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4-1-2001

Macalester Today Spring 2001Macalester College

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Spring 2001

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HungryMinds

Alumni who cook,cater and create

restaurants

fliP

L E T T E R S

Cindy MacCharles,1966-2000Editors' note: The obituaryfor Cindy MacCharles '89 andher husband is on page 48.

T H E CLASS OF '89 mourns the tragicloss of Cindy MacCharles and her husband,Laurence Medina. The couple died m aterrible automobile accident on Dec. 28,2000, in Palm Springs, Calif. Cindy andLaurence had been married just 15 months.

Cindy's sense of adventure, love ot inter-national travel, and friendly, open andcaring personality uplifted all of us. Shemet our partners, children and parents,took an interest in our lives and became apart of our families. She wove a web offriendship that connected all of us throughher surprise visits, her kind support and herincredible thoughtfulness. She attendedour weddings, helping out in countlessways. She was the type of friend whoalways seemed to be there to handle anykind of crisis with a good-natured smileand encouraging words.

Cindy lived a short life but she livedeach moment to the fullest. We hope thatwe will have her consistent strength anddetermination, her capacity to see andbring out the best in people and herloving commitment to friends and family.

Our deepest sympathies are with hermother, Virginia, her father, Roderick,and her brother, Rod. All of us will missher so very much.

In loving memory,Julie Lindholm '89, Susanne Larsen

Griego '89 and Wil Griego,Adlyn Carreras Bayon '89 and

Pedro Bayon '85, Vera Eccarius-Kelly '89and Bill Kelly '81, Carrie DelaneyGarcia '89 and Tom Delaney '90,Meltem Kocabas Persion '89 and

Nick Persion, Sipho Molife '92 andmany more Macalester friends

Faculty on the WebMeet 11 longtime faculty memberswho are retiring or entering Mac'sphased retirement program this year.

Go to www.macalester.edu/thankfaculty

Prairie comes to New YorkGarrison Keillor jokes with Marge, left, andMike McPherson after a Nov. 25 broadcastof "A Prairie Home Companion" in New YorkCity attended by 30 Macalester alumni andfriends. Macalester is sponsoring sevenspecial broadcasts of the popular program,including two this month in Europe —March 3 in Berlin and March 10 in Dublin.

We welcome alumni comments aboutMacalester's sponsorship of "A Prairie HomeCompanion" shows in NewYork, Berlin andDidilin. Please e-mail us your comments<mactoday@macalester.edu> or write:College Relations Office, Macalester College,1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105.Or call Doug Stone, Director of CollegeRelations, at (651) 696-6433.

See the letter below for more on Macalesterand "Prairie Home/'

Garrison and companyMAYBE I SHOULDN'T blow my ownhorn (and why do we submit notes toMacalester Today?), but the Winter issue'sstory on Garrison Keillor s "A Prairie HomeCompanion" made it sound as if ChrisTschida '75 and Ken LaZehnik '77 were theonly graduates connected with the show.

I did have a little association with theshow during its 26-year tenure. Back in1975, I used to SLt in with Garrison andTom Keith when they did the KSJN morn-ing show from 6 to 9 a.m. playing my IrishLPs. Garrison invited me to be one of theoriginal members of the Powdermilk BiscuitBand along with Bill Hinkley, Judy Larsonand Rudy Darling.

The band changed members a numberof times, with the most well-known bandbeing Adam Granger, Fiddlin1 MaryDuShane, Dick Rees and myself. TheBiscuits were the house hand from 1975until 1982. I also played with the subse-quent house band, The New PrairieRamblers. Our first concert was at Macal-

ester's lanet Wallace Fine Arts Centerwith Garrison and the Red Clay Ram-blers. The New Prairie Ramblers (PeterOstroushko, Tim Hennessy, BarbMontoro and myself) played the firstnational broadcast of the show fromKansas City the following year. We wereon the show until 1983, about the timeGarrison decided to move to more ofa jazz format and the bright lights ofNew York City beckoned.

Besides playing on the weekly show7

for almost eight years, I produced theBiscuit Band album, was musical direc-

tor of the show for a couple of years, wasincluded on the 5-, 10- and 25-year anni-versary recordings, and enjoyed numerousmusical highlights such as playing withthe Biscuit Band and the St. Paul Cham-ber Orchestra in an original compositionby Libby Larsen at the Northrup Audito-rium. But now I'm really tooting myown horn.

A number of other Macttes from the'70s have played on the show. Phil Platt'71 and John Berquist '71 come to mindright now, although I know there wereothers. So Garrison and PHC haveenjoyed quite a hit of Macalester influencethrough the years.

I salute Macalester's decision to be apart of the program once again. Publicradio still doesn't get much better thanlive radio and Garrison Keillor's PHC.

Bob Douglas '70University of St. Thomas

St. Paulrjdouglas@stthomas.edu

Professor David White,1917-2000Editors' note: For an obituary onProfessor David White, see page 49.

MY FIRST COURSE with David Whitewas "Chinese Philosophies" in the springof 1984. The class was held in a large lec-ture hall, as there were lots of students.In all the four courses I took with David,enrollment was always high. Studentsgravitated to him.

Ironically, the course sparked my inter-est in Asian philosophies. I come from theMiddle East and our literature, with aheavy focus on mysticism, has many simi-larities to Indian and Chinese thought. Itwas thanks to David White, however, thatI got to better appreciate Eastern thought.

continued on page 8

M A C A L E S T E R T O D A Y

A B O U T T H I S I S S U E

page 2

Macalester Today

Director 0/ College RelationsDoug Stone

Executive EditorNancy A. Peterson

Managing EditorJon Halvorsen

Art DirectorElizabeth Edwards

Class Notes EditorRobert Kerr '92

Macalester College

Cluiir, Board oj TrusteesMark A. Vander Ploeg 74

PresidentMichael S. McPherson

Vice President for College AdvancementRichard Allen Ammons

Alumni DirectorGabrielle Lawrence 73

Associate Alumni DirectorsCarol Polk and Kim Gregg '93

Macalester Today (Volume 89, Number 2)is published by Macalester College.It is mailed free of charge to alumni andfriends of the college four times a year.Circulation is 25,000.

For change of address, please write:Alumni Office, Macalester College,1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN55105-1899. Or call (651) 696-6295.Toll-free; 1-888-242-9351.

To submit comments or ideas, write:Macalester Today, College Relations,at the above address. Phone:(651) 696-6452. Fax: (651) 696-6192.E-mail: mactoday@macalester.eduWeb: www.macalester.edu/~alumni

On the coverJohn Schneider '91,left, Jim Dunn '88,center, and Sam Ernst'88 were photographedby Steve Woit at theirnew Red Fish Bluerestaurant on GrandAvenue, adjacentto the Macalestercampus. Turnto page 24.

2 At MacalesterCampus Center opens; new associate alumni directors;fall spores review; other campus news

6 Faculty NotesUpdate on the Economics Department

9 Alumni & Faculty Books

11 America the Beautiful and StrangeWPI journalists describe the United States

12 World-Class EducationThe leaders of NAFSA share a perspective honed at Macalester

15 Alumni BoardThe 35 classmates and friends who make upthe Alumni Associations Board of Directors.With an essay by Nancy Schatz Alton '92on coming back to Mac.

