khanh is inspired by both Western and traditional Eastern art. His Colgate visit — only his sixth time in the United States — gave students the opportunity to see an innovative interpretation of Vietnamese performance art. Joining Khanh were five Colgate student dancers whom he had personally trained in preparation for the show. Executing a unique array of dancelike motions, including some impressive acrobatics, Khanh and the student dancers performed harmoniously, feeding off of each other’s energy. One of the dancers was Khanh’s daughter, Jenny Tho Dao ’12, a CVS member who helped the group organize his visit. “All the dancers were fascinated with this kind of experimental art,” she said. “And it was a cool experience to be able to rehearse with my dad for this performance.”

Tue Nguyen ’14, also a CVS member, said, “[Khanh’s] use of light and darkness was really interesting, especially at the point of the show when his silhouette was intertwining with the other shadows — that was amazing.” Khanh, whose work is about crossing lines culturally and politically, explained his inspiration: “It’s the life of people, from the people of Vietnam, America, and the people of the world. It’s about distance, culture, life, all coming together more and more.” — Natalie Sportelli ’15

Three Gods Walk Into a Bar…

“Leave your powers at the door” read a sign on the coatrack in Dionysus’s bar in the Masque and Triangle production of Three Gods Walk Into a Bar. Directed by Jessica Hall ’14, and featuring an ensemble cast of new and veteran actors, the play was staged April 12 through 14 in Brehmer Theater. Playwright Ross Brooks wrote the comedy based on the idea that the Greek gods are losing their “jobs” to the new game in town, Jesus and the Christian God. During a visit to campus, Brooks worked with the cast and crew, and led two discussions about the play and its implications. For Hall, a member of the Educational Outreach Board of Masque and Triangle, the opportunity to direct the play and solicit feedback from the playwright himself was a dream come true. Hall had been interested in Greek mythology ever since she took Core 151: Legacies of the

Escher String Quartet September 16, 2012, 3:30 p.m. Colgate Memorial Chapel Music of Purcell, Britten, Gesualdo, and Mozart Free and open to the public This ensemble — Adam Barnett-Hart and Wu Jie, violin; Pierre Lapointe, viola; and Dane Johansen, cello — has received acclaim for its individual sound, unparalleled artistry, and unique cohesiveness. With performances at major venues across the United States and abroad, including Carnegie Hall, Dallas Chamber Music Society, the Kennedy Center, the Louvre, China’s Hangzhou Grand Theatre, and the Ravinia, Gold Coast, Caramoor, and City of London Festivals, they are one of the BBC’s prestigious New Generation Artists. Recent residents in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s “CMS Two” program, they have collaborated with such eminent artists as Andrés Díaz, Leon Fleisher, Lynn Harrell, Wu Han, David Shifrin, pop folk singersongwriter Luke Temple, and Pinchas Zukerman. While on campus, the quartet will also offer a workshop with student instrumentalists.

For information on other campus arts events, visit www.colgate.edu/arts

time for one final joke: before the curtain fell, the cast froze into an imitation of da Vinci’s Last Supper. — Katie Rice ’13

Art, audio, and admiration

Memories, laughter, and emotions were wordlessly captured in the exhibition 15 Minutes: Homage to Andy Warhol, on view in Case Library throughout April and May. Each small, square print in the collection is a snapshot of history. One is a photograph of him and Bob Dylan admiring Warhol’s famous Elvis painting. In another, Warhol is coyly kissing John Lennon on the cheek at a party. A silk-screen print features a play on Warhol’s Brillo boxes; this is the work of audio producer and artist Jeff Gordon, who put the collection together. Accompanied by abstract painter Path Soong, Gordon came to campus in early April to introduce his exhibition of 17 prints that are visual representations of recorded MP3 audio tracks. Famous singers, poets, and artists — including Dylan, Ultra Violet, Patti Smith, and Billy Name — recorded their memories, songs, and poems to profess their veneration for their late friend. The contributors then created individual “album covers” to complement their MP3s. In order to get the full experience of the exhibition, visitors could listen to the tracks while viewing the corresponding prints. Several art students and art history classes dropped by the exhibition as

Janna Minehart ’13

Ancient World with Professor Matt Leone. Then, last year, Hall came upon Brooks’s script when her family raved about the play after seeing it in her hometown of Nashville (where Brooks is also from). It was like a sign from the gods; Hall knew she wanted to produce the play at Colgate. While a lot of humor is injected into the play — the gods, Hera, Zeus, Dionysus, and Hermes, are constantly punning on their godliness — the concept behind it is more serious. Calling into question the whole idea of religion, the play not only entertained, but also posed important questions for the audience, including students in the classics and religion departments as well as Core 151. As Dionysus (played by Dan Kwartler ’15) said, the humans “give us shape, form, and function,” and therefore, the gods are at the mercy of the mortals and their wishes. With the entrance of Jesus Christ (Chris Donnelly ’15) in white overalls and a plaid shirt, Zeus (Dan Levy ’12), Hera (Alex Magnaud ’12), Hermes (Eric Bryden ’14), and Dionysus are sent into a tailspin listening to his new ideas about how to be a deity. Hermes chooses to join Jesus’s new group of deities, under pressure from Michael (Will Reisinger ’15), who serves them their unemployment papers and is not-so-subtly representative of Michael the Archangel. The rest of the gods decide to float into legend. Closing with Jesus, Michael, and the Greek gods happily grabbing a drink at Dionysus’s bar, there was

Artist Jeff Gordon

part of their learning outside of the classroom. Upon hearing about Gordon’s personal connection to Warhol and his work with the icons who contributed to the project, one art student commented, “It’s really cool to be able to hear a person who was so close to someone as famous as Andy Warhol speak to us. It’s like listening to history.” Reflecting on his multilayered career as an audio producer, artist, and innovator, Gordon said: “I blur lines and destroy borders in my work.” The exhibition made its Colgate stop before traveling to New York City, Turkey, China, and other locations worldwide. — Natalie Sportelli ’15

Bouk belts it out

Ashlee Eve ’14

The Masque and Triangle production of Three Gods Walk Into a Bar

Elizabeth Bouk, a voice instructor at Colgate, has been displaying her full-scale talent through various roles with local operas. Most recently, the mezzo-soprano portrayed Kate Pinkerton in the Syracuse Opera’s April production of Madama Butterfly. Bouk made her Syracuse Opera debut as Flora in La Traviata last October. Colgate Italian Club members, Professor Anne Beggs’s Global Theater through the Ages class, and voice and choral students attended. Then, in November, Bouk sang the part of Dorabella in Oswego Opera’s production of Cosi fan Tutte — a role she’s played several times. “Elizabeth Bouk’s raving Dorabella was another winner, sung with a milky, luscious mezzo,” Sam Perwin of Opera News Online wrote of her 2009 New York City performance. The songstress said that her biggest thrill is singing with an orchestra. “I get to fit in with so many different and complex timbres and

rhythms, but I also have a special place in that mix,” explained Bouk, who has been singing seriously since she was in eighth grade. In addition to singing opera, Bouk recently performed in the Empire State Lyric Theater’s production of Beauty and the Beast in her hometown of Rochester, N.Y. Also, in May, she was featured as the alto soloist in Mendelssohn’s Elijah with Sacket’s Harbor Vocal Arts Ensemble and in Handel’s Messiah with The Catskill Choral Society. Bouk entertains on a smaller stage several times a year when she performs with pianist Dianne McDowell at The Barge Canal Coffee Co. in Hamilton. Her favorite tunes are from the Golden Age of musical theater, so the duo performs music by Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Kurt Weill. Reflecting on her multifaceted career, Bouk said, “It is wonderful to have a job that brings me such joy.”

Out of the mouths of babes

As Casey Macaulay ’12 was doing research about the play Spring Awakening — Frank Wedekind’s late–19th century shocker — she experienced an awakening of her own. It was Macaulay’s final semester at Colgate, and her first time as a dramaturge. In that role, she was researching the play’s historical context and production history for University Theater’s modern adaptation of it for their spring production. The research also became part of Macaulay’s senior capstone project. Spring Awakening was originally published in 1891 in Germany, but the premiere was delayed until 1906 due to its scandalous content about adolescent sexuality. Over the next century, several censored versions were staged. The Broadway musical version gained wide appeal in 2007, earning eight Tony Awards including Best Musical. Because Macaulay, a theater and political science double major, is from Starnberg, Germany, her command of German helped her to compare different translations of the play, including the version by Jonathan Franzen (author of the acclaimed novel The Corrections) used for Colgate’s production. “Spring Awakening’s frank portrayal of coming-of-age pays tribute to the honesty inherent in the German language and is a clear

News and views for the Colgate community

scene: Summer 2012

Ashlee Eve ’14

arts & culture 20

Colgate University Theater presented author Jonathan Franzen’s translated version of Spring Awakening.

prelude to expressionism,” she wrote in the program notes. “The process enabled me to understand the text’s many layers and the playwright’s intention behind them,” said Macaulay, who also researched Wedekind as part of her role as dramaturge. She found the experience so powerful that it reinforced her decision to apply to dramaturgy and literary management fellowships for next year. And the insights she gained drew the audience more deeply into the performance, which was directed by Adrian Giurgea, professor of English and director of University Theater. “The world in which we live now is markedly different from when the play was written; the rise of media and technology have made sexual ignorance almost impossible,” she wrote. “Adults have contrastingly been afforded a facelift of youth. Children, cursed to mature faster biologically,

are prodded to remain forever young externally.” No wonder the play hasn’t gone out of style.

Breughel lends Picker a new landscape

At about the same time the Pilgrims were scraping up against Plymouth Rock, Pieter Breughel the Younger was putting the finishing touches on a lively painting in his bustling workshop in Antwerp, Belgium. Four centuries after the signing of the Mayflower Compact, Colgate has received Breughel’s Winter Landscape with Skaters, a gift from Donald ’46 and Renate Schaefer to the Picker Art Gallery’s permanent collection. The panel, which depicts village life along an ice-covered Flemish river, was unveiled during a reception at the gallery on April 14. Mrs. Schaefer inherited the artwork in 1961 from her uncle, Max Ober-

lander, who purchased it in 1920s Vienna. In preparation for the transfer, Mr. Schaefer flew the painting — first class — to Germany, where it was authenticated by Breughel expert Klaus Ertz. When Winter Landscape was returned to sender, Colgate’s own ancient and medieval art expert, Judith Oliver, began digging into the history of its creator. Breughel the Younger, Oliver told reception guests, was the son of one of Renaissance Europe’s most famous artists, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, whose paintings hung in royal houses across the continent. Pieter Bruegel Jr. inherited his father’s sketches and workshop at a young age and produced copies of those high-end masterpieces for the middle-class market – and added an ‘h’ to his name. But Winter Landscape is a unique page in Brueghel the Younger’s portfolio. It is one of the few paintings not derived from his father’s works — rather, it was part of a commission that his father began but was unable to complete before his death in 1569. It is also one of the first that he signed with yet another spelling, Breughel, perhaps to differentiate himself further from his celebrated parent. These aspects of the painting, along with its charming iconography and social commentary, make it a welcome addition to the Picker collection. “It’s a tremendous gift,” said President Jeffrey Herbst. “We understand the responsibility we have to preserve it and to make sure that generations of students, alumni, parents, and friends are able to see it.”

Art students present: What Museums Collect

This past semester, students played the roles of both art historians and curators in the Museums in Theory and Practice course taught by Judith Oliver, professor of art and art history and medieval and Renaissance studies. The culmination of the class was What Museums Collect: From the Cabinet of Curiosities to Modern Curatorial Challenges, an exhibition in Colgate’s Picker Art Gallery from May 10 until June 15. The students were responsible for conducting research, creating gallery labels, and installing the art, as part of Oliver’s ambitious assignment that took the class outside the lecture hall and into a museum of their own creation.

