te powerful prote i sage ha surv yes i bil ahe ,sta d-upguy

116 Pages·2007·43.86 MB·English

T E POWERFUL PROTE I SAGE HA SURV YES I BIL AHE ,STA D-UPGUY
MARCH/APRIL

MARCH/APRIL 1997 VOLUME99NUMBER7
MAGAZ NE
4 LETTERS
9 CURRENTS
BirdmanBillEvans chases the elusive
musicofthenight.Plus,asonofSoledad,
proteinfolding,Mr.PoliticallyIncorrect,
andGoldwinSmith'shotseat.
22 FROMTHEHILL
CharlesFeeneymadeheadlinesforgiving
awaymostofhisfortune. Turnsout, at
least$50millionofitwentto Cornell.
Plus,anewtrusteechair,TheoryCenter
fundingwoes, CarlSaganremembered,
andthebogbeetlehitsthebigtime.
50 MARKETPLACE
26
PRISONEROFCONSCIENCE 54 SPORTS
BETHSAULNIER Playingthegameoflife.
After thirteen years in prison, Koigi wa Wamwere is free. And despite
tortureandthreatsofexecution, theKenyanactivistisdeterminedtokeep 59 AUTHORS
fightingfordemocracyinhishomeland. Amysterymavengoeshardcover.
32
60 CLASSNOTES
SEXINTHEARCHIVES
PAULCODY 85 ALMAMATTERS
KrochLibraryhas oneoftheworld'smostimportanthumansexuality NewsletteroftheAlumniFederation.
collections, with enoughpornographyto make Hugh Hefnerblush.
Isitscholarship-orsmut?
112 CORNELLIANA
ForcrewcoachCharlesCourtney, the
38
soundofspringwas...boom!
THEBUILDINGTHAT'NOULDNOTDIE
BETHSAULNIER
CoverphotobyWideWorld
They'vetalkedabouttearingdownSageHall
practicallysinceitwasbuilt.Butwith
funds from the Johnson School,
it'sdodgeddemolitionagain.
42
THEHOUSEOFTRIPLE-I
BRAD EDMONDSON
That's "informalintellectualinterchange," andit'swhatthe residents of
TellurideHouse do best. Alookinside adormfilledwith eccentricities,
highIQs, andalanguageallitsown.
CornellMagazine(ISSN1070-2733)ispublishedsixtimesayear,inJanuary,March,May,July,September,andNovember,bytheCornellAlum
niFederation,55BrownRoad,Ithaca,NY14850-1247.Subscriptionscost$29ayear.Second-classpostagepaidatIthaca,NY,andadditional
mailingoffices.POSTMASTER:SendaddresschangestoCornellMagazine,c/oPublicAffairsRecords,55BrownRd.,Ithaca,NY14850-1247.
]EEE GRAND CHEROKEE
A deserted mountain road. Green meadow~
Traffic tie-ups. Roadconstruction. Frominsidethejee]
GrandCherokeeLimited,it'shardto tellthedifferenc(
OurQuadra-Coil™ suspensionand4.0litreengin
aredesignedtogreatlyreduceroadnoiseandvibratior
Inside, richleather-trimmedfront seats cradleyou iJ
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Jmfort with lO-way power adjustments, lumbar rigidside-guarddoorbeamsarestandardequipment.
lpport, and theJeep Memory System. For more about Jeep Grand Cherokee, call
Should you wish to break the silence, there's a l-800-925-JEEP You'llseethattravelingto a newlevel
remium l20-wattInfinity eight-speaker CD/cassette ofcomfortdoesn'tnecessarilyrequire travelingatall.
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Jee~
rith remote controls on the steering wheel.
Of course, feeling relaxed also includes feeling
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:DplayeroptionalonLimited. tAlwayswearyourseatbelt. JeepisaregisteredtrademarkofChryslerCorporation.