18 And Now This Message... ?*&18

John Forde '83 and friends uncover the hidden agendas in all those TV commercials

20 Probable CauseA mock trial helps students become better advocates for the environment

24 Hungry MindsSome alumni have a consuming passion for food

34 Class Notes

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A T M A C A L E S T E R

Above: students watch the Super Bowl on the second floor of the Ruth Strieker Dayton Campus Center.Left: skylights (seen here at night) bring light into the building throughout the day.Below: the stairwell between the first and second floors.See back cover for another view.

Ruth Strieker Dayton Campus CenterEagerly awaited facility opens months ahead of schedule as new focus of campus community

MACALESTER's new RuthStrieker Dayton Campus Centeropened its doors in late January—

one semester earlier than scheduled —although workmen were still putting thefinishing touches on the building andsome of the furniture was not yetavailable.

A few dozen students enjoyed aSuper Bowl party in the Campus Centeron Jan. 28, the day before classes beganfor the spring semester. The MacGrille —the retail food service — began in earlyFebruary. The official opening celebrationwas scheduled for Feb. 14-

Dean of Students Laurie Hamre askedthe campus community for patience"amidst the great excitement on the open-ing of this much-needed facility."

Named after Macalester Trustee RuthStrieker-Dayton '57, the $17.5 millionCampus Center is intended to be the cen-tral gathering spot on campus for students,faculty and staff, and a venue for alumniactivities.

The Campus Center, located at thecorner of Grand and Snelhng avenues,replaces the Student Union. It features:

• the central dining facility, servingup to 1,000 people at a time with foodfrom around the world;

• essential services such as the campuspost office, as well as seminar and meetingrooms;

• the 270-seat John B. Davis LectureHall, named after Macalester's formerpresident, which is equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual technology;

• the Mary Gwen Owen PerformingArts Stage, named after one of the col-lege's legendary professors;

• views o( campus from almost everyangle on both the first and second floors;

• skylights that bring light into thebuilding throughout the day.

Ruth Strieker-Dayton has been a mem-ber of the college's Board of Trustees from1978 to 1984 and again since 1995 andserved on the executive committee of theTouch the Future campaign. She is a for-mer president of the Alumni AssociationBoard of Directors and in 1987 receivedthe Alumni Association's Distinguished

Citizen Citation for achievement andservice.

She is owner and executive director o\The Marsh, A Center for Balance andFitness, in Minnetonka, and is widelyknown for promoting mind/body healthand well-being.

For more information on the CampusCenter, see the Macalester Web site:<www.macalester.edu/~alumni> and clickon Campus Center.

M A C A L E S T E R T O D A Y

A T M A C A L E S T E R

Alumni OfficeKim Gregg '93 and Carol Polkappointed associate directors

MACALESTER HAS two new associatedirectors of alumni relations.

Kim Gregg '93 joined Macalester inJanuary. Her primary focus is working withalumni of color and recent graduates.

Gregg, who majored in geography andenvironmental studies at Macalester,returned to the Twin Cities last Septemberafter three years away to work on an M.S.degree in geography at the University ofDelaware. Before that, she was an environ-mental regulator at the Minnesota PollutionControl Agency. Her personal interests in-clude the transracial adoption experience,multiculturalism in America, Quaternarylandforms and paleoclimatology, film, fishkeeping, cooking and her very spoiled dogs.

Carol Polk, who has worked in theAlumni Office since 1989, was promotedto associate director last fall. Polk is

1990s grads

Kim Gregg '93 Carol Polk

responsible tor planning ReunionWeekend and coordinating the GreatScots Program. She received her degreein psychology from Metropolitan StateUniversity. She volunteers regularly forChrysalis, A Center for Women. Outsideof work, she loves to ski and golf. Her goalfor the coming year is to go skydiving.

Both report to Alumni DirectorGabrielle Lawrence 73.

Artist in progressPerformance artist Coco Fusco gave the keynote address at the seventh annual MacalesterInternational Roundtable in October. She read from her work-in-progress, "The Incredible

Disappearing Woman," a play about the disappearanceof women assembly line workers at the U.S.-Mexicanborder. She also talked with students. Focusing on"International Feminisms: Divergent Perspectives,"the three-day Roundtable featured presentations anddiscussions by distinguished visiting scholars as wellas Macalester faculty and students.

A BO U T 60 PERCENT of Macalestergraduates in recent years have earnedadvanced degrees within six years of grad-uation, according to Dan Balik, associateprovost and director of institutionalresearch.

Balik said that percentage is very similarto that reported at other selective liberalarts colleges.

Balik reported several other majorconclusions from surveys of 1993-99graduates:

• Of those graduates who have earnedadvanced degrees, about two-thirds haveearned a master's level degree. Theremaining one-third is fairly evenly splitbetween doctorates and professionaldegrees.

• Macalester graduates are admitted tomedical schools at a rate that is 10 percenthigher than graduates nationally,

• Six years after leavingMacalester, almost one-fourth of Mac graduates areemployed in business. Another30 percent are employed inprofessional, scientific or tech-nical occupations. More than10 percent are working in cre-ative arts or design positions.

ScholarshipsMAI YOUA XIONG '04(Minneapolis) is the recipientof a $5,000 Coca-Cola FirstGeneration Scholarship.

The scholarship, which canbe renewed annually, isawarded to one eligible studentfrom each of Minnesota's15 private colleges and univer-sities who has demonstratedhigh academic achievement,community involvement and isthe first in their immediatefamily to go to college. Thescholarship is funded by the

Coca-Cola Foundation and the MinnesotaPrivate College Fund.

Other recent scholarship winners atMacalester:

• Seth Lind '01 (Spring Green, Wis.)won a Beinecke Brothers MemorialScholarship for two years of graduate

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A T M A C A L E S T E R

study. He is a history major with an inter-est in 20th century American social andcultural history.

• Joseph Bergan }00 (Arden Hills,Minn.) won a National Science Founda-tion Graduate Fellowship, which fundsthree years or graduate study. Bergan, abiology major, plans to earn a Ph.D. inneuroscience at the University of Chicago.

Class of 2004Number: 454 {66% female)Applications: 3,410 — the most ever,exceeding the 1999 record by 8 percentRegional distribution by high school:- 23% Minnesota

- 15% outside U.S.- 12% Upper Midwest- 1 3 % Other Midwest-17% Northeast-14% West

- 6% South

Percentage receiving financial aid: 73.6%States represented: 41 and Districtof Columbia

Nations represented (by citizenship): 40U.S. students of color: 54Most common female names: Sarah (11),Emily (9) and Elizabeth (8)Most common male names: Daniel andMichael (6 each)

"We're extremely pleased with thestrength of this class," said Dean ofAdmissions Lome Robinson. "It's a greatbunch of bright, talented and motivatedstudents who will undoubtedly contributesignificantly during the next four yearsand beyond.