Mark Williams

Indian metalwork of Shiva, part of the What Museums Collect exhibition

Oliver first asked her students to write term papers addressing current challenges that museums face. Their topics — which included the looting of antiquities, the detection of forgeries, objects of religious veneration, and offensive art — became the themes for their individual exhibitions. Working closely with Sarisha Guarneiri, the Picker gallery’s registrar, students chose objects that aesthetically embodied the focus of their research. They selected pieces ranging from 1930s photography to Indian ironwork sculpture to Australian aboriginal bark paintings. Students hung the colorful and eclectic pieces themselves, showing off objects in their collections in regal glass cases. Based on their research,

2012 Senior art projects: selections

they wrote professional wall labels to accompany the art. Megan Reinhart ’12, an art history major, wrote her senior thesis on the detection of forgeries as a modern museum challenge. “Mine focused on how artwork may not always be what it seems,” Reinhart explained. Her collection includes paintings that might be forgeries, but, as she wrote in her labels, the art world cannot be certain if the pieces are actually fakes. Brooke Weinstein ’12 created her own “Cabinet of Curiosities,” symbolic of the assortment of exotic items collected by the Italian Medici family, which art historians now view as the first museum. Weinstein’s cabinet featured items like stuffed birds in flight from the biology department’s Natural History Museum of the Chenango Valley and gems borrowed from the geology department’s Robert M. Linsley Museum. Oliver said she “hoped the exhibition would give [her students] a sense of all the many practical elements that go into creating an exhibition, as well as a taste of how interesting life is behind the scenes and the many ethical challenges museums face.” Grace Goodwin ’13 said she “learned that there is so much behind an art exhibition — much more than meets the eye.” Goodwin added, “It’s not as simple as just hanging paintings on the wall.” — Natalie Sportelli ’15

Histoire (Acrylic on canvas; latex on masonite) by Elizabeth Murphy Kean ’12 is a series of portraits that reflect her family history and mimic the details characteristic of old photographs. Through archives of personal letters and other written documents, as well as conversations with relatives, Kean collected secrets and quirky facts pertaining to her family’s history. The panel below the portraits exhibits some of these secrets. Coalescence of Geometric Dimensions (latex on wood) by Kimberly Sass ’12 stems from her previous interest in painting three dimensional, architectural elements on a two-dimensional canvas. “I continue to examine spatial dimensions, perception, collage, and the boundary between painting and sculpture,” Sass explained. “Painting a two-dimensional, geometric pattern on an uneven, threedimensional wood surface, there is a certain duality achieved. This piece was intended for the image to unfold in multiple ways.”

Donald Schaefer ’46 tells the story of how Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s painting Winter Landscape with Skaters made its odyssey to Colgate.

Andrew Daddio

Photos by Mark Williams

The User (video still, 2011/2012, 59:42) is “a metaphor for the many bad people in this world,” explained Alexander Coco ’12. “During the process of filmmaking, I continually reflect and deal with the issues that concern me. I don’t try to force the film … I let it become what it wants to become. I go along with the process: trying to be a step ahead, but still allowing it to surprise me.”

News and views for the Colgate community

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Lacrosse’s top award goes to Baum

Peter Baum ’13 (#15), winner of the 2012 Tewaaraton Award, was a driving force in the lacrosse team’s charge to the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Peter Baum ’13 was recognized as the nation’s top men’s lacrosse player this season when he won the prestigious 2012 Tewaaraton Award, adding to his list of major distinctions this year. “What an unbelievable experience,” Baum said. “I am so proud to be part of the Colgate family, and could not be happier to win this award for my teammates, friends, and Raider Nation.” Baum, a Portland, Ore., native, became the first player in program and Patriot League history to win the award.

First presented in 2001, the Tewaaraton Award is the preeminent lacrosse honor, annually recognizing the top male and female U.S. college lacrosse players. Baum was one of five finalists invited to the ceremony on May 31 at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. A number of alumni and players attended the ceremony to support Baum and the team. This season, Baum, an attackman, also received the 2012 Lt. Raymond J. Enners Award, which is given to the outstanding player of the year by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association; was named to the 2012 USILA All-America First Team and the LaxPower All-America Team; and was named the 2012 Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. He was also selected to the All-Patriot League First Team, All-Patriot League Tournament Team, and Academic All-Patriot League Team. Baum completed the season as the NCAA statistics leader in points per game (5.39) and goals per game (3.72), after finishing with a total of 97 points from 67 goals and 30 assists, tying for the most ever by a men’s Tewaaraton finalist. In addition, Baum set eight individual Patriot League and Colgate records, including points and goals in a single season for both the university and the league, as well as four Patriot League Tournament records. He is also second in program history career goals, with 130, which is tied for second in league history; fourth in assists with 30 this season; and fifth in career points, with 176. The attackman is also tied for sixth all-time in NCAA history, with 67 goals this season, and 13th alltime in points in a season, with 97. Baum received several preseason awards, including the 2012 Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, and he was a 2012 Preseason All-America Second Team selection. “Pete is the hardest worker on our team, and I am so very proud of him,” said head coach Mike Murphy. “Our team really helped him out and did a great job to get to this level of success. This is a good step for Colgate on the national scene.”

Bob Cornell

Men’s lacrosse makes Colgate history

scene: Summer 2012

On May 12, for the first time, the men’s lacrosse team won an NCAA Tournament game. The Raiders did so with

a come-from-behind 13-11 victory over the University of Massachusetts (UMass). Entering the tournament as the ninth seed, Colgate faced a Minutemen squad that had a perfect 15-0 record, was ranked the top team in the nation, and was the sixth seed in the tournament. That didn’t faze the Raiders, but they had some work to do as UMass fought hard. Colgate advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals on May 20 at PPL Park in Philadelphia, where the Raiders took on a tough Duke team that was coming off a win over Syracuse in the first round. The Raiders enjoyed a great turnout from fans and alumni on a gorgeous day on the banks of the Delaware River, but, unfortunately, the Blue Devils prevailed 17-6. As the team registered a school record 14 wins with first-year head coach Mike Murphy, it was a season to remember for men’s lacrosse.

Coaching chair honors Dunlaps

In honor of a legendary Colgate coach and athletics director, the Fred ’50 and Marilyn Dunlap Endowed Chair for Football has been created. The $2 million coaching chair endowment, built by 20 alumni and friends, was officially inaugurated in April at a gala celebration in New York City. “The endowment of the Dunlap head coaching position signifies the tremendous respect that generations of alumni have for Coach Dunlap and the community,” said President Jeffrey Herbst. “It is also important when hundreds of Colgate alumni come together to support both football and athletics at the university.” “It is simply an emphatic ‘thank you’ that will live on in perpetuity — just like the life lessons we all learned from Coach and Mrs D. during our stay in the Chenango Valley,” said trustee and former offensive tackle Daniel Hurwitz ’86, who spearheaded the effort. The honor is the latest for Dunlap, a Maroon Citation winner and recipient of the Wm. Brian Little ’64 Award for Distinguished Service to Colgate, who oversaw 77 victories during his years as head football coach (1976– 1987) and supervised the construction of Sanford Field House as director of athletics (1976–1992). Green Bay Packers CEO and former Colgate athletics director Mark Murphy ’77 was one of Dunlap’s players.

Fred ’50 and Marilyn Dunlap

“Fred came in when I was a senior … That season was really a great lesson for me on how you coach a team, how you manage people, and how you lead an organization, which I use to this day,” Murphy said at the gala. Current head coach Dick Biddle, the winningest football coach in university history, will serve as the inaugural Dunlap chair-holder. Biddle was Dunlap’s defense coordinator and line coach from 1977 through 1983. “He always preached that the players were the most important thing, and those are the things that I have tried to take with me,” Biddle said. A formal campus inauguration will take place at Andy Kerr Stadium on November 3, following the Raiders’ match vs. Lafayette.

Eachus signs with Kansas City Chiefs

Former Colgate running back Nate Eachus ’12 officially signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League on April 28, following the NFL Draft. An FCS consensus first team All-American and Walter Payton Award finalist, Eachus finished his career with 4,485 yards rushing and 53 touchdowns, both of which rank third all-time at Colgate. With 317 carries for 1,871 yards and 21 touchdowns during the 2010 season, Eachus was named to the Sports Network/Fathead.com, AFCA, Walter Camp, and AP All-American first teams. He was also the CFPA Elite Running Back of the Year and the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year. Eachus earned Patriot

League first team honors three times (2008–2010) and set the league record for most rushing yards in a game with 291 against Cornell. He is the second Colgate running back to sign with the Kansas City Chiefs; the first was 1987 Walter Payton Award winner and College Football Hall of Fame member Kenny Gamble ’88.

Larkin represents Italy at IIHF World Championships

Defenseman Thomas Larkin ’13 spent his final weeks of the spring semester representing his country at one of the highest levels of his sport. The Italian hockey player was part of Italy’s International Ice Hockey Federation World Championship roster and was the only current college player in the entire tournament. Larkin played in all seven games for the Italians, mostly on the third line defense, but he also got a chance to jump up onto the second line during the matchups against powerhouses Russia, Czech Republic, and Sweden. The highlight of the tournament for the Cocquio Trevisago, Italy, native was tallying the second international point of his career with an assist against Norway in a 6-2 loss. The goal came in the second period and was initially given to Larkin, but was later changed due to a deflection in front. (Larkin’s first international point was a shorthanded goal in last year’s Division I World Championships while playing for the Italians.) Overall, Larkin and his teammates posted a 1-6 record with an overtime win against Denmark.

Greg Fargo has been named the head coach of women’s ice hockey. He spent the past four seasons as the head coach at Elmira College, leading the team to consecutive ECAC West Championships in 2009 and 2010, along with an NCAA Tournament second-place finish in 2009 and a third-place finish in 2010. The 2009 ECAC West Co-Coach of the Year and two-time nominee for AHCA Coach of the Year recorded an 84-23-5 record at Elmira, including a Division III best 24 wins during the 2008–2009 season. Fargo is a 2006 graduate of Elmira, where he had one of the most prolific careers between the pipes ever. He still holds Elmira’s records for all-time career saves and minutes played. His 2005–2006 save percentage of .926 is still the all-time best there, while his goals against average in that same season ranks him second in the program’s 34-year history. Following his graduation, Fargo served on the men’s ice hockey coaching staff at Canisius College. Off the ice, Fargo also contributed greatly to the team’s success in the classroom, where he helped raise the GPA from 2.99 to 3.14, before improving Elmira’s women’s team GPA from 2.74 to 3.20. Fargo earned a master’s degree in physical education with a concentration in coaching at Canisius. Along with his women’s hockey coaching responsibilities at Elmira, Fargo was also the head men’s golf coach.

From hatspiel to bonspiel

It was a full season for Colgate’s Curling Club, beginning in the fall when members traveled to Boston to participate in a “hatspiel” — the teams are assembled on site by picking names out of a hat. Then, on February 24 and 25, the club participated in the second-annual Utica Curling Club Bonspiel (tournament). One of the most exciting matches in the event was between the Colgate 3 and defending champions RIT. Skip Alex Hull ’14 and his team of Grant Haines ’15, Rachel Petersen ’14, and Brandon Triminio ’14 took RIT into an extra end, but lost on the last rock when the RIT skip made a difficult shot. RIT successfully defended their title, winning the “A event.” Colgate’s teams won the E event (Colgate 1), and F event (Colgate 2), and were runnersup in the F event (Colgate 3).

The following weekend, two Colgate teams traveled to Belfast, Maine, making it into the B and C finals. The season closed with a trip to the East Coast Regional College Curling Championships at the Broomstones Curling Club in Wayland, Mass. In Division 2, Colgate 1 — Zach Wienandt ’13, Rich Grey ’13, Ryan Loomis ’12, and Amanda Zranchev ’12 — came in fourth. In the finals of Division 3, Colgate 2 (Anna Miettinen ’14, Kara Schmidt ’14, Beth Mahoney ’14, Jenna Glat ’14, and Lauren Kasparson ’15), played Colgate 3 (Hull’s team plus Matt Feeney ’14), with Hull taking the gold and Miettinen the silver.

Janet Little retires

After 35 years serving Colgate’s Division of Physical Education, Recreation, and Athletics, Janet Little has retired. At commencement, athletics director David Roach named Little a director of recreation and chair of physical education emeritus.

Andrew Daddio

Lorenzo Ciniglio

New head coach for women’s hockey

Janet Little

Her initial appointment at Colgate was as head volleyball coach and athletic trainer. As the head volleyball coach for 17 years, Little maintained a successful winning tradition and mentored numerous student-athletes. In 1981, she was appointed coordinator of women’s athletics, the first of many administrative positions that she held in the division. Then, in 1995, Little shifted her primary focus to athletics administration. She served as interim director of athletics in the summer and early fall of 2003. In the fall of 2005, Little became director of recreational sports and also continued as the chair of physical education. Over the years, she managed club and intramural sports, physical education and recreational facilities, the Trudy Fitness Center, and the Outdoor Education Program.

News and views for the Colgate community

new, noted , & quoted

Bringing Up Bébé: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting Pamela Druckerman ’91 (The Penguin Press)

When American journalist Pamela Druckerman had a baby in Paris, she noticed some major differences between French and American children. The French children Druckerman knows sleep through the night at 2 or 3 months old, while those of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat wellrounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. And, while her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids, her French friends sip coffee while the kids play. With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman — a former reporter for the Wall Street Journal — set out to learn the secrets to raising a society of good little sleepers, gourmet eaters, and reasonably relaxed parents. Read more on page 67.