LETTERS
amazingtomethatthesameeditorialstaff
producedbothmagazines.Cornellalumni
relyonthemagazineforinterestinginfor
mationabouttheuniversity. Ifthemaga
zinecontinuestohavelittlecontent,the
alumnimightloseinterestintheiralma
mater.Pleasereverttoyouroldstyle.
GeorgeHagedorn )75
Blacksburg) Virginia
hagedorn@£alvin.math.vt.edu
MANYOLDERALUMNITURNFIRSTTO
"AlumniDeaths"becausetheyseethere
thenamesofmorefriendsthanarelistedin
"ClassNotes." Alas, therewasno such
feature in the December issue. So, I
turnedtopageone,whichusuallycon
DECEMBER'S DISCONTENT tainsthetableofcontents. Therewasno
I "TableofContents"-perhapsbecause
don'tknowiftheDecember1996"SpecialIssue"isatasteof
youwouldhavehaddifficultycharacteriz
thingsto come,butwhatauselesswasteoftime, talent, and
ingwhatyouprintedonpagesthirteen
energyitwas. You've changedthemagazineadozentimes throughtwenty-seven.Whatwasit?An
emulationofTheCornellWidow?Ifso,the
sincemid-century, rarelyforthebetter. Andeveryfewyearsthe
attemptathumorfellfarshortofitsmark,
printgetssmaller.Thisissuewassurealotofnothing.
whiletakingfifteenpagesthatcouldhave
Joan WeisbergSchulman )47 beenused onmattersinwhich alumni
SantaRosa) California wereinterested,suchas"Letters,"another
featurewhichwaseliminated.
Formore thanseventyyears Ihave
assiduously read the Cornell Alumni
News, anditsmysteriouslyandneedlessly
THE ONLY SAVING GRACE FOR THIS ThenextdayIfaredalittlebetter name-changed continuum. The De
issueisthatthesmallerprintmakesitdiffi onlysevenfalls, andIwasabletomakeit cember issue was the worst I've ever
cult to read-so I didn't. Please don't halfwayupthehillbeforeremovingthe received. Infact, it'stheonlyissueabout
make me send another e-mail saying sneakers.Yesterday, I carriedabowling whichI've everfelt critical. Please give
"UNSUBSCRIBE." ballinfrontofmeatarm'slength-only us back Cornell alumni news, even
AndrewE. Feiner)52 threefalls. Onetime, therewereseveral thoughyouhaverejectedthenamethe
RedwoodCity) California pedestriansrightbehindme;whenIfell CornellAlumniNews.
[email protected] back,sodidthey,inasortofdomino ef JerryLoewenberg)29
fect. (Butthiswaseasieronmyhead.) SanAntonio) Texas
IWASDELIGHTEDTORECEIVETHELIBE Thoughtherearefewerfalls,theangle
SlopeSneakersIorderedfromyourwin atwhichInowmustwalkupLibeSlope, ICOULDNOTHELPBUTNOTICETHAT
ter1996"EzraCollection"catalog. Iam plustheheavybowlingball, havetaken thepictureforyourLatinTreetagsisin
writing,however,withregret. Iwalkup their toll on my back. You should be correct.A Quercusalba(WhiteOak)tagis
LibeSlopeeverymorningtowork, and hearingfrommylawyersshortly. being held up to what appears to be a
backdowneveryevening.AssoonasIre BobFeldman )66 Quercuspalustria(PinOak),judgingfrom
ceivedmysneakers,Ibeganwearingthem Ithaca) NewYork thebarkandtheleavesinthebackground.