"Nationwide, studies show thatyoung women are engaging more in bothacademics and extracurricular areas thanmen. As such, they end up presentingstronger applications for admission toselective colleges like Macalester. Webelieve that it's important to maintaingender balance in the student body, but it'salso important to admit and enroll themost deserving students.

uWe know Mac is a great place forboth young men and women to get anoutstanding education; our challenge is tomake sure that the qualified men realizethat, too."

Fall sports review

Volleyball and women'ssoccer teams shine

MACALESTER FALL SPORTS TEAMS

enjoyed considerable success, espe-cially on the women's side, as the Scotsfielded outstanding teams in volleyballand soccer. Through the conclusion of thefall season, Macalester was on top ofthe Minnesota Intercollegiate AthleticConference (MIAC) in the race for thePat Wiesner Trophy—the award given tothe league's all-sports champion.

VolleyballThe volleyball program has made mag-

nificent strides over the past five years andin 2000 had its best season in nearly20 years. Stephanie Schleuder gained her600th career collegiate coaching victoryearly in the season and the Scots wenton to finish 22-8, placing second in theconference standings and third at the con-ference tournament and falling just shortof an NCAA playoff invitation. SetterErika Lilley '01 (Saugus, Calif.) and mid-dle blocker Carley Bomstad '04 (AppleValley, Minn.) were named to the All-Mi AC and All-Central Region teams.

Lilley led the conference in assists and wassixth in the nation in that category, whileBomstad, the Central Regions Freshmanof the Year, was second in the MIAC inhitting percentage and sixth in blocks.

Women's soccerCoach John Leaney's women's soccer

team graduated nearly every starter fromthe year before, but responded brilliantlywith a young team, winning the VIIACchampionship for the fourth straightyear. The Scots were eliminated in thesecond round of the NCAA playoffs byWisconsin-Stevens Point in a 1-0 contest,but lost only one other game all year. Macfinished at 16-2-1 and its 9-0-1 conferencerecord extends the team's MIAC unbeatenstreak to 42 consecutive games. ForwardAmanda Cue '01 (Ashland, Ore.) scored10 goals and was named third-team All-America as the team's top player. She wasjoined on the All-MIAC squad by goal-keeper Lisa Bauer '04 (Woodbury, Minn.),midfielder Kristine Lamm '01 (SouthWindsor, Conn.) and forward KatieStephens V3 (Urbana, 111.). Bauer allowedjust a single goal in league play andfinished fourth in the nation in goals-against average.

Mondale returnsWalter Mondale '50, former vicepresident and ambassador to Japan,spoke about his role in negotiating thefuture of U.S. military bases in Okinawaat a conference at Macalester inNovember. His lecture, and presentationsby senior U.S. and Japanese foreign policyexperts, reviewed the recent history ofthe U.S.-Japan strategic alliance andexplored the current challenges for thepartnership. The event was the third ina series entitled "Fifty Years: TheMondale Lectures on Public Service,"co-sponsored by Macalester, the HubertH. Humphrey Institute at the Universityof Minnesota, the Minnesota HistoricalSociety and Minnesota Public Radio.

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M A C A L E S T E R TODAY

A T M A C A L E S T E R

cross countiyit was supposed to have

boon a rebuilding seasonfor women's cross countryafter graduating tour ofthe top Eve runners fromthe '99 squad that placedeighth in the nation.New Coach Jordandishing '96 got the mostout of her young team,however, and the Scotsprogressed nicelythroughout the season.Macalester placed fifthout of 12 teams at theconference champion-ships, led by Li: Connors'01 (Albany, Ore.), whoearned her third straighttop five MIAC finish.Lesley Benton '03(Cumberland Center,Maine) earned honorable mentionAll-Conference honors.

Women's golfThe women's golf team closed out the

fall season by taking fifth out of nine atthe conference championships—up onespot from the previous two years. KristineSchaaff'03 (Manden, N.D.) placed 11th

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sliiiir

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M\All-Central Regionsetter Erika Lilley '01

Ail-Americansoccer playerShingai Mukurazita '01

Liz Connors '01, right foreground, earned her third straight top fiveMIAC finish in cross country.

overall at the MIAC tourney, missing All-Conference honors by just one stroke.Amanda Slaughter '03 (Cedar Rapids,Iowa) also had a good season for the Scots.

Men's soccerMac failed in its bid to take a fourth

straight league championship, but still hada great season under Coach Leaney. Only

a double-overtimeloss to Gustavus inthe season finalekept the Scots fromanother trophy andan NCAA playoffberth. Macalesterfinished at 12-4-2and took second inthe league. ShingaiMukurazita '01(Harare, Zimbabwe)received third-teamAll-America honorsafter scoring sevengoals and assistingon seven others.Kimani Williams'02 (Kingston,Jamaica) scored inthe teams last ninegames and finishedwith 17 goals—the second-bestsingle-season figurein team history.Mukurazita andWilliams werejoined on the All-Conference team by

All-Central Regionmiddle blocker CarleyBomstad '04

Ail-Americansoccer forwardAmanda Cue '01

midfielder Martin Oppenheimer '02(Stockholm, Sweden) and defenderBrendan Meyer '02 (Fairfax Station, Va.).

FootballThe football team showed improve-

ment over the last couple of seasons butlost its share of close games and finished1-9. The Scots were a dangerous passingteam and boasted a pair of the leagues topreceivers in David Schumacher '01(Minot, N.D.) and Ty O'Connelf '02(Helena, Mont.), who combined to catch122 passes for 1,583 yards and 12 touch-downs. Schumacher was the MIAC'sleading receiver and O'Connell was fourth.

Quarterback Aaron Quitmeyer '01(Williston, N.D.) earned All-MIAChonors after passing for a school-record2,180 yards. Quitmeyer set a school recordwith 5,716 career passing yards and wasone of just 22 players selected nationally inall divisions to the AFCA Good WorksTeam, which recognizes players who goabove and beyond in service to otherswhile maintaining academic and athleticexcellence. Macalester featured one of theconference's best defensive players inend Andrew Porter '03 (Rogers, Minn.),who led the team with 85 tackles and13 quarterback sacks. Porter earnedAll-West Region honors from theFootball Gazette.

Men's cross countryBen Knudson '01 (Hastings, Neb.)

earned honorable mention All-MIAChonors, placing 24th out of 190 runnersto lead the way for the men's cross countryteam at the conference championships.Macalester took eighth at the MIAC meetunder new Coach Steve Pasche and con-cluded with its best performance of theseason, finishing 12th out of 23 teams atthe Central Regionals.

Men's golfAli Amerson '02 (Port Townsend,

Wash.) enjoyed another good season asthe No. 1 player on new Coach MarthaNause's men's golf team. Amerson waseighth out of 43 golfers at the CarletonInvitational. Mark Flynn '02 (Madison,Wis.) was Mac's top scorer at the season-ending MIAC tournament.—Andy Johnson, sports injoiniation director

All-ConferencequarterbackAaron Quitmeyer '01

Top defensive endAndrew Porter '03

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F A C U L T Y N O T E S

Update on the Economics DepartmentEditors3 note: Mac Today regularly features brief updatesabout faculty members, focusing on a single department in each issue

Karl Egge spent his Last sabbatical visit-ing and interviewing former economicsmajors about their jobs. They includedalumni from Germany to China, from the70s through the '90s. He reports that inthe last two years he has taught children offormer students, so he knows he's beenteaching a long time. He continues assist-ing senior majors with their job-searchingefforts, and he is thrilled that many formerstudents now recruit current students. Heoften brings former students into the class-room for "show and tell." His researchefforts have been in entrepreneurship andforensic economics.