From Rain: Poems, 1970–2010

Bruce Guernsey ’66 (Ecco Qua Press)

In simple, spare language, poet F r om R ain Po e ms , 1 9 7 0 - 2 0 1 0 Bruce Guernsey examines the common objects around us as if they were clues to B G solving some kind of mystery. Ice, glass, stones, moss, and similar inanimate things take on meaning as Guernsey seeks to answer who and why we are. These poems are the detective’s magnifying glass to examine our profound connection to the natural world and its disruption by war and loss. In particular, the poet reflects on the disappearance of his father from a V.A. hospital in 1987. ruce

scene: Summer 2012

uernsey

On the Fault Line: Managing Tensions and Divisions Within Societies Edited by Jeffrey Herbst, Terence McNamee, and Greg Mills (Profile Books Ltd)

On the Fault Line is based on a yearlong project examining the nature of conflict around societal divisions — or fault lines — caused by differences in race, religion, ethnicity, wealth, class, and power. Violence along fault lines within states, from Sudan to Iraq to the Congo, is the spark of much contemporary conflict and has cost millions of lives in the past 20 years alone. In extreme cases, this violence threatens to tear states apart. Yet, some countries, such as Canada, South Africa, and Northern Ireland, have largely succeeded in managing their fault lines. In a world facing acute environmental, migration, and resource challenges, On the Fault Line is a guide to understanding a phenomenon that all countries must grapple with in the 21st century. Colgate’s president, Jeffrey Herbst, coedited the book with Greg Mills, director of the Brenthurst Foundation, and Terence McNamee, deputy director of the foundation.

Scattered Goddesses: Travels with the Yoginis Padma Kaimal (Association for Asian Studies)

Scattered Goddesses is about the lost home, the new homes, and the in-between journeys of 19 sculptures that now reside in at least 12 separate museums across North America,

Western Europe, and South India. Padma Kaimal, an associate professor of art and art history and Asian studies at Colgate, has investigated what these goddesses and their former companions might have meant when they were together in 10th-century South India. She then traces them to the hands of private collectors and public museums as the objects became more thoroughly separated from each other with each transaction. In the process of export and purchase, and in the hostile as well as loving receptions these sculptures received within South Asia, Kaimal finds that collecting and scattering were the same activity experienced from different points of view. T

his is a book about the lost home, the new homes, and the journeys in between of nineteen sculptures that now reside in at least twelve separate museums across North America, Western Europe, and South India. After piecing together what these goddesses and their former companions might have meant when they were together in tenth-century South India, Kaimal traces them into the hands of private collectors and public museums as these objects became more thoroughly separated from each other with each transaction. In the process of export and purchase, and in the hostile as well as loving receptions these sculptures received within South Asia, she ﬁnds that collecting and scattering were the same activity experienced from different points of view.

“In this welcome new book, Padma Kaimal asks important and often refreshingly different questions about Indian art from Tamilnadu. These questions include how we reconstruct, interpret and display a whole world of patronage and temple construction, sculpture and devotion, and the role in it of women as well as men. This book shows the real beneﬁts of focussing intently on a coherent group of just nineteen sculptures now scattered around the world’s museums. In doing so Professor Kaimal challenges us to think differently about issues of restitution of cultural property and not to adopt simply the familiar ‘naked binary oppositions between art market thieves and victims, between an evil colonizing West and a virtuous pillaged Asia.’”

— John Reeve

Institute of Education, London University Former Head of Education at the British Museum

“With great care and admirable clarity of mind, Padma Kaimal pieces together here an absorbing ‘narrative’, even as the dispersed goddesses, whom she seems to know almost at ﬁrst hand, look upon us with their timebegentled eyes. Several strands, seemingly scattered but all joined and then limned by art historical inquiry, come together in this truly impressive work: investigation, reconstruction, study of intent, concern for quality, and, above all, an awareness of the larger context. There is a sense of completeness here.”

— B.N.Goswamy

Professor Emeritus, Panjab University, Chandigarh

“This exceptionally well-written book reads like the art historical equivalent of a police procedural: readers accompany Kaimal on feats of detection as she traces the fate of a set of goddess sculptures from 10th-century South India. The cast of characters includes early 20th-century archaeologists, dealers and curators, and the scene shifts between the sculptures’ source in India, and their eventual homes in the West. Kaimal gazes upon the unfolding scene with honesty and compassion, never allowing herself to use the crude binaries of ‘victims’ and ‘despoilers.’ The book also shows the way a scholar can fuse the traditional concerns of dating, stylistic analysis and iconographic identiﬁcation with current interests in object-biography, histories of collecting, colonial entanglements and new museology. This compelling study makes irrelevant the distinction between ‘old’ and ‘new’ or ‘local’ and ‘global’ art history. Scattered Goddesses marks a generational shift in the writing of Indian art history.”

— Kavita Singh

Scattered Goddesses Travels with the Yoginis

Padma Kaimal

Scattered Goddesses: Travels with the Yoginis

Information is provided by publishers, authors, and artists.

Suffering from Parkinson’s disease, his father vanished out the door one spring day and was never found. His wandering ghost haunts this collection, whose poems have been published in The Atlantic, Poetry, American Scholar, The Nation, and many quarterlies, as well as in less-traditional publications such as Fly Rod & Reel, The Journal of Medical Opinion, and War, Literature and the Arts. Guernsey is distinguished professor emeritus at Eastern Illinois University, where he taught for 25 years.

KAIMAL

Books, music & film

Associate Professor, Visual Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University

Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 825 Victors Way, Suite 310 Ann Arbor, MI 48108 USA www.asian-studies.org

AAS

ASIA PAST & PRESENT

ASSOCIATION FOR ASIAN STUDIES, INC.

Banding Together: How Communities Create Genres in Popular Music Jennifer Lena ’96 (Princeton University Press)

Why do some music styles gain mass popularity while others thrive in small niches? In Banding Together, Jennifer Lena, visiting assistant professor of sociology at Barnard College, explores this question and explains the growth of 20th-century American popular music. Drawing on examples from 60 musical styles — from rap to South Texas polka, and including several created outside the United States — Lena uncovers the shared grammar that allows us to understand the cultural language and evolution of popular music. Offering an analysis of how music communities operate, she looks at the shared obstacles and opportunities creative people face and reveals the ways in which people collaborate around ideas, artworks, individuals, and organizations that support their work.

In the media An Integrated Boyhood: Coming of Age in White Cleveland

Phillip Richards (Kent State University Press)

This “memoir of a bookish black youth in mid-20th century Cleveland” tells the story of Colgate English professor Phillip Richards who, when he graduated from Yale in 1972, had fulfilled his parents’ dreams. They had moved from neighborhood to neighborhood in search of better schools, all while providing Richards with what they called “good situations”: classes at the Institute of Music, Boy Scouts, and education at University School. Richards candidly describes how this exemplary middleclass sojourn left him hopelessly confused and provides the background to a more private turmoil: a struggle to read the meanings of his privileged experience amid the city’s shifting racial lines, the fringe on the Left, the tumult of rising black consciousness, and the fears of nervous white suburban neighbors. Like all black Clevelanders, Richards was forced to struggle for his understanding of the city’s — and his own — racial confusion in the midst of frightening historical change.

Overcoming America/America Overcoming: Can We Survive Modernity?

Stephen Rowe ’67 (Lexington Books)

AmericAn Society • ethicS

“A wake-up call—and just in time! This is a ‘postmodern’ book in the best sense: one that does not simply reject modernity but rather rescues modernity-gone-astray, thus paving the way to recovery. Stephen Rowe is an admirably lucid and courageous writer sounding this wake-up call’not by imposing moralistic formulas from above, but by encouraging a renewed cultivation of civic virtues through mutual openness and dialogical engagement.” —Fred Dallmayr, University of Notre Dame, author of In Search of the Good Life (2007) and The Promise of Democracy (2010).

“In this intriguing new book, Stephen Rowe exemplifies the key democratic, educational, and moral arts he invites us to understand, value, and practice. honestly, caringly, respectfully, he invites us to think with him as he lays out the complex weave of analysis, understanding, and hopeful prescriptions on which he has worked for many years.” —Elizabeth Minnich, American Association of Colleges and Universities, author of Transforming Knowledge.

“Stephen Rowe is my favorite commentator on American culture, doing so with great nuance. In Overcoming America / America Overcoming he has sought the deepest level of the malaise gripping our nation and found it in the dominant ‘worldview.’ The book arises from the richness of Rowe’s own dialogical life experience, especially with American liberal education and the revival of traditional Chinese culture.” —John B. Cobb Jr., Claremont School of Theology, author of Spiritual Bankruptcy In Overcoming America / America Overcoming, Stephen Rowe shows how the moral disease and political paralysis that plagues America are symptomatic of the fact that America has been overtaken by modern values, which have been exported to the rest of the world. he points to a way out of this current and potentially fatal malaise: join other societies who are also struggling to move beyond the modern and consciously reappropriate those elements of tradition, which involve cultivating mature human beings. To avoid fundamentalism, Rowe discusses how this reappropriation must be undertaken in dialogue with those who also have come to recognize the unsustainable quality of the modern lifeway, and who have been able to live beyond the nihilistic wish to tear it down. This book supports the call for an emerging global ethic and spirituality, providing resources of articulation and interpretation that allow for an ongoing dialogue between traditional and modern values—both worthy and problematic in their own ways—through which reliable policy and healthy living become possible.

Stephen roWe is professor at Grand Valley State University. For orders and information please contact the publisher Lexington Books A wholly owned subsidiary of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing group, inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 • www.lexingtonbooks.com

90000

9 7 80 7 3 9 17 1 4 00

overCoMing aMeriCa / aMeriCa overCoMing

“Stephen Rowe launches a powerful argument for the need to aufheben (negate-anduplift) the modern and construct a relational America. Engaging and refreshing . . . an excellent example of how comparative philosophy is relevant to the real world.” —Chenyang Li, Central Washington University, author of The Tao Encounters the West.

Rowe

In Overcoming America/AmeroverCoMing aMeriCa / aMeriCa overCoMing ica Overcoming, Stephen Rowe contends that the moral disease and political paralysis that plague America are symptomatic of the country being overtaken by modern values that have been exported to the rest of the world. A professor at Grand Valley State University, Rowe points to a way out of this “current and potentially fatal malaise”: join other societies that are also struggling to move beyond the modern and consciously reappropriate elements Can We Survive Modernity? Stephen Rowe

of tradition. Rowe discusses how this reappropriation must be undertaken in dialogue with those who also have come to recognize the unsustainable quality of the modern way of life, and who have been able to live beyond the nihilistic wish to tear it down. The book allows for an ongoing dialogue between traditional and modern values — both worthy and problematic in their own ways — “through which reliable policy and healthy living become possible.”

A Book of Miracles: Inspiring True Stories of Healing, Gratitude, and Love

“Investing in education and work opportunities will yield far greater benefits for American families than restricting women’s reproductive rights or legal access to marriage for same-sex couples.” — Janel Benson, assistant professor of sociology, weighs in on regulating sexuality in the New York Times’s “Room for Debate”

“I tend to bedazzle everything. And I wear pink when I’m stressed out.” — Maggie Dunne ’13, voted one of Glamour’s “Top 10 College Women 2012” for founding the Lakota Pine Ridge Children’s Enrichment Project

Bernie Siegel ’53 (New World Library)

Bernie Siegel compiled this uplifting collection of stories about the cross-section of healing and miracles that he has witnessed in his more than 30 years as a practicing surgeon and pioneer of Exceptional Cancer Patients, a groundbreaking synthesis of group, individual, dream, and art therapy that provided patients with a “carefrontation.” His approach facilitated patients’ awareness of their own physical, spiritual, and psychological healing potential. With a foreword by Deepak Chopra, A Book of Miracles includes stories of how having a baby helped a woman heal from a debilitating condition; a girl whose baby brother helped her overcome anorexia; how cancer taught a woman to stand up for herself; and what a 7-year-old girl taught her family about hope and letting go. Without diminishing the reality of pain and hardship, the stories show real people turning crisis into blessing by responding to adversity in ways that empower and heal.

Also of Note:

In I’m Fed Up With the Tea Party! (Infinity Publishing), Philip Salisbury ’65 “sets forth the substantive issues that make the Tea Party a diversion from the interests of main street America.”

“My introduction to the game happened later than most of my peers. My dad played lacrosse at Colgate, so I always knew about the game a little bit. However, I couldn’t actually start playing in Portland until the sixth grade, whereas back east you can start as young as kindergarten.” — Peter Baum ’13 (son of Richard Baum ’78) in the New York Times’s “The Quad” sports blog post about the Raiders’ standout season

“Contending that God takes an active interest in the ever-shifting sands of American politics, and that God has a firm set of preferences concerning who should occupy the White House seems, frankly, to border on blasphemy.” — Tim Byrnes, political science professor, quoted in the Post-Standard’s (Syracuse) report on a live debate about religion and politics held at the Everson Museum

“Our applicant pool was among the best that we’ve ever had… [It] was the most diverse pool that we’ve ever seen, measured in lots of different ways.” — Gary Ross ’77, vice president and dean of admission, speaks to Bloomberg radio

News and views for the Colgate community

Professor Paul Lopes first fell in love with comic books as a young boy in California. a Marvel Comics fan, he devoured the Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man every week. Like many others, however, he “grew out” of his love for comics. But, as a sociologist who studies rebellion and transition in art worlds, he rediscovered his love of this art form in 2002 — and he wants more of us to do the same.