everyworkday. Theywerewonderfulin JoeFlorentine)85
theevening.Althoughwalkingdownthe IWANTTOREGISTERMYSTRONGEST Skillman) NewJersey
Slope,myfeetstayedhorizontal. objection to the tasteless cover ofthe [email protected]
However, mornings were another Decemberissue.Tosubstitutealikenessof
story. Myfirst step up Libe Slope Ifell Ezra Cornell to the picture depicting
backwardinto the mud. (Ithadbeena Michelangelo'sconceptofGodcreating SYMMETRYINTACT
wetautumninIthaca.) Iwasabletotake Adamisinthepoorestoftaste. IENJOYEDREADINGABOUTPHYSICIST
justafewmorestepsbeforeanotherfall. KarlGoldsmith )47 PersisDrellandherstudyofsymmetry
Mtertraversingabouttwentyfeetinhalf Bedminster) NewJersey broken(Currents,November1996).For
anhour,Ihadtoremovethesneakersand tunately, there are viable answers in
walk up the rest of the Slope in my ACOMPARISONBETWEENTHEOCTO particle physics that can leapfrog her
socks-nofunintherain. berandDecemberissuesisrevealing. Itis understandingofthisfascinatingsubject.
4 CORNELL MAGAZINE
ArnoldGulko's causalVortexTheory,
firstwrittenin1980,explainshowablack
hole, after ultimately swallowing the
wholegalaxy,explodesbyparticleannihi
lationinatremendousgamma-rayburst.
Whenthesehighphotonsdecay,pairsof
electronsandpositronsareformed.
Butifthe gammarayshave enough
energy,thepositronswillgrowtobecome
protons.Whereaselectronsandpositrons,
havingessentiallythesamestructureand
equalmassbutoppositecharge,willclose
andannihilateeachother,protons,with
7,000 times more density than the
positrons,haveasecondaryenergyshell
whichkeepstheelectronatadistanceand
preventsannihilation,forminghydrogen.
Thisconversionprovidesthesamenum
berofresidualelectronsandprotonsas
characterizesthenaturearoundus, thus
solvingthemysteryofsymmetryandanti
matter.
AlanL. Hausman)48
Brooklyn) NewYork -A LOVE OF ART-
PersisDrellresponds: An Essential Part ofa Cornell Education
Unfortunately,Mr. Gulko'stheoryabout
positronsassumes, ratherthanexplains,
WILLIAMP.CHAPMAN,CLASSOF1895,bequeathedthisself-portraitetchingbyRembrandtto
matter-antimatterasymmetry.Histheory
Cornellin1947.Thisgreatworkofart-andhismanyothergifts-arebeingusedtoday
allowspositronstogrowtobecomepro
inthe HerbertF.JohnsonMuseumofArttoteachstudentsaboutothercultures, other
tons, whileelectronsarenotallowedto
religions,othervalues,andtogivethemthetoolstoenjoytheartslongafterCornell,for
growtobecomeantiprotons.Inaddition,
therestoftheirlives.
hereatCornellwehaveproducedover
1,000,000,000,000,000,000 positrons,
In 1998,theJohnsonMuseumwillcelebrateits 25thanniversary. Inhonorofthatocca
andhaveneverseenonegrowintoapro
sion,theMuseumisassemblingtheAnniversaryCollection-worksofhighquality,inany
ton. Otherexperimenterswatchedmore
mediumandfromanyculture,donatedorlenttotheMuseumbyalumniandfriends.
than 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000protonsforayear,anddecay Ifyouareinterestedinparticipatinginthisproject,whichwillhelpCornellstudentsand
to positronswasnot observed. Careful the70,000visitorstotheMuseumeachyeartoappreciatetheworldofart,pleasecontact
reasoningisrequiredifwearetobetter FranklinW Robinson,theRichardJ.SchwartzDirector,HerbertF.JohnsonMuseumof
understandthissubtlesubject. Art, CornellUniversity,IthacaNY 14853-4001.Telephone: [phone].