Jeff Evans has taught accounting parttime in the Economics Department since1978. He is currently working on a projectfor the Wilderness Society on how roadcosts are allocated to timber sales. He isalso a practicing CPA, specializing inforensic accounting and small businessconsulting. He says, "I know it sounds a bitidealistic, but I firmly believe one canmake the world a better place throughaccounting."

Many of the economicsfaculty from the 1970s met fora reunion last October at theAlumni House. They were joinedby several current members ofthe department. "All agreed itwas terrific to be back atMacalester to see the schooland talk with old friends," saidProfessors Karl Egge andVasant Sukhatme.From left: Pete Ferderer;Jim Simler, retired; VasantSukhatme, current chair; YutakaHoriba, now at Tulane; ToddPetzel, chief investment officerfor the Common Fund; DavidMeiselman, retired in Virginia;Karl Egge; Bob Bunting, retiredin Wilmington, N.C.; PaulAslanian, CFO of SwarthmoreCollege; Macalester PresidentMike McPherson, who teachesin the department; Tom Simpson,now with the Board of Governorsof the Federal Reserve; JeffEvans; and David Lindsay, alsowith the Board of Governors.

Pete Ferderer has teaching andresearch interests that span the fields ofmacroeconomics, finance and inter-national economics. In recent years, hehas become interested in studying thesefields from a historical perspective. Hismost recent article, co-authored with KyleRichey '00, examines the collapse ofliquidity in financial markets during theGreat Depression. Ferderer attempts toinfuse this historical perspective into hiscourses by emphasizing how the "rules ofthe game" governing economic activityhave evolved over time. When not think-ing about economics, he enjoys spendingtime with his wife and two young children.

Nancy Jones retired in June 1999after almost a decade as the department'ssecretary/administrator. She's takingadvantage of this opportunity to travel,with major trips in the past year and a halfto Spain, Berlin, East Germany andChina. At home she's an avid theater- andconcert-goer and enjoys courses offered bythe Elder Learning Institute, on subjects

ranging from Jane Austen to Irish history.And from time to time she visits 4-year-old grandson Alec (and his parents) inNew York City. In short, life is good, shereports. She sends greetings and warmwishes to all econ alums who mightremember her, and welcomes e-mail mes-sages < jonesneh@gateway.net >

Jane Kollasch has been the departmentcoordinator since fall 1999. She hasbeen at Macalester for six years, havingpreviously worked in purchasing andtelecommunications. She enjoys workingwith the econ students on a daily basis andthe challenges of the academic side of thecollege. She is also very involved on cam-pus, serving on the board of the StaffAdvisory Committee and the MacalesterStaff Association. When not at Macal-ester, Jane enjoys gardening, quilting andworking part time at a coffeehouse. Sheand her husband, Chuck, recently cele-brated their 25th wedding anniversary;they have two daughters, Joelle, who is incollege, and Janna, a junior in high school.

M A C A L E S T E R TODAY

F A C U L T Y N O T E S

Quotable Quotes

H ERE ARE S O M E of the noteworthy comments made recentlyon and around the campus:

"Every year since ! have been at this college, upper-classstudents look at the first-years and complain to me about howconservative they are and that it is a college plot. And by about thesecond month of the fall, the new students change into Macalesterstudents and start complaining when the next class arrives."

David McCurdy, Macalester anthropology professor, who joined thefaculty in 1966 and is entering the retirement program at the end ofthe current academic year, quoted in the Dec. 15 Mac Weekly

"He changed students' lives; he didn't just teach the subjectmatter, he taught the love of wisdom."

Henry West, Macaiester philosophy professor, quoted in the Nov. 2St. Paul Pioneer Press obituary of Professor David White, Seepage 49 and Letters page on inside front cover.

"His presence at Macalester [from 1959 to 1961] was asign that the world was shrinking—an economic, technologicaland even, in his eyes, moral event. It would be decades beforekente-cloth fashions appeared at the Gap, but Annan's arrival inthe U.S. evoked a closer global community. He was instantlycomfortable."

Time magazine cover story last Sept. 4 on U.N. Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan '61. The article noted that he was pictured in the 1960Mac yearbook with a kente cloth from his native Ghana drapedaround his shoulders.

"We're a schizophrenic state, we're liberal and conservative.The great liberal leaders of the past were so charismatic, theypulled a lot of people. The liberal people [in Minnesota] today arenot charismatic. Even Jesse Ventura, for all his foibles, hascharisma."

David Lanegran '63, Macalester geography professor, quoted in aNov. 9 New York Times article on the presidential election i

Gary Krueger joined Macalester in1989. He attended the University ofIllinois as an undergraduate and earned

his Ph.D in econom-ics from theUniversity ofWisconsin-Madison.He teaches"Comparative Eco-nomic Systems,""Economics ofTransition11 and"Econometrics."His current researchis on the transitionof formerly state

Gary Krueger o w n e j firms [ n

Russia to a market economy. He is activelyinvolved in Macalester s Russian AreaStudies program and has served as programcoordinator since 1994.

Karine Moe is an economic demogra-pher with special interests in women'seconomic status. Shejoined the depart-ment in 1995 andteaches courses inlabor economics andthe economics ofgender. Her researchinterests focus onhow7 the use oftime — especially bywomen and girls—contributes to eco-nomic development.Her recent work K a r i n e M o e

investigates deterrents to schooling forgirls in Latin America, as well as the

effects of government policies on informallabor markets.

Raymond Robertson studies andteaches international economics with afocus on Latin America. He joined thefaculty in 1999. In 2000 he received aResearch in Undergraduate Institutionsgrant from theNational ScienceFoundation to createa Web-based data-base of labor marketdata from Mexico,Chile, Argentina andBrazil for researchand teaching. In2000 he published inThe World Economyand in The AmericanEconomic Review. Hisresearch focuses on Raymond Robertsonthe effects of globalization on labor mar-kets. His current research projects includeexamining the relationship between tradeliberalization and wage inequality inMexico and technology use in Chile.

N. J. (Jim) Simler retired from Macal-ester in August 1999. He had joined thefaculty as professor and chair in 1991 after32 years at the University of Minnesota.He writes that he now spends most of histime reading (history, biography and occa-sional novels), listening to chamber musicand jazz standards, viewing classical filmsand taking short trips around the country.

Vasant Sukhatme teaches micro-economic theory, economic developmentand a survey course on the work of AdamSmith and Karl Marx. Next fall he will

jointly teach (with President MikeMcPherson) a new course (tentativelycalled "Economics for the Citizen11).Sukhatme's professional activity lies inthe areas of economic development andapplied microeconomics. His currentscholarly work addresses the implicationsof the World Trade Organization for theagricultural trade of India. He also remainsinterested in the economics of baseball.Along with a former Macalester colleague,he is applying the theory of tournaments tostudy the salary structure in professionalbaseball. He will be on sabbatical leave thisspring term at the University of Minnesota.