TAKING COMICS

SERIOUSLY By Paul Lopes

...like all art, comic artworks, artists, and readers fall more along a continuum between pure mainstream on one end and pure avant-garde on the other

scene: Summer 2012

The birth of the American graphic novel

s this summer’s blockbuster The Avengers invaded thousands of multiplexes, broke boxoffice records, and evoked cheers from critics and audiences alike, I could not avoid the feeling that the American comic book had once again pulled Hollywood into an aesthetic black hole. Movies based on comic books feature spectacular sensenumbing special effects barely connected together by one-liners bantered about by one-dimensional characters. And with the young Scarlett Johansson prancing about the mise-en-scene as Black Widow, it seemed pretty obvious who the target audience was for The Avengers. Writ large on screen, the old stigma that comic books are pure low-brow pulp — worthy only of children, adolescents, and acne-ridden, scruffy men suffering from arrested development — seemed inescapable. These comments aside, don’t get me wrong. As a cultural sociologist, I’m a long-time defender of both middle-brow and low-brow art. You might even say I am an aficionado of pulp fiction. And I have spent considerable time studying the distinction between high art and popular art in America. During most of the last century, the divisions between the high-brow, the middle-brow, and the low-brow signified a hierarchy among art, artists, patrons, and audiences in America. In the early 20th century, the high-brow perched itself comfortably at the top. But by mid-century, many saw this position as besieged from all possible fronts, from middle-brow book clubs and Broadway plays to low-brow television shows and Hollywood films. Some cultural sociologists claim that, by the end of the last century, high-brow America had lost this “battle of the brows” to a new omnivorous America. Many Americans now feast on art and culture in an all-inclusive fashion. Omnivorous Americans have a taste for classical music as well as hip-hop, French cuisine as well as Philly cheesesteaks, literary

novels as well as pulp mysteries, and Masterpiece Classic as well as Dancing with the Stars. Sadly, although I should be bubbling with delight at this revolution, one lone art appears to have been left behind. The full range of the comic book genre, so dear to my heart, has not been invited to the table. The overwhelming presence of superhero comic book characters in mainstream popular culture has distracted many from discovering how radically different, and varied, comic art has become over the last 30 years. So, although some discerning urban hipsters in the late 1980s did notice the emergence of a new, more serious, form — the “graphic novel” — this incredible transformation failed to capture the imagination of most Americans, whether high-brows or omnivores. It was this special moment in comic art that soon grabbed my attention as a scholar. My interest eventually led to the publication of my book, Demanding Respect: the Evolution of the American Comic Book. The Scene invited me to introduce you to contemporary comic book culture and the American graphic novel by telling the story of this radical change in comic art. I believe comic art will capture your imaginations in ways you never before experienced, so sit back and let me introduce to you the miraculous, extraordinary, fantabulous world of American comic art!

American comic books

As a true believer of the aesthetic potential of comic art, I still must admit that today’s typical view of comic books as low-brow pulp is not woven out of thin air. It reflects the unfortunate state of the more popular mainstream comic books, whether appearing in comic book shops, projected onto multiplex screens, or evident in the costumed “fanboys” and “fangirls” roaming San Diego’s Comic-Con, the biggest comic book convention in

original illustration for the Scene by Matt Madden

the country, which is attended by around 125,000 people every year. A rough estimate reveals the world of comic art as composed of 90 percent superhero and fantasy comic books and their fans. The other 10 percent comprises an incredibly diverse array of comic art, artists, and readers. Although mainstream versus alternative are the most common terms used to distinguish these two camps, like all art, comic artworks, artists, and readers fall more along a continuum between pure mainstream on one end and pure avant-garde on the other. (Yes, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m suggesting that there is avant-garde comic art. Check out the artists Chris Ware and Kaz if you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe me.) American comic art today covers all possible literary expressions, including fantasy, mystery, gothic-romance, history, autobiography, journal-

ism, politics, and slice-of-life portraits. American comic art also encompasses a wide breadth of graphic art styles. But when did this little-known revolution in comic art occur? How did superhero comic books begin to grow up â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as well as make room for a more diverse, and decidedly adult, comic art universe? Comic books first captured the imagination of Americans in 1938 with the appearance of Superman in Action Comics. At the time, most adults viewed them as low-brow pulps for children that were at best a minor distraction on the road to better literature, or at worst, a menace threatening to undermine literacy and morals across America. With the arrival of Western, crime, romance, horror, science, and war comic books after World War II, more adults began reading comic books, but the original image

of them as childish subliterature never completely disappeared. This unshakable view, now threatened by the adult content of these new genres, led to a national anti-comic book crusade in the early 1950s spearheaded by civil and religious groups as well as government officials. Responding to the intense pressure of this crusade, the industry implemented the Comics Code in 1954, which eliminated the more adult-oriented comic books from American newsstands. This self-censorship only reaffirmed the view of comic books as an art form whose only potential lay in making children giggle or feeding male adolescent fantasies.

Comics grow up

A comic book revolt, however, began in the 1960s. There were two bands of revolutionaries. The News and views for the Colgate community

Frank Miller, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Book Two, pg. 14. (DC Comics, 1996)

Alan Moore, writer; Dave Gibbons, illustrator/letterer, Watchmen, Chapter II, pg. 10. (DC Comics, 1986)

These excerpts from Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen reveal aspects of the radical departure from the superhero genre taken by these celebrated graphic novels. Batmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exploration of the uncomfortable melding in the superhero genre of heroism, patriotism, and vigilantism belies the terrible culture of violence in American history. Watchmen explores the absurd and deeply disturbing delusions of omnipotence, purity, and unmatchable strength inherent in the superhero genre.

scene: Summer 2012

first, which would transform American comic art from within the mainstream, was made up of a fandom who established magazines and conventions that celebrated American comic books, and more importantly, comic book artists, as worthy of admiration and respect. This development allowed superhero and fantasy comic books to move toward more elaborate and complex narratives, and mainstream artists to create more unique expressions of graphic illustration. The second band of comic art revolutionaries was made up of underground artists who emerged from the counterculture of the 1960s. Artists such as Robert Crumb (Zap Comix) and Gilbert Shelton (The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers) created transgressive and political comix as a radical rejection of “straight” culture and politics. They also set the stage for the avant-garde. Ironically, just as these revolutionary bands appeared to seize the day, the viability of the mainstream and underground comic book markets withered away. Low profit margins and high returns in the mainstream comic book market made them unappealing to both newsstands and general retailers, while anti-drug and anti-pornography campaigns made the underground market (mostly through head shops) unsustainable. By the 1980s, therefore, the two movements converged into a single subculture of hard-core comic book fans. This subculture was served by a much more limited direct market where comic book shops preordered a set number of issues from comic book publishers for a regular set of readers. Within this new scenario, artists, publishers, and readers came

were able to explore, in both graphic novels and limited comic book series, the promise of this new artistic medium.

The graphic novel

The world outside the comic book subculture was first introduced to the American graphic novel in the mid-1980s with the publication of three books that, to this day, remain iconic representatives of this great revolution in comic art. The first, Maus, was published as a graphic novel in 1986 by underground comix artist Art Spiegelman. This alternative graphic novel revealed the potential of comic art to explore complex and disturbing human tragedy — in this case, the rise of Nazism and the Holocaust. Maus is now a standard text in college courses across the country, including many sections of Colgate’s Core 152: Challenges of Modernity. The other two releases revealed the surprising potential of mainstream comic book genres: Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen. Both explored the darkness of vigilantism inher-

ent in the superhero genre and, interestingly, deliberately interwove complex textual references to the history of the American comic book. But sadly, these three critical and commercial successes failed to secure a viable niche for graphic novels in the trade book (general interest booksellers) market, so this medium never captured the attention of a mass audience. On the other hand, these three books set the stage for comic book artists to continue to explore the potential of graphic novels along the continuum of mainstream to alternative avant-garde comic art. Ironically, it was the rapid success of translated graphic novels from Japan known as manga that reversed the fate of the American graphic novel at the turn of this century. The earlier successful introduction of Japanese animation, anime, to American television set the stage for manga quickly becoming the fastest-growing publishing market in the United States. While manga catered to young girls and boys, their success enticed trade publishers to try reintroducing American graphic novels for all ages into the trade book market. This

Unlike previous comic book series, the graphic novel allowed artists to bring greater narrative coherency and complexity into a well-structured text. together to demand respect for this art form, in the belief that comic art deserved serious content as well as serious appreciation. This convergence allowed for radical experimentations in comic art. Earlier experimentation had already led to more elaborate story arcs in comic book series, which easily morphed into the new long-form format we now know as the graphic novel. Unlike previous comic book series, the graphic novel allowed artists to bring greater narrative coherency and complexity into a well-structured text. The graphic novel, therefore, proved to be a more suitable form for creating compelling fictional as well as non-fictional narratives. With fans open to the wide potential of comic art, artists

Chris Ware, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth, pg. 219 ( Pantheon Books, 2000)

This page from avant-garde artist Chris Ware’s graphic novel Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth demonstrates the power of both the words and images in comic art. Jimmy Corrigan received two highly respected literary prizes in 2001, the Guardian First Book Award and the American Book Award. Ware’s work has been on exhibit at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

News and views for the Colgate community

Depicting his young self wearing a mouse mask in his studio while imagining the millions of Holocaust victims piled below him and Auschwitz outside his window (a barely perceptible swastika backgrounds all the panels), artist Art Spiegelman imparts layers of meaning to the reader — questions of social identity, responsibility, guilt, and the unbearable toll of that human horror. But he also demands from the reader an emotional and human accounting of these images and their history.

time, it worked. American graphic novels found a niche. Besides manga creating an opening for American graphic novels, two other factors paved the way for a more permanent trade market for this new art form. Given the low-brow reputation of comic books, you might be surprised to learn that an active movement of librarians began promoting graphic novels in libraries and classrooms. At the same time, urban hipsters of the 1980s and 1990s who had witnessed the revolution in comic art had become media gatekeepers at major magazines and newspapers like Entertainment Weekly, Time, and the New York Times. In feature articles and book

human beings can take any medium and make it a serious vehicle of expression reviews, these gatekeepers lent critical support to this new market in graphic novels. Today, American graphic novels generate greater sales revenue in the United States than either manga or traditional comic books. And this time around, there are plenty of past and present works to supply this new mass market.

Compelling and meaningful

Art Spiegelman, Maus, Volume II, pg. 41. (Penguin Books, 1992)

scene: Summer 2012

The term graphic novel often elicits smirks on the faces of either fanboys who think it is a pretentious term (even while they busily buy superhero and fantasy graphic novels) or literati who cannot imagine how comic art could ever compare to serious literature. While I sympathize with the fanboy’s wariness over the term, I am less enamored by those who disparage this medium. The mixture of text and graphics seems to send many critics into a paroxysm of hostility never aimed at works of text or visual art alone. While we can argue forever over how a medium determines its own unique aesthetic, human beings can take any medium and make it a serious vehicle of expression — whether by splashing a subway train with graffiti art or sounding out beautiful musical melodies on an old steel drum. I tell my academic colleagues that what is most amazing in teaching Maus is seeing what an emotional impact Art Spiegelman’s narrative makes on my students. The story as told evokes an incredible sense of immediacy and empathy. What makes comic art such as Maus special and compelling is the strong intertextual play built into what aficionados call sequential art. Scott McCloud, an acclaimed critic of comic art, argues that the spaces between the panels of sequential art compel readers to imaginatively fill in the narrative, drawing them in both intellectually and emotionally. Moving through Maus from panel to panel and page to page, the reader is irresistibly drawn into the harrowing account of Holocaust survivor

Vladek Spiegelman, as well as the son who feels compelled to tell his story. In cartoon form, Spiegelman portrays different ethnic or national groups as animals: European Jews as mice, Germans as cats, Poles as pigs, and Americans as dogs. In the opening page of the chapter “Time Flies” in the second volume (shown at left), Spiegelman delves into the conflict-ridden nature not only of being the son of Holocaust survivors, but also of becoming an acclaimed artist in telling their tale.