DEANEMALOTT
HEARTFELTTHANKSTOTHEANONY
mousauthorofDeaneW.Malott'sobitu
Frontiers in pe~PI7:·9:0;:~/r·~~~.·79.~f~?ering
aryforincludingaparagraphonMalott's For
Bioengineering .ca.re·~f:::'glj~¢.~~:::gr·:dti91:Jge~:·::::
defenseofCornellagainsttheonslaughtof -/'i~li;:;;~::~rchi~&re
JosephMcCarthy("FromtheHill,"N0 Conference at Cornell
vember1996).Ittookalotofcourageon On campus: April11-12,1997 ···::···tJamdscapearchiteqture
Malott's part, and for many ofus who ,:,,,:)::~·o~n planning&d~sign
were students at the time itis the high Industryleaders&Cornell facultycover ~~;~lgn at Harvard
cutting-edge issues, applications,
point ofMalott's contribution to the
and research inthefield of
........~.... June 23-August I, 1997
universitycommunity. Thisaspect, in bioengineering.
cidentally, was completelyoverlooked Opentoall- $99 includesmeals. HarvardUniversity
bythe New York Times obituarywriter, GraduateSchoolofDesign
CareerDiscoveryBoxIVY
who devotedalmosthis entirepieceto Info:JeanneSubialka,607/255-9920 48QuincyStreet
Malott'sbusinessprowess. Perhapsthis [email protected]:// Cambridge,MA02/38
www.engr.comell.edu/Newsline/Newsline.html (6/7)495-5453
isareflectionofthetimes.
MARCHIAPRIL 1997 5
LETTERS
MAG A Z I N E
However,Ifoundthewriter'schoice 1'YY\·1·.........c.rl1f\1"-t3li'l:7wenttothetrustees.. told
of President Emeritus Frank H. T. thernI thisshouldbediscussed
Rhodes's quoteintheopen- .thatNealDowBecker of
the hadllly inhisinside
...thenleftthe At
the end votedto thewhole
matter. Then I wentto the and
'Thisiswhat
andIregretit,Icanleheretobuild
nottotearitdown.'
EDITORANDPUBLISHER
Conlnlunist.
ASSOCIATEEDITOR
ROOMS OFTHEIROWN
JOHN WEINER AND JOHN HOOLEY
ARTDIRECTOR
confusedabouttheprogranlhous-
1
"'""'........"'V"v"l,......"'....
MANAGINGEDITOR Weinerdetailsdiscrimination
h1'"'1r1"-lrp·rt
sororities and fraternities in the
ASSISTANTEDITOR then callsfor the dissolution of
Cornell'sprogram evenwhile
PRODUCTION .....1'"''''1{'1..-.',...the Club,
progranlhouse. Hooley
DESIGNCONSULTANT rl""'1~"1~/~that isa
YOUR he doesn'tget
President HYt""::'lI"l1"-l'lC' around because even lllinimal
ASSOCIATEPUBLISHER alllountoftravelaroundthiscountry
the IS
ADVERTISINGSALES thefactoflifeforInostAlnericans.
IfCornell elirninates the program
ACCOUNTINGMANAGER itshouldalsodismantletheGreek
system,whichsegregatesCornellianson
SUBSCRIPTIONSMANAGER lllany andingreaternumbersthan
theprogramhouses. neither
writer proposes to do about
EDITORIALANDBUSINESSOFFICES Greek thattheirprotesta-
LJ1VVVI11'-Va,,,,,11110.<"0.,NY tions motivatedrnore than
about per
1993is "The should be above
NATIONALADVERTISINGOFFICE
interviews writesHooley.Areattempts
IhadwithMr. MalottinOctober1991 nlinorities to have theirneeds lllet
EXECUTIVEDIRECTOR
which vollune TheMalott blackmail? Mr. Hooley
at 1963.Yourfornler wouldbe
NATIONALSALESMANAGER
book. InitMr. ities
NEWYORKMANAGER 1"-,..,.11,'"1'17111,,...accountofhis andstaythere
rrvt1t-1'",''l:7t:>'1'''C''l:7 Ithinkit crunlbs the ",
l'r",,-,.,- 11"""
theirway.
NEWENGLANDMANAGER
Institutionsgrant conces-
sions whenconfrontedwithpower,
DETROITMANAGER
not requests.Thisis lessonthestu-
dentshave learnedand to
theirlives. would agree
withWeinerwhenhesays,"theuniversi-
tyshouldbe to
the slideintoit." More
powertothem.
6