Sarah West is a1991 Macalestergraduate who joinedthe department as aMellon PostdoctoralFellow in 1999 andbegan a tenure-trackappointment in2000. Her teachingand research interestsare in the areas ofenvironmental eco-nomics, public S a r a h W e s t - 9 1

finance and urban

economics. She teaches courses in thoseareas as well as "Principles of Economics."Her current research, funded by the PublicPolicy Institute of California, focuses onthe use of market-based incentives for thecontrol of vehicle pollution. She looks for-ward to continuing to teach, advise andconduct research with students from eco-nomics and from environmental studies. •

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continued from inside front cover

Pr. White was a truly special person.There are those in life who touch usdeeply and to whom we look up as rolemodels. David was such a role model tormany of his students, including myself.1 learned a great deal about Asian philoso-phies from him, hut most importantly, hetaught me about lite. He taught me how tohe a better person. He taught me howto think.

David was a humble man. There isnothing worse than false humility, butDavid was humble at heart. 1 recall a dis-cussion where he was saying he didn'twant to he a guru. Many a time I wasconfused with life and went to David toradvice. We spent hours talking. ButDavid was not the type to give advice.He let me figure out my way by telling meabout his experiences. At times this frus-trated me greatly. I wanted the "answer."I now appreciate the wisdom of his way.

David smoked cigarettes. Once I askedhim why he smoked when he knew thedangers of smoking and knew that it wasa form ot "attachment11 to the material,contrary to his beliefs. In response, behonestly admitted that be was beingfoolish.

Every time I spoke to him, I felt specialand important. He bad great respect forpeople. I had done a paper for him onSufism. Whenever Sufism came up, beasked tor my input. At the time I thoughtit was because 1 was so knowledgeable.I came to realize it was not me but he thatwas special. His grace, his comfort with hisego, bis humility and his desire to hear theviews oi others are some of the manythings I admire about him.

His experiences and insights werealways educational. He told us about bowduring World War II he had been thrownin prison for being a pacifist and refusingto fight. In jail a muscular man hadattacked him as he was sweeping the floor.David pointed to his throat, indicatingthat the man's arm was choking him.The man relented. Conveying his posi-tion peacefully; aware of his faults andshortcomings; at peace with himself andthe world; dedicating his energy toimproving himself and others — that wasDavid White.

Last year I beard with great sadness thatBeverly White had passed away. TheMacalester community has lost two of itsmost loyal and loved members. Dr. Whitetaught at Macalester for over 50 years.Beverly taught my father in the early '60s.My wife and 1 were David's students inthe '80s. The college is about special peo-ple such as David and Beverly White,who helped us find our way in lite. It ispeople like them who made our tour yearsat Macalester memorable and worthwhile.We are better people having knownthe Whites.

Mohsen Mazaheri 87Cranford, N.J.

mohsen mazaheri@hotmail.com

Looking for art by Alonzo Hauser

Sculptor Alonzo Hauser founded theMacalester College Art Department andtaught at Mac from 1945 to 1949.The executors of his estate aregathering information and stories abouthis life and work for the publicationof a catalog.

If you knew Alonzo Hauser or ownany works of art by him, please callJean Ehling, Art Marketing, at(612) 571-4674 or write her at2200 W. County Road C, Roseville,MN 55113 c

I AM ONE OF THE MANY Macalesteralumnae and alumni whose philosophywas deepened and altered by David Whiteand his wife, Beverly.

A couple of details about him as ateacher stand out in my memory. Onewas his simple and touching desire to beaddressed as "David," and another washow he asked his students to write himquestions in a particular format. We wereto fold a sheet of paper in half length-wise,open it again, and beginning with "DearDavid," write him our question on the leftside in heavy black ink. He would answeron the right side.

He was the first man I saw weep inpublic, and without embarrassment. In"Philosophies of India," he asked me toread a story by Raja Rao to the class, butbefore I began, he said goodnight andgoodbye and requested that we leave atthe end of the reading without speaking tohim because he expected to be crying.

We did as we were told without checkinghim for tears.

Juanita Garciagodoy '74Visiting Assistant Professor

Macalester Spanish Department

As A STRUGGLING freshman in 1966,I was assigned a reading from Plato andthe meaning eluded me. As my panicincreased, my residence counselor sug-gested I call Dr. David White, even at10:30 in the evening. Mustering whatevercourage I had, I called Dr. White, who wasnot the professor who had assigned thereading, and he took 45 minutes of histime to teach me.

I later learned of a story aboutDr. White and his brother. It was duringWorld War II and Dr. White's brother, anaval officer, and Dr. White, a conscien-tious objector who was to be jailed thenext day, walked arm in arm from one endof their town to the other to show theirmutual respect and esteem.

These experiences had a profound effecton me and still do to this day. When Iteach about morals and ethics, I rememberthe courage and commitment ofDr. White. When I teach a difficult con-cept to someone who is struggling, I try tobe patient and professional, as Dr. Whitewas with me.

When I think of David White, I picturethe epitome of all that is moral and allthat embodies the educator. We are all thepoorer for his departure.

Duncan A. Rose '70Associate Professor, Social Sciences

Newman UniversityWichita, Kan.

rosed@newmanu.edu

Ordinary peopleI T WAS WITH GREAT JOY that I re-ceived the latest issue ot Macalester Today.I would, however, like to suggest a topicof focus for future issues.

In addition to the profiles of alumniwho are highly successful and/or inter-nationally known, I would enjoy seeingprofiles of alumni who lead more ordinarylives, people who choose to focus on rais-ing a family or those still struggling tomake it. With Macalester Today focusingon the upper echelon of alumni, I feelneglected as an alumnus still struggling tofind a iob.

Christopher Nordvall '98St. Paul

M A C A L E S T E R TODAY

A L U M N I & F A C U L T Y B O O K S

Ecofeminism; social sciences; modern world poetry

Karen J. Warren

Ecofeminist Philosophy:A Western Perspective on What It Isand Why It Matters

by Karen ) .Warren (Rowman &Lmlefield, 2000.254 pages)

This book was"written for a reflec-tive lay audience, notfor professionalphilosophers or envi-ronmental ethicists,although, as reflec-tive persons, I hopethey will find mater-ial of interest in the book," writes KarenWarren, a Macalester philosophy professor.

"As one of the two philosophers inter-nationally who started the field 'ecofeministphilosophy,' it is a reflection of 15 years ofthinking about the nature, importance,and place of ecofeminist philosophy withinthe fields of feminism, philosophy, andenvironmentalist!!. So, for me, it is a majorpiece of work which reflects mature think-ing about those three fields.'1

Warren's primary areas of scholarlyinterest are feminist and environmental phi-losophy. She has spoken on ecofeministphilosophy—the assertion that the unjusti-fied domination of women and otherhumans is connected to the unjustified dom-ination of animals and non-human nature—in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada,Finland, Norway, Russia and Sweden, aswell as throughout the United States.