Such compelling reading is not unique to Maus. I remember having a similar response to Joe Sacco’s Safe Area Goražde, which challenges readers to take an emotional and human accounting of a Muslim community under siege in a U.N. “safe area” during the Bosnian war in the early 1990s. It transcends what can be achieved in a text-only account of this war. Sacco provides a similar moving account in his American Book Award–winning Palestine. And whether one is reading Stuck Rubber Baby, Howard

Must reads

If you count yourself among the uninitiated, there are several ways to introduce yourself to comic art and graphic novels. First, consider picking up the four listed here — they will reveal to you the power of this art form. In addition, Paul Gravett’s Graphic Novels: Stories to Change Your Life not only presents a wonderful history and literary analysis of the American graphic novel, but also presents detailed introductions to some of the best published over the last 30 years. You might also simply wander over to the graphic novel section of the nearest bookstore, whether a local independent bookseller or a chain, and peruse the shelves. Mainstream graphic novels will probably dominate the shelves, but make sure you find the section with alternative graphic novels. You will be amazed at the rich variety! — Paul Lopes

The Complete Maus. Art Spiegelman. New York: Pantheon. 1996. Art Spiegelman created one of the most compelling testaments of the Holocaust. An epic tale of survival, a moving tale of self-discovery, and an amazing story of an artist’s struggle over self-expression and self-transformation, Maus is one of the greatest American artworks of the 20th century. No wonder the Pulitzer Prize committee gave a special citation award to Spiegelman in 1992 for this masterpiece. Watchmen. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. New York: DC. 1987. This graphic novel is the most sophisticated deconstruction of the superhero genre ever published. It weaves details of comic book history into a classic story of heroes rising to the occasion to defeat a megalomaniacal villain. At the same time, it is a dark story of the unintended consequences of individuals once wedded to a vigilantism that was long ago abandoned by their own society. Moore presents, in a feat of intertextual jujitsu, a complex story that even those unfamiliar with the superhero genre can appreciate. Fun Home. Alison Bechdel. New York: Houghton Mifflin. 2006. With Fun Home, Alison Bechdel ended up with more best-book-of-the-year citations than any other book in 2006. Already a highly regarded comic artist with her long-running comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, Bechdel revealed herself as a brilliant and thought-provoking memoirist in this touching personal story of her troubled relationship with her closeted gay father and the legacy of his hidden life. Persepolis. Marjane Satrapi. New York: Pantheon. 2003. Persepolis is a must read for anyone interested in experiencing the full power of comic art. Iranian born, Paris-based Marjane Satrapi originally created this work in the French language. But since its translation into English, Persepolis rivals Maus as the most popular alternative graphic novel in the United States. This harrowing retelling of the Iranian revolution and its terrible effect on Satrapi’s family reveals an incredibly humane meditation on human tragedy and hope. Also like Maus, the style of graphic art transports the reader into an imaginative realm that makes the tale more “real” by its emotional and empathetic effect. Background art: Marjane Satrapi, Persepolis, pg. 11. (Pantheon, 2003)

Cruse’s deeply moving graphic novel on growing up gay in the Jim Crow South, Marjane Satrapi’s jarring account of the Iranian revolution in Persepolis, or Alison Bechdel’s poignant account of the deeply conflicted relationship with her closeted gay father in Fun Home, the power of the graphic novel is inescapable. Many mainstream graphic novels show the potential of pulp sequential art as well. Simply pick up Neil Gaiman’s fantasy The Sandman, Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson’s cyberpunk Transmetropolitan, or Max Allan Collins and Richard Piers Rayner’s crime graphic novel Road to Perdition and you will see my point.

A last remark

In the space of this short essay, it is impossible to introduce readers to the full joys of comic art. If I have piqued your curiosity, please take a look at the “must reads” (at left) to help you on your own Quest for the Great Graphic Novel. I think it best, however, to end with a bit of a confession. While I am passionate about alternative graphic novels like Maus, I also love pulp graphic novels like Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. On top of indie films like Ghost World (based on an alternative graphic novel by Daniel Clowes), I also get sucked into the guilty pleasure of watching Hollywood superhero blockbusters like The Avengers (I cheered with everyone else in the theater as the heroic Hulk pummeled the evil Loki!). And I hope it is not because I’m suffering from arrested development! You see, I believe I am one of those new cultural omnivores. I love a delicious French bouillabaisse as well as a good Philly cheesesteak. I love the Nobel Prize–winning authors José Saramago and Toni Morrison, but it is hard to find time to read them when you have to watch the next Smash or Parks and Recreation. Whatever your tastes, however, I guarantee you can find a graphic novel to satisfy what I hope will be your new, irresistible craving for comic art. As we worked with comic artist Matt Madden to create the opening comic strip for this historical article, we decided we should end by looking to the future. By coincidence, both he and author Paul Lopes had given special talks at the LitGraphic: The World of the Graphic Novel exhibition at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute in Utica this past spring. So, Lopes posed the following question: “Matt, as someone who entered comic book culture as a young mini-comics rebel in the early ’90s, how do you view the future of alternative comic book artists like yourself?” Madden was only too happy to respond. “Right up to the end of the millennium, most cartoonists of my generation felt like we were stuck in a cultural backwater. Some even embraced the freedom that comes with that insularity. But for my part, I’ve always hoped to reach a wider and more diverse audience, so the crossover of the last 10 to 15 years is really exciting to me. I see more people reading comics and, as importantly, more kinds of people making comics. Influence and energy are flowing in all directions. I think we’ll see a lot of amazing new work in the years to come.”

News and views for the Colgate community

The Tenacious Tenney By Aleta Mayne

Resembling a snake with its mouth open, the newly formed 101st Assembly district has been described by the Albany Times Union as “made up of the misfit towns nobody wants.” But New York State Assemblywoman Claudia Tenney ’83 does want them — even though the state’s recent redistricting has put her in a challenging position. If re-elected this fall, Tenney’s district will change from a cluster of towns in central New York to a skinny, winding stretch that’s a four-and-a-half-hour drive from the snake’s mouth at the northern point — New Hartford (outside of Utica) in Oneida County — to the tip of the tail — Montgomery (just north of New York City) in Orange County. The freshman legislator will have to be elected by and then represent a mostly new constituent base. But Tenney hasn’t let political barriers stand in her way in the past, and she’s not about to let the redistricting lines stop her from pursuing re-election. After all, introducing herself to diverse groups of people and their issues is what Tenney has done ever since she was a Colgate student. The Scene talked to the Republican incumbent to find out how she got into this political arena in the first place.

scene: Summer 2012

Hamilton origins

Tenney knows her current turf — 27 central New York towns that constitute the 115th District — like it’s her own backyard. Well, that’s because it is. The daughter of Cynthia and the late state Supreme Court Justice John R. “Jack” Tenney ’52, she grew up in New Hartford with two older brothers and two younger sisters. The Tenney family’s central New York roots actually began in Hamilton, when Cynthia and Jack exchanged their first blush at Colgate’s Hall of Presidents in the early 1950s. Cynthia’s parents, Margaret and Robert “Bob” Roberts, lived in Hamilton, where Bob had founded the Mid-York Weekly newspaper in 1946 and helped to found Community Memorial Hospital as well as Seven Oaks Golf Course. Also, as Madison County’s Republican Party chairman in the ’50s, Bob Roberts took a number of Colgate political science students under his wing. One such lad, Jack Tenney, was a recent graduate who had begun studying at Cornell Law School. When Roberts decided to host an international relations summit in Colgate’s Hall of Presidents, he invited Jack and introduced him to his daughter Cynthia, a Vassar student who was covering the event for his newspaper. Little did the young couple know that not one, but two, of their future daughters would one day study at Colgate. By the time Claudia applied to her father’s alma mater, her grandfather had passed away, but her grandmother was still living on Kendrick Street. Claudia applied to three colleges, was accepted into all of them, and, to her parents’ elation, chose Colgate. “It’s a family thing,” she said. “My uncles had gone. I was the fifth one to go, and my sister [Jane ’87] was the sixth.” Colgate’s study abroad opportunities were a selling point for Claudia, especially because the university had a summer term at that time. “I spent every

Christmas and Thanksgiving at my grandmother’s on Kendrick Street, so I thought it would be better to expand my horizons beyond Hamilton in the summer,” she recalled. Tenney had her heart set on going to Italy, but a visit to the study group office during her sophomore year changed her trajectory. While waiting to meet with the study group director, Tenney got to talking with an upperclassman who had just returned from Yugoslavia. “I’m thinking, ‘It’s near Italy, but where exactly?’” she recalled. The other student pointed to the republic on a map, saying, “It’s so beautiful, so unique.” A thumbs-up from the study group director solidified Tenney’s destination — as well as her destiny.

Cultural exchange

Approximately 20 students departed on Colgate’s summer 1981 Yugoslavia Study Group, starting in the north and traveling south. The route allowed the students to be exposed to the country’s many diverse cultures as well as take political science and economics courses at universities along the way. Arrangements were made for group members to lodge with local families — some of whom Tenney still stays with when she travels to the region. Tenney became fascinated with the republic’s mélange of ethnic groups and religions. “Yugoslavia had a unique standing in the world,” she said. “And I identified with that. I’ve always done something different, and I think Yugoslavia defined me in that way.” While she was on the study group, Tenney’s father had his concerns. “My father was panicking —

that’s a Communist country!” Tenney recalled with a chuckle. But Jack’s worries were mollified one day when, serving as New York State Supreme Court judge in Syracuse, he started chatting with attorney Tony Langan, whose niece Melissa Coley ’79 had attended Colgate. Langan told Jack: “She’s fine over there. My niece works for the Yugoslav consulate. You should get in touch with her.” Jack did contact Coley, who was working at the consulate’s press and cultural office in New York City. Coley assured him that conditions were safe for his daughter. From Yugoslavia, Tenney reached out to Coley herself, sparking a friendship. Upon her return to the States, Tenney moved in with Coley in New York City. Like other Colgate students at the time, Tenney had the fall semester off, so she got a job at the firm Dewey Ballantine, Bushby, Palmer and Wood, where she got her first taste of a career in law. Then, in January, for her “Jan Plan,” Tenney became Coley’s intern at the consulate. With that experience in hand, after graduation, Tenney took over Coley’s job when Coley went to work for the Olympics in Sarajevo. As the only American employee, Tenney had the chance to practice Serbo-Croatian, which she had learned on the study group. She also was constantly reminded of the struggles of the Yugoslav people — from immigration issues to navigating the republic’s socialist system — which she had first witnessed in her travels. Realizing that she wanted to help people and that she needed more skills to do so, Tenney thought, “I should go to law school because it could give me the ability to advance a cause.” After a year at the consulate, Tenney resigned and chose to attend the University of Cincinnati College of Law because it was known for its Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights. During her first two summers off (1984 and 1985), she was given a scholarship to study Croatian at the University of Zagreb. For a year following law school, Tenney accepted a position at the legal database LexisNexis before moving back to Utica to work for the firm Groben, Gilroy, Oster and Saunders. Over the next several years, she focused on building her law career, eventually becoming a partner at the firm. Along the way, she got married and, in 1991, had her son, Trey. In 1996, wanting to strike out on her own, Tenney started a solo practice. Also at this time, after

years of being asked by her father why she had studied “such a remote language like Serbo-Croatian,” the answer presented itself. The Bosnian War had just ended, and she learned that Utica’s Jewish Community Center was helping Bosnian refugees relocate to central New York. Tenney immediately went down to the community center to meet the refugees, invite some of them over for dinner, and volunteer her help. Recognizing their needs, she donated clothing and took them grocery shopping, where the refugees were awestruck by the differences in American stores. “Even our milk looks different — their milk comes in a box and isn’t kept cold,” Tenney explained. “So, I’d help them pick things out.”

Building bridges

Tenney took on another career when she joined the family business in 1997, which, in addition to the Mid-York Weekly, now included the Pennysaver. As the publisher, Tenney renamed the company Tenney Media Group and merged the two newspapers into one. She pitched in on all aspects, from managing the ads to editing content to reporting. Oftentimes, Tenney would write the political columns and cover local businesses, but “there were times when we didn’t have anybody and I was writing all the stories,” she recalled. In the late ’90s, some of Tenney’s Bosnian friends approached her for help in publishing the area’s first newspaper for their community. She agreed, and they called the paper Mostovi, meaning “bridges.” It was named after the famous bridge of Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which had historical significance to their culture. Tenney fondly remembers swimming in the Neretva river flowing beneath the bridge with Colgate students during her first trip there. As a favor, her company published the small, eight-page newspaper at a reduced rate. “We definitely didn’t make money on it, and we could have even lost money,” she said. “But it was a nice connection for me and them.” Eventually, the Bosnian group ran out of funding, so Tenney offered them a one-page insert in the Mid-York Weekly/Pennsysaver for free. That paper was also struggling to stay afloat because its advertising base was small, locally owned businesses that started going under as big box stores displaced them. In 2002, Tenney’s resourcefulness in hunting down new advertising clients ended up giving her a lead not only for the paper, but also

for her career. One new client was New York State Assemblyman Dave Townsend, a 12-year incumbent being challenged in the Republican primary. (Tenney also sold ads to his opponent. “We were equal opportunity,” she quipped.) Townsend won the primary and continued to buy advertising from Tenney as he prepared for the general election. As with all political advertisements, Tenney thoroughly reviewed and edited Townsend’s ads. Through the process, Townsend became impressed with her legal knowledge and grasp of the political climate. When he won the election, he asked Tenney to be his chief of staff and legal counsel. “I don’t have the time,” was Tenney’s reaction. In addition to the media business, she was still balancing the law practice as well as her duties as a mom, and she was going through a divorce. “I did a lot of work early in the morning and late at night,” she recalled. But Tenney agreed to work for Townsend on a parttime basis, and when she sold the newspaper to Gannett in 2004, she was able to devote more time to her law practice as well as her job with the assemblyman. In 2010, when Townsend announced his decision to retire from the Assembly at the end of the year, he suggested that Tenney run for his seat. “You should do this,” he told her. “You know the job, you know the district, you know the issues that are out there,” he stressed. “It’d be a natural for you to move into this.” “I don’t know if I really want to do another campaign,” thought Tenney, who had just run for Oneida County Surrogate’s Court judge that year and didn’t win. But, after considering how many of the constituents and town officials she knew, and how much she wanted to continue to advocate for them, she decided, “I’ll go for it. I can bring some good credentials to the job.” Going into the Republican endorsement meeting, Tenney believed she would have the party’s support, but she narrowly lost. “If one more person had voted for me, I would have had the endorsement,” she said. Undeterred, Tenney set out to gather the 500 signatures required to get on the ballot. She got more than 1,700 — along with backing from the Conservative and Independence parties as well as numerous labor unions and public interest groups. In the primary, she ran as an independent and beat the Republicanendorsed candidate who also happened to be the county chair. With no Democratic challenger, Tenney was sworn in as an assemblywoman in 2011.