Warren is also co-editor of EnvironmentalPhilosophy: From Animal Rights to RadicalEcology, the third edition of which was justpublished by Prentice Hall.

Restructuring Societies:Insights from the Social Sciences

edited by David B. Knight '64 and Akin E.Joseph (McGill-Qiteens University Press,1999. 16S pages, $55 (Canadian) cloth and$22.95 paperback)

As national societies seek to come toterms with shifts in the global economy,many are being fundamentally changeddue to economic and social "restructuring."This collection of essays is a multi-disciplinary approach to contemporarydebates about the nature of restructuringprocesses and their interconnection withpublic policy.

The book offers a wide range of socialscientific perspectives, from anthropology,

geography, history and indigenous studiesto politics, psychology and sociology. Theeffects of restructuring processes in Canadaand New Zealand are particularly welldocumented, and the importance of wordsand their manipulation is emphasized.Feature essays, one by former OntarioPremier Bob Rae on conservative and radi-cal resistance to abuses of power and twoon aboriginal/First Nations issues, chal-lenge important public policy trends.

Readers in the United States may findthe book useful as a policy and impactguide to what may happen under PresidentBush's new administration.

David B. Knight is a professor of geogra-phy at the University of Guelph.

Ties That Bind:Economic and Political Dilemmas ofUrban Utility Networks, 1800-1990

by Charles David Jacobson '80(University of Pittsburgh Press, 2001.202 pages, $35 cloth)

In the early days of utility development,municipalities sought to shape the newsystems in a variety of ways even as privatefirms struggled to retain control and fendoff competition. Some of the battlesdwarfed the contemporary one betweenlocal jurisdictions and cable companiesover broadband access to the Internet.

In this comparative historical study,Charles Jacobson draws upon economictheory to shed light on relationshipsamong technology, market forces and prob-lems of governance that havearisen in connection withdifferent utility networksover the past 200 years. Hefocuses on water, electricand cable television utilitynetworks and on experiencesin four major cities — Boston, jSeattle, San Francisco andPittsburgh — arguing thatinformation and transactioncosts have played decisiveroles in determining howdifferent ownership and regu- Mark Willhardtlatory arrangements have functioned indifferent situations.

Ties That Bind addresses practical ques-tions of how to make ownership, regulatoryand contracting arrangements work better.It also explores hroader concerns about pri-vate monopoly and the role of governmentin society.

Jacobson is a senior associate withMorgan Angel & Associates, public policy

consultants in Washington, D.C. He has aPh.D. in applied history and social sciencesfrom Carnegie Mellon University.

It Happened in North Carolinaby Scotti Kent (TwoDot Books, an imprint

of Falcon Publishing/Globe Pequot Press,2000. 144 pages, $9.95 paperback)

h Happened inNorth Carolinachronicles 27 eventsfrom the states richhistory in an easy-to-read style suitable forall ages. Readers jour-ney back to 1200A.D. and forward tothe present day, visit-ing all three regionsof the state duringvarious time periods.

The author, the Scotti Kent

former Scotti Kelley, is a 1971 alumna ofMacalester who published this book underthe name Scotti Kent. Now Scotti McAuliffCohn, she lived in the mountains of westernNorth Carolina for more than 20 years.She recently moved to Bloomington, 111.,where she is currently working on a bookabout children of the Civil War.

Who's Whoin 20th Century World Poetry

edited by Mark Willhardt 'S7, withAlan Michael Parker (Routledge, 2000.360 pages, $29.95 cloth)

Mark Willhardt, assistant professorof English at Monmouth College inMonmouth, 111., edited this biograph-ical guide to modern internationalpoetry. It features more than 900entries, from such canonical figuresas T.S. Eliot and W.B. Yeats to con-temporary poets like Iraq's Nazikal-Mala'ika and South Africa'sNjabulo Simakahle Ndebele, by over80 international contributors. Itoffers a global perspective of modernverse, detailing the lives and worksof an array of poets alongside expert

critical comment.Willhardt, who has a Ph.D. from Rutgers,

and poet-scholar Alan Michael Parker alsocollaborated on the Routledge Anthology ojCross-Gendered Verse. O

S P R I N G 2 O O I

Photos:Moments from

the 1996Reunion

Reunion Weekend and CommencementFriday-Sunday, May 18-20, 2001

f*.®5.1981— i^ i

1 / c

•

. : • ' _ ,

A few highlights of the biggest weekend of the year at Macalester:

• Alumni Art Show in the new Ruth Strieker Dayton Campus Center

• Panel discussions with psychology, economics and biology alumni and faculty

• Athletic Director Irv Cross speaking on the future of athletics at Mac

• Lectures hy faculty entering the retirement program:

Chuck Green, Dave McCurdy, Mike Obsatz', Cal Roetzel, Wayne Roberts and others

• Reunion Class Dinners and Lawn Dance

• Commencement at 1:30 p.m. Sunday

Questions?

Alumni whose classes end in " 1 " or "6" have already received information through

their classes, and the registration brochure is being mailed in March. If you want more

information, please call the Alumni Office: (651) 696-6295, or toll-free: 1-888-242-9351

1 0 M A C A L E S T E R T O D A Y

wk

IT H E B E A U T I F U L A N D

! A I You can learn a lot about your own country from foreigners

After traveling throughout the U.S. from Julyto November, the nine World Press Institute Fellowsof 2000 offered their observations of Americaat a public jorum at Macalester a week after thepresidential election. A few excerpts:

Religion in the U.S.Gabriella Coslovich, deputyarts editor, The Age, Melbourne,Australia

One of the interesting things tome, particularly during the election,is how religion still plays a veryimportant part in Americans1 lives,for better or worse. It is a very pub-lic thing, whereas in Australia it's a

Coslovich private thing. Here, politicians willuse their religion, will invoke God—sometimes Ithink self-righteously.... I was surprised when thenomination of a Jewish man to he the vice presiden-tial nominee caused a stir. I couldn't understandwhy that would be an issue in the year 2000.

A country of immigrantsKatrin Sachse, editor, Focusnews magazine, Munich, Gennany

1 learned a lot about what weGermans have to learn. One oi thetopics I was interested in was how cana country full of immigrants be onenation? This is what I think I under-stood during the last month. It's really 'great to see how so many people from so many differ-ent countries keep and maintain their own culturesand [still] just adopt the American way of life.

For instance, I was impressed when we visited abilingual school for children whose first language isSpanish. They have their lessons in Spanish andtheir second language is English. Unfortunately,this would never happen in Germany because weexpect foreigners to learn our language and to adoptour culture. But as I saw here, it can work the otherway around.

Guns and violenceLiu Rong, reporter, Domestic News for OverseasService, Xinhua News Agency, Beijing

[My] impression of the United States, after thesefour months, is totally changed. Before I came here,I had a fixed image of the United States influencedby our media coverage of your society. The badimage is that many people have guns and violence

[happens] every day and everywhere.That's why when I came, myrelatives and my family worriedabout me. My mother even gave mea Buddha necklace, saying Buddhawill protect you.