Left: Tenney being sworn in, with family at her side, including son Trey Right: Tenney listens intently while meeting with representatives from the Higher Education Opportunity Program.

News and views for the Colgate community

Back to school

“I’ve always done something different, and I think Yugoslavia defined me in that way.”

Andrew Daddio

Tenney, donning traditional garb, in Cilipi, Croatia

Andrew Daddio

Selecting Croation treats from the international grocery

To practice her Serbo-Croatian, Tenney frequents Aroma Café in Utica, where local Bosnians gather.

scene: Summer 2012

When you enter the building to visit Tenney’s Westmoreland-based district office, her door is the first one on the right. If you keep meandering down the hall, you find yourself surrounded by high school students buzzing about. Tenney hadn’t yet been sworn into the Assembly when she first met with the Westmoreland Central School superintendent to discuss a bill for teachers. She mentioned wanting to relocate her office to that area in order to be closer to her largest geographic constituent base. “Why don’t you move in here?” the superintendent suggested. “Can I?” Tenney asked. He consulted the board and the lawyers, she checked with the Assembly, and soon, Tenney was the new kid in school. It’s not uncommon to see students in Tenney’s office. She encourages them to visit, and last fall, she hosted a barbecue for the seniors. Mike Popowski, a senior with a keen interest in politics, first met the assemblywoman when he volunteered to be a greeter at the open house she held shortly after moving into the school. Ever since, Popowski has made a habit of stopping by the office to talk to and offer his assistance to Tenney’s aides, even when she is away. “I know I want to get into politics, so I figure the more I show an interest, maybe I can work for them one day,” he said. Popowski has helped organize a veterans clothing drive, and he plans to canvass voters with one of Tenney’s aides. Tenney gave him the opportunity to shadow her for a day in Albany, where he watched the Assembly session and sat in on her meetings with constituents. “She really listens to her constituents — she’s like a sponge,” Popowski observed. And, although he admitted that he doesn’t always agree with her decisions as a conservative, he said, “She told me that you have to be open to different ideas, regardless of your personal opinion, and represent your constituents. I really respect that.” Through his time with her, Popowski said, “She’s taught me that there are some good people in politics, and that’s what motivates me to be a political figure someday, because I think I can make the same kind of difference that she’s making in New York right now.”

Problem solver

Piles of mail, folders, and paperwork are stacked high on Tenney’s desk — she’s been in Albany all week. The bookshelves boast photos of her son in his U.S. Naval Academy midshipman uniform; her two Jack Russell terriers, Emily and Tessie; and a Lego model of the White House, which Popowski built for her. Holding up letters from her constituents, Tenney said that what she likes most about the job is “trying to solve their problems. A lot of what I do is help people navigate the bureaucracy in Albany. Ninetynine percent of the people I try to help are grateful, and that’s the most gratifying part of it — politics is not.” Tenney is a conservative: last year, the state Conservative Party gave her their top ranking, and this year, they gave her an award for being the “most

conservative legislator.” However, she is also the most independent member of the legislature, meaning that she votes the least often in accordance with her leadership. A member of the Assembly’s Banks, Higher Education, Mental Health, Small Business (ranker), and Social Service committees, Tenney has omnifarious issues on her plate. “It’s very much like the practice of law,” she said, crediting her legal — and business — experience for facilitating her political juggling act. “You can’t be an expert in anything, but you want to know as much as you can if you’re going to make significant reforms,” Tenney said. She makes a point of carefully reading, drafting, making suggestions, and amending bills — skills Tenney refined as a lawyer and while working for Townsend. “Understanding the legal process and legislative process is a huge advantage,” she said. “You have to take bills apart, look at what they’re trying to do, how the problem was caused, remedy a law, amend a chapter — because something may sound great, but when it gets passed, there will be something we didn’t think of, someone we’re hurting over here while we’re trying to help somebody over there,” she said. One issue to which Tenney has dedicated a lot of time is Medicaid reform. “Medicaid is the singlebiggest cost driver to the state of New York, and we are the single-biggest spender on Medicaid in the country, so it’s a huge problem,” she explained. In the 2011 state budget, Medicaid consumed more than $1 billion per week. In most states, the federal government funds 50 percent and the state funds 50 percent, but New York requires local governments to shoulder 25 percent of its share. Tenney has put forth two bills to cap the local government’s share of the cost. “We’re the only state left that requires our local governments to pay a twenty-five percent share, so we should be giving that responsibility back to the state,” she said. “If we do that, the state will have to reform Medicaid, or we risk becoming insolvent.” Tenney has also been actively involved in welfare reform. “The way New York law is structured, in some cases, you’re actually better off on welfare than working,” Tenney said. “We’re trying to keep the benefits packages in line with the federal standards because we want to save the taxpayers money and we want people to be incentivized to work.” So, as a member of the Social Services Committee, she has supported initiatives such as strengthening the welfare to work requirement, authorizing random drug testing backed by treatment, and bringing welfare program exemptions and benefits in line with those of the working sector. Assemblyman Andy Goodell (R), ranking minority member on the Social Services Committee, explained Tenney’s approach and the impact he believes she’s made on the Assembly. “Claudia has taken a lead on the floor of the legislature, voting against this year’s ten percent increase in welfare benefits and instead using the existing money to pay for a youth employment program,” he said. “She’s been a leader on the floor on a number of programs: cutting the cost of the Medicaid program, voting to cut middle-class tax rates to the lowest level in 58 years, and voting in favor of a stron-

ger ethics bill for the New York State Legislature,” Goodell added. Frustrated with questionable ethics in the bureaucracy and New York’s exploding pension costs, Tenney has co-sponsored a bill that would move high-ranking public officials and politicians off the state pension plan and into a defined benefit plan. She admits that the bill has been controversial but, she explained, “It would solve a lot of problems like term limits, double dipping, and gaming the pension system. We don’t want to attack the rank and file public employees — that, to me, is the wrong approach. Up in the top pay echelons is where everyone’s playing the game because that’s where the money is. I’m trying to look for fairness within the system.” “Claudia argues bills based on their merits,” said Assemblyman Sean Hanna (R). “You’re not going to hear from her, ‘This is a popular thing to do,’ or ‘This is going to help get votes.’ With her, it’s always about right and wrong — ‘is this bill right for New York, or wrong?’”

Oneida Indian who is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the federal government to preserve land that his family has owned since the 1700s. When asked why she took Phillips’s case, Tenney answered, “Because it’s the right thing to do. He doesn’t have any money, he needs someone to help him, and I think he has a legitimate issue. “He’s got great values,” Tenney continued. For example, Phillips is a traditional Native American who does not want to sell the Oneidas’ land for casino gambling profits. “He’s contrasted with all of these people who have compromised their values for money. It’s hard to stand against the crowd, and I give him a lot of credit for that.”

It always comes back to Yugoslavia

On days when Tenney isn’t in Albany, in the mornings, she usually grabs a cup of coffee at Aroma Café before heading into the office. Conveniently, the Utica coffee shop is on her way to work, but Tenney really stops there because it’s owned by a Bosnian couple and is a gathering place for local Bosnians. It isn’t in Tenney’s district, so the patrons are not her constituents, but she enjoys having the chance to practice her Serbo-Croatian. Around the corner from the café is the International Grocery & Music Store, another business that has been owned by a Bosnian couple for more than a decade and is something Tenney never imagined would exist in the area where she grew up. At the small shop, she delights in finding familiar Croatian delicacies like Kras chocolate for her son and Ajvar roasted red pepper spread. Tenney’s Yugoslavia experience also seeps into her professional life. For example, it came up in a recent meeting with an advocacy group from the Central New York Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Utica. The topic of discussion was a bill to help the association continue to receive state funding. Tenney was familiar with the bill as well as the association. She had recently toured the center and, as she told the advocacy group representatives, she took some Bosnian employees by surprise when she spoke to them in Serbo-Croatian. Tenney also relayed a story to them about how a blind student whom she met while studying at the University of Zagreb had taught her the many ways that visually impaired people overcome challenges. “It all comes back to Yugoslavia,” Tenney joked. Overall, it’s the desire to help people that has pervaded Tenney’s life since she went abroad. Still a practicing attorney, she mostly handles real estate contracts and wills. However, in addition to the Assembly position, she “inherited” from Townsend a lawsuit that’s totally different from her usual caseload. For several years, she has been arguing a case on behalf of Melvin Phillips, a full-blooded

“You want to know as much as you can if you’re going to make significant reforms.” – Claudia Tenney, who credits her legal experience for helping her thoroughly review and understand proposed bills

Silver linings

Tenney knows what it’s like to stand against the crowd. Most recently, she’s been very outspoken about the redistricting that she believes has put not only her, but also other legislative candidates and constituents, at a disadvantage. Every 10 years, after the state census, new political boundaries are drawn to reflect population shifts. Tenney received her new map on a Monday afternoon in January while she was in Albany. “I knew it wasn’t going to be pretty,” Tenney recalled. But she hadn’t imagined just how ugly it would be; Tenney was shocked to see the 198-mile strip that includes only two towns from her current district. As with other states around the nation, the redistricting in New York has been the source of heated debate and tension. Legislators from both parties, good-government advocacy groups, and even Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) criticized the district lines proposed by the New York State Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reappointment (LATFOR), which creates the new legislative maps. The debate was widely covered in the media as legislators and advocacy groups accused LATFOR of gerrymandering. Tenney was cited in several newspaper articles as a legislator who got the short end of the stick.

At the hearing, Tenney demanded, “Tell me how this district is compact and provides for effective representation — all the things the Constitution talks about that they need to accomplish in redistricting.” Albany Assemblyman Jack McEneny, LATFOR’s Democratic co-chair, answered: “That’s the best we can do.” Tenney was one of 40 members who voted no; 96 members voted yes. Although Cuomo had promised to veto the lines, he instead settled on a constitutional amendment for changes to the process in the future. The day after the vote, Tenney found herself driving through the snaking 101st district, going to a parade, knocking on doors, and introducing herself at area businesses. To the media, she’s joked that, if re-elected, she’ll travel through the district by motor home or borrow the governor’s helicopter. By early April, she had already logged hundreds, if not thousands, of miles traveling to events and driving from town to town in order to meet her new potential constituent base. The seven-county district comprises 25 towns and one small city, with issues ranging from flooding in the Catskill Mountains to the MTA tax that Orange County residents pay to commute to New York City. Surprisingly, the tour has given Tenney a positive perspective. “Everyone is so nice, and I have been so well received. I want to make lemonade out of lemons.” Referring to the situation as “the silver lining on the gerrymandering cloud,” Tenney is gearing up for the September primary against her Republican challenger from Orange County. She has been endorsed by the majority of the county Republican committees as well as the State Conservative and Independence parties. If she wins the primary, Tenney will run against a Democratic opponent in November. In the meantime, she’s gotten to better know the other legislators caught up in the shuffle in order to “work with them and have a seamless transition as they move to other areas and I pick up the towns,” Tenney said (assuming she wins, of course). As she investigates the issues that these towns and counties face — some of which are similar to her current district and some of which are entirely new — Tenney continues to work for the constituents who elected her in 2010. There are times, Tenney said, when she looks around and asks herself, “Why I am doing this?” Keeping a sense of humor about the situation has helped. “Politics is an endless supply of entertainment,” Tenney said wryly. “It has everything: power, greed, excitement, greatness, courage, vice, cowardice.” On a serious note, she added, “There are good people on both sides of the aisle.” People who are really trying hard. “If you want to solve the problem, you have to dive in and come up with solutions,” she said. “I’m enjoying the opportunity because I am trying to make a difference, and I feel like people in our community recognize that. I have my days when I don’t think I can put up with the politics anymore, but if you’re struggling and the cause is worthy, that’s sort of an affirmation of life.”

News and views for the Colgate community

Andrew Daddio

Silent

STON ES

Last year, when art and art history professor Elizabeth Marlowe (second from left, with laser pointer) stumbled across 20 limestone reliefs deep in the holdings of the Picker Art Gallery, a mystery unfolded. She and her ARTS 481 students have been trying to determine the age and authenticity of the objects — and the circumstances under which they might have left Egypt.