Now I realize that the social prob-lems you have are as much as wehave in our country. The only differ-ence is that your media always report

crime and other social problems while our mediatend to report more good things of the society thanbad ones. I should say now our media has changeda little bit and reported more social problems, but itis far from playing a watchdog role in the societycompared to your media.

Killing journalistsHafiz Imam Inam, stafj correspondent,The Bangladesh Observer, Dhaka.He was once threatened with death bytwo armed men for an article he wrote.

I feel very happy to see how theU.S. journalists are practicing theirjournalism, in contrast to my country. Hafiz Imam InamPersonal security for journalists is absent in mycountry. Five journalists have been killed [in Bang-ladesh] over the last four months. [The United States]is really an ocean of freedom for the journalists.

GlobalizationKwesi Biney, editor, The Guide, an independentbiweekly, Accra, Ghana

Now there's talk about globalization and theworld becoming one small village. Because of theperiod oi the Cold War and colonialism, manynations in the Third World have not had the oppor-tunity to develop their nations according to theirown design. We became a pendulum swinging from

the socialist bloc to the capitalistbloc, and by the end oi the ColdWar we had nothing to show for iteven by way of infrastructure.

Now we are being called upon tobe part of the global world. In whatcapacity? As hewers of wood anddrawers of water? Or are we goingto be part of the global world on anequal footing? i

S P R I N G 2 0 0 1 I I

by Jon Halvorsen

HEN NAFSA: Association of Inter-national Educators went looking forsomeone with a strong public policybackground who could lead a major

organization in the international arena, it hiredMarlene Johnson '68 as CEO.

The group's president — elected by her peersacross the U.S. and abroad—is Kay Thomas '63, aneducator at the University of Minnesota.

When Thomas concludes her term this summer,she will be succeeded by NAFSA s first presidentfrom a small college—June Noronha '70, an associ-ate dean at The College of Saint Catherine.

In an organization with more than 8,600 mem-bers from 50 states and 60 countries, it seems morethan a coincidence that Macalester graduates holdthree of the top leadership positions. As Johnson,

ing in Iran tor three years — during the Iranian rev-olution— and teaching linguistics at Macalester."NAFSA has always taken a leadership role in men-toring international education professionals,"Brown says. "My own commitment to internationaleducation that began when I was a student atMacalester has been infinitely enriched byNAFSA s investment in me."

As Brown and others note, NAFSA has evolvedand grown in strength. "There's no doubt that we'renow seen as a key player in international educa-tion," says Thomas, a 30-year NAFSA member."There's a lot more attention paid to internationaleducation now than in the past. That's not due justto NAFSA certainly; it's also due to the times andthe need that corporations and citizens are feelingfor greater international competency."

Last year, following NAFSA's lead, PresidentClinton issued the first presidential directive on

WORLD-CLASS EDUCATIONThe leaders of NAFSA: Association of International Educators

share a perspective that was honed at MacalesterThomas and Noronha were having dinner with col-leagues in Washington not long ago, someone atthe table observed that all three were from thesame college.

"Which college is that?" another person asked."Kofi Annan's college," Noronha replied

with a smile. (See the previous Mac Today S>for a story on her extended family.) §

The leading organization in the field of Sinternational educational exchange, NAFSA 5was founded in 1948 as the National Associa-tion of Foreign Student Advisers. It assumedits current name in 1990. Most oi its memberswork at colleges and universities as inter-national student and study abroad advisers,directors of international programs, teachersof English as a second language and relatedjobs.

Kimberley Brown 74, vice-provost forinternational affairs at Portland State Uni-versity, has also been a national leader inNAFSA. Fler own background includes teach-

"There's a lot more attention paidto international education now," saysKay Thomas '63, president of NAFSA.She heads an office at the University

of Minnesota that provides services tomore than 3,350 international students

as well as 1,200 visiting scholars.

international education policy, establishing goals forincreasing the number of U.S. students studyingabroad and the number of international studentsstudying in the U.S. The Clinton administrationalso declared Nov. 13-17, 2000, the first "U.S.

I 2 M A C A L E S T E R T O D A Y

Marlene Johnson '68, former lieutenant governorof Minnesota, is now chief executive officer of NAFSAin Washington, D.C.

International Education Week." NAFSA alsohelped pass a bill in Congress creating a scholarshipprogram tor needy students to study abroad and suc-ceeded in getting the Senate to hold a publichearing on international education last fall.

Hiring Marlene Johnson three years ago gave anew impetus to NAFSA, which is headquartered inWashington, D.C. "She's just a pistol. She knowshow to ,yet things done,11 Thomas says.

Johnson, former lieutenant governor of Minne-sota, carried the Perpich administration's portfolioon international trade and tourism. A former menvber of the World Press Institute board, she also hasan international marriage: she and her Swedishhusband have gone back and forth between theU.S. and Sweden, where he has a business, for thepast 16 years.

Johnson says NAFSA is striving to "create alarger intellectual or policy concept of why studyabroad is important, why it's important to haveinternational students on our campuses and in oursociety Ultimately, we need a more strategicapproach to recruiting international students forthis country, and we need a more actively led study-abroad strategy that will increase the numbers oistudents at all colleges and universities."

Kay Thomas studied in Greece through SPAN(Student Project for Amity among Nations) in the

Macalester abroad• Last year, 251 Mac students studied in

49 countries, from Argentina to Zimbabwe

• This year, 13% of Mac students come from72 countries (17% from 86 countries if dualcitizens and permanent residents are included)

summer of her junior year at Mac. As MarleneJohnson would a few years later, she met WorldPress Institute journalists on campus. After Mac,she studied German at the University of Heidelberg.Now director of international student and scholarservices at the University of Minnesota, she headsan office that provides services to more than 3,350international students as well as 1,200 scholars whocome there for anywhere from a month to severalyears to teach or do research.

"If you want to provide a world-class education,you need outside perspectives in the classroom,"Thomas says. "You need faculty who have had expe-riences overseas, and you need to send studentsoverseas so they can experience it themselves[People now realize] that there's an economic bene-fit to the state, to the institution, that this isnot just a do-gooder kind of thing."

Indeed, in his directive in April 2000,President Clinton noted that the nearly500,000 international students studying inthe U.S. "not only contribute some$9 billion annually to our economy, but alsoenrich our communities with their cultures,while developing a lifelong appreciation for ours.The goodwill these students bear for our countrywill in the future constitute one of our greatestforeign policy assets," Clinton said.

As Johnson says, "The average American hasbeen exposed to many more cultures in the past 10or 15 years than I ever was growing up. You can'twalk to the store in very many places any morewithout seeing people who don't look like you, andthat's a huge shift in this country."

That shift will help make the case for inter-national education, she believes. "We have a longway to go and we have a new administration now,"Johnson says. "But we're very excited at NAFSAthat we're working at a level that keeps the conver-sation focused on the value and benefits ofinternational education." •

For more on this story,see Macalester Today on the Web:

www.macalester.edu/-alumni

Jon Halvorscn is the managing editor ofMacalester Today.