By Elizabeth MarlowE Every art history professor loves teaching with actual objects rather than slides, but as a specialist in ancient art, I am not often able to do so. The pre-modern holdings of the Picker Art Gallery are notoriously slim, so one day last year it was with little enthusiasm — and only a few minutes before lunchtime — that I sat down to make sure that there was indeed nothing in the gallery’s database of 11,000 objects that would be relevant to the 200-level Medieval Art course I’d be teaching the coming fall. In my pessimism, I entered the broadest possible search terms, asking the database for anything in the collection from the year 1 to 1500, from newest to oldest. The first couple of results were what I was expecting: ephemera such as loose manuscript pages and coins of little relevance to the topics I’d be covering. But then I scrolled down — and forgot all about my lunch. Appearing on the screen was a long series of limestone sculptural reliefs, dated to the period between 200 and 600 CE — a little early for my medieval class, but of great interest to me as a scholar 36

scene: Summer 2012

of Roman art. What were these things? Around 2 feet long and 10 inches tall, most of the 20 or so reliefs depicted animals such as birds, deer, and lions frolicking among swirling vine scrolls, or against an unadorned background, flanked by heaping baskets of bread. Such classical iconography is more typical of works created by Greek and Roman artists between 500 BCE and 500 CE than the dates cited. From what I could tell on the database’s thumbnail images, the style of the carving suggested a date toward the later end of that range. The sculptors of these reliefs were clearly more interested in surface patterning, sharp contrasts between light and dark, and quick sketches of the animal forms than they were in a finely detailed, naturalistic portrayal of living creatures such as one would find in earlier, high classical styles. The mystery deepened when I noticed that the database labeled the reliefs as “Coptic,” a term that refers to the Christian communities of Egypt, but which scholars used to apply more broadly to anything from Egypt from the period between the decline of

the Roman Empire beginning around 200 CE and the rise of Islam around 600 CE. (Scholars today prefer the term “late antique Egyptian” for such material if it lacks explicitly Christian content.) The database also noted that the whole group had been given to the Picker by alumnus Herbert Mayer ’29 as part of a large collection of mostly 20th-century art. The accession numbers suggested that three of the reliefs had entered the collection in 1966, while the rest came later, in 1982. I began asking around, and the only person at Colgate who was aware of these objects, which were deep in museum storage, was art history professor Mary Ann Calo. Calo had extensively researched Mayer’s history while curating a 2011 Picker exhibition of some of the modern works from his collection, so she was able to offer a number of leads. She knew that Mayer had traveled to Egypt in the early 1960s; that despite his gallery’s focus on contemporary art, he was fascinated by Coptic art; and that he had exhibited a number of Coptic works both there and in a small show he’d organized at Colgate in 1960. Calo

also hypothesized that this particular group of reliefs major museum and private collection in the world might have had something to do with a short-lived has made its share of mistakes. The strong, simple business venture Mayer had run on the side called outlines of typical forms and the expressive content Sculptura, which produced high-quality bronze casts appealed to collectors in the post-war period, and the of ancient sculpture from around the world (see market in Coptic sculpture boomed between 1950 and sidebar on pg. 39). 1970. But by the 1980s, many of the works that had I was deeply intrigued. I also felt a strong urge to flooded the market during that period began to raise advocate on behalf of this neglected group of ancient suspicions. In 2009, the Brooklyn Museum organized sculptures. They deserved to be brought out of storage, a whole exhibition frankly revealing a number of its studied, displayed, and celebrated. I was fascinated own purchases as forgeries. Herbert Mayer’s buying by the questions these objects presented. Some had spree in Cairo in the early 1960s falls squarely within to do with their late 20th-century history: Why did the period of this inflated, treacherous market. Mayer purchase them? Had anything ever been done So, my desire to learn where the Picker’s newly with them here? I also wondered about their ancient rediscovered limestone reliefs came from stemmed not history: When and where were they made? How only from my interest in their ancient context, but also had they been displayed in antiquity? What did their because that information would be critical to learning imagery signify in their ancient context? whether they are authentic. At the top of my list, however, was a set of questions that mark the intersection between these reliefs’ ancient and modern histories: From whom did Mayer purchase them? Where did that dealer get them? Did the person who found them in the ground recover them all at a single site; if so, where? Trained archaeologists This relief, from the 1966 know how valuable such information is, because that is usually the primary means by accession of three reliefs, which an artwork’s ancient significance can be is one of only two that are reconstructed. Archaeologists also know how framed. While the reason to extract as much data as possible from their dig sites — information that, in turn, informs for the framing is unclear, our reading of any works of art found there. one possibility is that Our understanding of these particular reliefs, for example, would change tremendously Herbert Mayer '29 did so depending on whether they were created for for display purposes in the tomb of a 6th-century Christian, the walls of a 3rd-century temple to Hercules, or the his gallery. home of a wealthy 4th-century aristocrat. Unfortunately, that kind of contextual data is rarely preserved when ancient sites are ransacked for the purpose of finding The deep carving in the beautiful treasures to sell on the art market. Once an object’s association with a particular top half and the disprosite is severed, that information can never portionately large head be recovered. In an effort to prevent the and neck of the lion destruction of the historical record and to protect their heritage, many countries require suggest that this piece all discoveries of archaeological material to be was situated high up on reported to state authorities, and, in the hope of deterring looting, prohibit the export of a wall — deeper carving objects of cultural property. would have been needed In any market where demand exceeds supply, creative entrepreneurs will find ways to enhance visibility to fill the gap and satisfy customers’ desires. and to compensate for Ancient art is no exception, and the field of late antique Egyptian art is particularly the perspective. sketchy. The market is rife with forgeries, and buyers must be hypervigilant. In fact, every

Work began in the summer of 2011 on several fronts. Picker director Linn Underhill worked together with the gallery’s registrar, Sarisha Guarneiri, and Patricia Jue, a chemistry lab instructor at Colgate, to remove the works from their inadequate storage and provide them with state-of-the-art preservation cases. Jue also analyzed samples of the stone under a microscope to assess their physical condition, which, it turned out, varied widely from relief to relief. She was able to determine that the limestone was not of the type commonly used for forgeries in the 1960s, which, while not definitive proof of the reliefs’ authenticity, was at least a good sign. I also showed photographs of the reliefs to the world’s leading scholar of late antique Egyptian sculpture, Professor Thelma Thomas at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. Thomas thought

Lion with Foliage 1966.1.884 7 x 8 x 2.75 inches

Two Large Animals Bracketing a Basket their style and iconography was consistent with that of sculptures produced in the 4th and 5th centuries at Oxyrhynchus, considered the most important archaeological site for late antique Egyptian art — more encouraging news. Then, I got students involved. This past spring, I offered a new seminar, ARTS 481, Late Antique Egyptian Reliefs in the Picker Art Gallery, in which 16 undergraduates embarked on groundbreaking research on these works. We began with readings on topics such as late antique Egypt, looting, and forgery. We heard guest lectures: by Jue on the chemistry of the limestone, and by art history professor Padma Kaimal, whose new book focuses on looted and dispersed ancient Indian sculptures. Carol Ann Lorenz, curator of Colgate’s Longyear Museum of Anthropology, spoke to us about the special considerations that go into curating on-campus exhibitions (a long-term goal for these reliefs). We then spent several weeks looking closely at the reliefs one by one, led in each discussion by a student who had written a 200-word catalogue entry on the work in question. The class worked together, sharing ideas, editing prose, and making connections across the corpus of reliefs. In the process, we were able to identify a number of links among them — both of whole objects (we spotted a couple of pairs whose broken edges miraculously fit right into one another), and of recurring iconographic motifs, such as that of the backwardfacing, galloping animal. The students also took on individual research topics, from a detailed examination of the reliefs’ iconography, tracking down comparable works of late antique Egyptian sculpture, and the history and theory of connoisseurship (the dating and attribution of undocumented artworks based on stylistic

comparisons to other works), to the use of scientific tests to determine authenticity, a proposal for how the Picker might one day display the reliefs, and an assessment of a group of late antique Egyptian textiles also included in Mayer’s bequest. Some of the students used their spring break to conduct research in archives or other museums. Caroline Lee ’13 went to the Archives of American Art in Washington, D.C., to sift through Mayer’s papers for information about his buying and selling of Coptic sculpture. Eliza Graham ’14 interviewed the curator of the Brooklyn Museum exhibition on Coptic forgeries. Carter Cooper ’13 corresponded with the antiquities dealership that had sold the reliefs to Mayer, while Ashlee Eve ’14 interviewed a Colgate alumnus, Jack Blanchard ’60, who had participated in Mayer’s Sculptura business. The result of all this research is a clearer picture of where these objects probably came from, as well as when, where, and how they were acquired by Mayer. It is very likely that at least six, and possibly all 20, were purchased on a buying trip to Cairo in 1961, despite their consignment to Colgate in two separate batches more than a decade apart. Mayer displayed four works from that trip in a small exhibit of “Coptic” art at his World House Galleries in May and June of 1962, three of which he then donated to Colgate in 1966. The Khawam Brothers, who sold the pieces to Mayer, have records indicating that they obtained them from a middleman in Oxyrhynchus — information that dovetails quite pleasingly with Thelma Thomas’s hypothesis, based strictly on stylistic evidence, that the reliefs came from that very

Two Fish 1982.55 9.75 x 3 x 8 inches

The collection’s only representation of fish. A traditional Christian symbol, this relief could have come from the tomb of a Christian — but Eliza Graham ’14 noted in her catalogue entry that “Another possibility is that one or both of the fish could be sturgeon. Roger Khawam (the dealer who sold three of our reliefs to Mayer in 1961) noted that sturgeon were worshiped at Oxyrhynchus during this time.”

scene: Summer 2012

1982.56 21.25 x 6.25 x 4 inches

Stylistically similar canines alternate with baskets of fruit or bread.

site. The iconography of the reliefs suggests that their original setting was most likely funerary. On the other hand, the ultimate conclusion to which the students kept returning is that very little about these reliefs can ever be determined with absolute certainty. This includes the fundamental question of their authenticity. Not all of the experts we spoke to shared Thomas’s optimistic assessment. Unfortunately, no scientific test exists that could resolve the matter once and for all. Certain tests might

Human Figure Carrying a Duck 1982.60 3.5 x 8.5 x 5.75 inches Although the only human figure in the collection, the positioning of the body moving forward while the head is turned back characterizes many of the reliefs. “The use of a running drill is evident in the small rounded hole that forms the male’s eye where a thick eyebrow spans across the top. Four holes depict his hair, the artist’s way of defining curly locks, perhaps.” — Madeline Rankowitz ’13

These reliefs, whose height, depth, and broken edges match, were surely originally a single frieze fragment.

Remnants of a reddish resin on the broken edges likely once served as an adhesive, holding the two pieces together.

be able to identify the quarry where the limestone was obtained, or date the pigment that was added to some of the reliefs’ details, but there is no way to determine the date of the carving. As for hypotheses about the reliefs’ origins based on comparisons to works from tombs at Oxyrhynchus, this evidence is less solid than one might hope. The material from that site represents only a tiny fraction of all known late antique relief sculpture, the vast majority of which surfaced on the art market and is therefore of unknown provenance. Comparisons based on such a small portion of the evidence must be handled with caution. The dealer’s information about Oxyrhynchus must also be taken with a grain of salt; it is quite possible that the name was offered by middlemen simply to enhance the legitimacy — and price — of their wares. Several aspects of our reliefs offer clues to the degree of destruction that their removal from their ancient setting must have entailed. We noticed, for example, a clear and suspicious pattern in their composition and size. Reliefs of this type in antiquity were part of long, continuous architectural friezes (ornamental bands) adorning interior or exterior walls. But despite once belonging to larger arrangements, each of our blocks consists of an elegant, balanced composition in and of itself — a pair of animals looking at one another across a swirl of foliage, or an animal flanked perfectly on either side by a basket of bread. Each one features at least one animal, and few show any significant damage to their sculpted

Basket and Fragment of an Animal 1982.52 9 x 6.25 x 2.5 inches

The lower borders both feature a straight horizontal line bottomed by a scalloped motif.

forms or upper or lower edges. They hardly look, in other words, like accidentally broken architectural fragments pulled from the rubble of a collapsed ancient building. Rather, they appear to have been carefully hacked out of some still-standing, original setting, in highly marketable, aesthetically pleasing, easily transportable chunks. We are left to wonder what the original ensemble(s) might have looked like, and whether the whole might have equalled more than the sum of its parts. Some of our reliefs, for example, depict predator and prey, while others show happier interactions between pairs of animals; one even appears to depict a mother with her young. Were these different types of pairings arranged in any particular, meaningful order on the walls of, say, the tomb they originally adorned? Did the overarching composition convey any larger, eschatological message about the cycle of life and death? We will never know. Despite all of these unanswerable questions, the students learned a great deal. First and foremost, they experienced the thrill of doing original research on primary source material that had never been studied before, where every discovery they made, every connection between seemingly unrelated data, represented a tangible gain in our knowledge. They learned about a variety of tools — archival documents, excavation records, newspaper reports, stylistic analysis, iconography, chemical tests — that are available to scholars attempting to reconstruct

the past based on fragmentary material sources. They also witnessed the limitations of each of those tools, especially when used in isolation. Finally, they came to appreciate why, in the world of antiquities, the interests of the art market are often at odds with those of the historical record. The semester culminated in a series of presentations on their research topics, and the fruits of their labors can now be found on a massive website, accessible through the Picker’s homepage, which also serves as an introduction of these important objects to the wider scholarly and art-loving community. In addition to the students’ experience in this seminar, I learned something myself: how exciting and productive the classroom can be when I simply pose a few questions, whose answers I do not already know, about a large amount of primary material, and then let the students tackle it from a variety of standpoints. This teaching method, which requires ceding much of the control and authority I usually try to maintain, was unsettling at times, but the outcome it yielded, both in terms of actual knowledge produced and student investment in their own learning, far exceeded what I’d thought was possible. All caption and callout information was drawn from the students’ catalogue entries and research essays. Photos of reliefs by Linn Underhill. Check out the entire project site at www.colgate.edu/ lateantiqueegypt.

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Dog Chasing Small Animal Through Foliage 1982.47 6 x 18.25 x 2.5 inches

The horizontal nature of the composition, straight edges, and borders seem to indicate that reliefs such as this were once part of friezes in funerary monuments or churches.

The students were suspicious of several reliefs, including the one displayed above, showing relatively neat, straight breaks that almost never go through a figure. As Annie Johnson ’12 put it in her research essay hypothesizing their origins, “Art dealers have been known to chop large reliefs into smaller segments to increase profits. Cutting up the sculptures increases the number of sellable objects and enables dealers to create more complete, picturesque compositions of manageable sizes.”

The theme of pursuit — whether predator-prey or in play — appears on several reliefs in the collection.

Rearing Beast in Foliage 1982.58 4.75 x 11.75 x 9.13 inches

This relief was likely part of a larger design extending to the left and below; however, the wholly formed acanthus leaves on the right side, as well the angled shape, suggest that this piece marked the end of an architectural frieze. Similar reliefs found at the late antique Egyptian sites of Hermopolis Magna and Oxyrhynchus served as niche decorations, offering another alternative for this piece’s original use. The shape of the animal’s body, paws, and detailed mane resemble that of a lion; however, its beak-shaped

scene: Summer 2012

snout suggests that the animal could also be a griffin. Circular vine and acanthus leaves were popular decorative motifs during late antiquity in Egypt, most often used in the decorative architectural elements of tombs. “The curved shape of the relief enhances the overall dynamism of the composition, as the fragment is angled in such a way that it appears that the beast is leaping off the rectangular platform into the real space of the viewer.” — Annie Johnson ’12

OPE N Q U E ST I ON S One of the important lessons of this course was that, for art historians, there are often no hard-and-fast answers. What follows are excerpts from some of the toughest nuts Marlowe's class tried to crack.

An ethical dilemma Testing and removing samples brings up an ethical dilemma. “Testing pigment would require removing samples from the objects. Since there is very little pigment on most of the objects, and much may be original, I believe it would be imprudent to remove any pigment until we have a very good idea of the value of the objects” (Patricia Jue, Chemistry Department). We are afraid to ruin the value of these objects by removing samples, but the value of our reliefs is very little if we do not know their history.

Picker gallery registrar Sarisha Guarneiri and Patricia Jue of the chemistry department (l-r) built custom-made archival boxes for the reliefs.

—Jamie Dal Lago ’13, from her research report on the use of science in determining value

The challenge of connoisseurship Since no other methods of authentication can be used on our reliefs, we are reliant on connoisseurship, at least for the present, to determine their authenticity. As a result, two members of our class each interviewed a leading scholar in the field on his or her opinion of the authenticity of our reliefs. Unfortunately, these two scholars possess conflicting opinions on the subject. One scholar is an associate professor at a major U.S. university, and the other works at a major U.S. museum. One believed our reliefs were authentic. The other could not guarantee the antiquity of any, and was almost certain some were modern imitations. The scholar pointed out many “peculiar” and “strange” stylistic features that made them likely to be fakes. — Eliza Graham ’14, from her research report on forgeries

When former art history professor Alfred Krakusin was introduced to Herbert Mayer ’29 in the 1950s, the stage was set for the development of a business venture that would come to be known as Sculptura, Inc. Krakusin had developed a metal casting process that allowed metal to be cast in thin, light layers, and had even sold the rights to the process to the U.S. government during the Second World War in aid of the war effort. Mayer quickly translated the casting process into an opportunity for the art world. Sculptura’s production process took place in what used to be the Hamilton Railroad Depot at 44 Milford Street. Krakusin or Jack Blanchard ’60, a student at the time, would apply a patina finish which they had developed for this process. The final piece would be buffed and polished, then transported to World House Galleries to be sold by Mayer. The Sculptura venture raises interesting questions regarding our reliefs. It seems that Sculptura repeatedly placed a higher value on aesthetics than on historical accuracy, as they repaired flaws in the original casts and divided single pieces into smaller, more visually pleasing compositions. Such unconcern for the physical integrity of the ancient works perhaps has a connection to a feature observed in many of his late antique Egyptian reliefs. One also wonders whether or not our reliefs were bought for the purpose of reproduction within Sculptura, Inc. The Sculptura, Inc. catalog notes that reproductions were made from originals that could be found in either “Sculptura’s private collection” or “in the great museums of the world.” The pieces reproduced, however, were primarily Pharaonic scenes that date to the 15th and 14th centuries BC. Our reliefs are probably late antique, placing their origin almost 2,000 years after the Pharaonic pieces. In addition, Sculptura was reproducing very shallow bas relief castings, whereas our pieces are carved in much deeper bas relief that would have made them difficult to cast. It thus seems unlikely that our reliefs were purchased with the intention of being reproduced by Sculptura. —Ashlee Eve ’14, from her research report on Herbert Mayer’s art reproduction venture

Each piece was measured carefully for display and storage in a bed of conservation-quality polyethylene foam.

Linn Underhill (3)

Sculptura, Inc.

During the process, Jue also analyzed samples that had flaked off the stones during their years of storage to determine their chemical composition and physical condition.

News and views for the Colgate community

scene: Summer 2012

Andrew Daddio

News and views for the Colgate community

It is our responsibility to hear all alumni voices. We know that behind every comment or concern is someone who genuinely cares for Colgate. Jump in, get involved, and let’s work together on behalf of your alma mater. We’re here to listen! — Tim Mansfield, director of alumni relations (tmansfield@colgate.edu) Questions? Contact the alumni relations office: at 315-228-7433 or alumni@colgate.edu.

scene: Summer 2012

Bits and bytes

New website, same great content colgate.edu

Don Rith ’56

stay connected

Your portal to alumni programs, volunteer opportunities, career networking, and more

Learn

Living Writers Online This special program for alumni and parents taps into the course created 30 years ago by Professor Frederick Busch. Participate in live online book discussions from this year’s lineup of prestigious international authors — led by Colgate English professors Jane Pinchin and Jennifer Brice. Plus, join interactive forums, a kick-off event in New York City, a participant blog, and a capstone event on campus on December 6. 9/20 10/4 10/25 11/8 12/6

Alexandra Fuller, Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight Daniel Alarcón, War by Candlelight Orhan Pamuk, Snow Chimamanda Adichie, Purple Hibiscus Salman Rushdie, Joseph Anton

Registration is $40; optional additional package to purchase the books. Register by August 17 at colgate connect.org/LWOnline2012.

Connect

iCAN career networking resource colgateconnect.org/careerservices In a job search? Looking to network? The Alumni Career Advisory Network (iCAN) offers a convenient searchable directory. Check it out, or update your profile today! You can also search job listings, or post an internship or entry-

level job opening at your company on the naviGATE career services page. Event gateway colgateconnect.org/gateway Planning a get-together with Colgate friends? Whether a birthday party, golf outing, or just hanging out, let us know in advance. We’ll send you free stuff — from cups and cocktail napkins to bumper stickers. All we ask in return is that you send us a photo from the event!

In late summer, Colgate will launch a redesigned website aimed at providing a seamless experience for all visitors. This means that alumni and parents who are used to visiting colgateconnect.org will now find the same great and new content on colgate.edu. Here’s the lowdown on what this means for you: • Better accessibility and functionality on desktop computers, tablets, and smartphones • You’ll still use your colgateconnect. org password to access protected content, such as the alumni directory, class news, and iCAN. • Your bookmarked pages will be redirected automatically.

LGBTQ and AOC news Colgate’s Alumni of Color (AOC) and LGBTQ communities are expanding their mailing lists. Want to receive news and event invitations from either or both groups? E-mail alumni@ colgate.edu. Ecotourism opportunity Experience serenity, rustic elegance, breathtaking beauty, and boundless adventure at the exclusive Patagonia Sur Nature Reserve Membership Club. Visit colgateconnect.org/travel.

Alumni Council notes

Call for nominations The nominations committee of the Alumni Council seeks recommendations for candidates for this 55-member volunteer board. Each year, 11 to 13 new members are selected. Ideal candidates exhibit: • Varied Colgate volunteer service • A demonstrated commitment to Colgate over time • Meaningful personal or professional accomplishments or contributions to the greater community • Readiness and willingness to become more involved with Colgate • Consistent history of supporting Colgate financially The awards committee seeks nominations from the classes ending in 3 and 8 for awards to be presented at Reunion 2013. Categories include: • Ann Yao ’80 Memorial Young Alumni Award (Class of 2008) • Maroon Citations • Humanitarian Award • Wm. Brian Little ’64 Alumni Award for Distinguished Service Send nominations by Sept. 1, 2012 to: Tim Mansfield, Executive Secretary, Colgate University, 13 Oak Dr., Hamilton, NY 13346. For guidelines and more information, visit www.colgateconnect.org/alumnicouncil.

salmagundi

Swan’s Way

See if you can draw one continuous path from Adam to Eve that goes through every box in Taylor Lake except the ones containing lily pads. You may only go through each box once, moving vertically and horizontally but not diagonally, and your path may not cross itself. There is only one solution — see pg. 69.

ADAM

EVE

Puzzle by Puzzability

Slices “That he may furnish and instruct great teachers.” — Shakespeare’s King Henry VIII Countless alumni from different decades wrote in to our spring Slices contest, correctly identifying these great teachers from the 1978 English department. Tamara Tasker ’94 won our random drawing for a Slices T-shirt.

scene: Summer 2012

For those of you who were stumped on the names: (seated, l-r) Jonathan Kistler, Lynn Staley, Neill Joy; (standing, l-r) Robert Blackmore, Linck Johnson, Frederick Busch, Jane Pinchin, James Dean, Margaret Maurer, Joseph Slater, Atlee Sproul, Wilbur Albrecht, Donald Stump

Rewind In response to our Spring 2012 “Slices” contest (below), Gary Bletsch ’80 went above and beyond, sharing this detailed, thoughtful, and, at times, cheeky remembrance. Pictured is the English Department — one of two departments charitable enough to grant a major to this humble member of the Class of 1980. It was with tender nostalgia that I gazed upon the photo. How appropriate it is that 13 professors gaze back at me, and how sad that some of them are not around to scribble any more scathing comments in my margins! The man on the left is Professor Blackmore, who had a jazz show on the radio. Next, we have the redoubtable Linck Johnson, whom some of my friends would refer to as “The Missing Link.” I shall always be grateful for the C with which he ridded himself of me, after I’d taken his class on the American Novel. Next, we have Professor Frederick Busch, from whom I learned so much about Herman Melville. Later on, I even bought and read one of his novels. The protagonist lost his big toe in a lawn-mower accident! Whirling blades have given me pause ever since. Way in the back, we have Professor Dean, from whom I took my first English class at Colgate. To his left is Professor Margaret Maurer. I was in her class on the Bloomsbury Group for about an hour, whereupon I promptly transferred. I still have never read any of those novels, but keep meaning to do so. With his elbow on a piece of furniture is Professor Wilbur Albrecht. Whenever I read an autobiography, I hear the narrator’s voice translated into Professor Albrecht’s sage, though cigarette-coarsened, tones. It will always be his voice I hear narrating whomever’s life it is that I am reading, thanks to his class The Autobiography. In the foreground, of course, would be Professor Kistler. It was such a privilege to read Shakespeare with him! I will never forget how he marked up a shoddy essay of mine, right in the stairwell of Lawrence, using a blunt red crayon. [Seated, far right] is Professor Neill Joy. I am certain that I would not have received an A on my essay about Joseph Conrad, had Professor Joy not been suffering from a high fever at the time of its submission. Do you have a reminiscence for Rewind? Send your submission of short prose, poetry, or a photograph with a description to scene@colgate.edu.

Above: Volunteer training at the Hamilton Fire Station. Last year, approximately 18 students volunteered with the department, which also includes several Colgate professors and staffers. Photo by Lorenzo Ciniglio Back cover: Scenic photo by Andrew Daddio

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