S P R I N G 2 O O I

G I V I N G BACKPeter Ahn '87, Minneapolis

Investment banker with Jefferies & Company, Inc.;

consistent donor to Macalester's Annual Fund

and member of the Grand Society

Family: wife Susan, children Alison, 5,

and Kevin, 3

Last book read: Sayings of the Sufi Sages

Hobbies: skiing and golfing \

Volunteer activities: Lake Country School,

my children's Montessori school

VMajor at Mac: economics \

What I took away from Macalester:

In addition to the basic financial and

economic theory I learned at Mac, I believe

that I expanded my ability to solve problems and

think under pressure tremendously.

Why I give back to Mac: Two principal

reasons: one, I know the annual cost of

educating students is more than the tuition

and fees charged, and two, I don't think

that should change.

5r^

2 \ ^

T H E A L U M N I B O A R D

CLASSMATESandFRIENDSThe 35 members of the Alumni Associations Board of Directors:

• come from all over the country;• represent every generation, from the Class of 1944 to the Class of 2003;• spend three weekends on campus each academic year;• serve three-year terms, and may be asked to serve a second three-year term;

terms are staggered so that one-third of the board members are new each year;• serve as ambassadors for Macalester and offer their own ideas about how to improve and

strengthen the college as well as its ties to alumni;• are selected by nominations of other alumni;• carry out the Alumni Boards mission "to engage alumni in a lifelong relationship

with Macalester College, its students and all alumni."

President

Grant Killoran '86Partner/AttorneyMichael, Best &Friedrich LLP

Milwaukee, Wis.

Vice President

Margaret J. Westin '74Assistant DistrictGeneral CounselMinneapolis PublicSchools Special SchoolDistrict No. 1

Secretary-Treasurer

Edward Swanson '64

PrincipalCataloguer/RetiredMinnesotaHistorical SocietySt. Paul

Active Alumni by Statein the 50 States and D.C., January 2001

Total count: 19,886 for 50 states and D.C.(does not include U.S. territories orforeign countries)

11 countries with most alumnioutside U.S.

84 Japan8 1 Canada66 United Kingdom53 Malaysia45 Germany28 France20 Australia20 Sweden20 Turkey19 Greece19 Switzerland

65

584

34038

64

1,601

12576

114

5766525

8,284820

266

41 230 27280 829 115

44

409

434

103

82

47

195

28

57

64

15

81

26

36

168

429446

HI = 77

Total number of active alumni outside U.S: 872

S P R I N G 2 0 0 1

ALUMNI

BOARD

MEMBERS

(see Alumni BoardOfficers

on page 15)

Nancy Schatz Alton '92Senior EditorAdventure MediaSeattle

Joelle K. Blomquist '02Macalester StudentAnoka, Minn.

Prudence Lanegran Cameron '56Administrative AssistantWomen's Health CenterDuluth, Minn.

Louisa E. Chapman '75Medical EpidemiologistCenters for Disease Control &

PreventionAtlanta

Melvin Collins '75Managing DirectorInroadsSt. Paul

Jennifer C. Doyle '03Macalester StudentLexington, Mass.

Alan J. Green '74Judge, State of LouisianaGretna, La.

Charles A. Harris '75Chief of Surgery DepartmentClarinda Regional Health CenterClarinda, Iowa

Michael Hecht '93Associate Development OfficerCarlson School of ManagementMinneapolis

Phyllis Bambusch Jones '44District Court Judge/RetiredSt. Paul Park, Minn.

Harriet M. Lansing '67JudgeMinnesota Court of AppealsSt. Paul

Jason V. Lejonvarn '88Consultant/Equity Sales &

RelationsBARRA InternationalLondon

Jennifer P. Lundblad '88Director, Project Operations &

CommunicationsStratis HealthBloomington, Minn.

Diya Malarker '01Macalester StudentPune, India

Thomas Moberg '86Systems AnalystMinnesota Institute of Public HealthAnoka, Minn.

Carla A. Morris '85Senior AssociateOrganizational Development &

Communications PracticeBooz, Allen & HamiltonMcLean, Va.

Carrie L. Norbin '94AttorneyMichael, Best & Friedrich, LLPMilwaukee, Wis.

Harmony S. O'Rourke '01Macalester StudentFergus Falls, Minn.

Grayson R. Osteraas '59DoctorNorth Central PathologyRice, Minn.

Georga Larsen Parchem '67TeacherOak Park and River Forest

High SchoolOak Park, III.

Kathleen Angelos Pinkett '75Second Vice PresidentMinnesota Mutual

Life Insurance Co.St. Paul

Robert C. Ringold '52Retired Account ExecutiveBusiness Forms and Systems, Inc.Minnetonka, Minn.

Kenneth Schwartz '80Program DirectorUnited Hebrew CongregationSt. Louis

Paul E. Smyke '85Senior AdviserWorld Economic ForumCambridge, Mass.

Christine M. Swanson '01Macalester StudentWest St. Paul

Minh T. Ta '97Policy DirectorChildren's Defense Fund-MinnesotaSt. Paul

Gregory A. Thompson '84AssociateSpencer StuartNew York

Linda Karrer Trout '69Director of Career ServicesUniversity of Missouri-Kansas City

School of LawKansas City, Mo.

Dale W. Turnham '58Commercial Account

Executive/RetiredEagan, Minn.

Kathleen Osborne Vellenga '59DirectorThe Children's InitiativeSt. Paul

Per von Zelowitz '94Northstream ABSolna, Sweden

Helga L Ying '87Senior Manager/Government AffairsLevi Strauss & Co.San Francisco

1 6 M A C A L E S T E R T O D A Y

The Alumni Board: Front row (from left): Joelle Blomquist'02, Helga Ying '87, Harmony O'Rourke '01, Jennifer Doyle'03, Prudence Lanegran Cameron '56, Carrie Norbin '94,Nancy Schatz Alton '92, Kathleen Angelos Pinkett '75,Margaret Westin '74 and Phyllis Bambusch Jones '44.Back: Carla Morris '85, Kathleen Osborne Vellenga '59,Dale Turnham '58, Alan Green '74, Minn Ta '97, MelvinCollins '75, Michael Hecht '93, Grayson R. Osteraas '59,

Georga Larsen Parchem '67, Charles Harris '75, Jason V.Lejonvarn '88, Linda Karrer Trout '69, Harriet Lansing '67,Per von Zelowitz '94, Jennifer Lundblad '88, EdwardSwanson '64, Thomas Moberg f86, Grant Killoran '86 andRobert Ringold '52.

Not pictured: Louisa Chapman '75, Diya Malarker '01,Kenneth Schwartz '80, Paul Smyke '85, ChristineSwanson '01 and Gregory Thompson '84.

Another Taste of CollegeReturning to Mac three weekends each year, an AlumniBoard member finds, once again, that she really does belong

by Nancy Schatz Alton 92

WHEN I MOVED TO SEATTLE in 1995,I was glad to leave the "5-mile club'1

behind. That's the geographic area thatencircles Snelling and Grand avenues, where yourun into Mac alumni on a daily basis, which causesyou to yearn for old pals, who now happen to bespread across the globe. I hoped my college ghosts,both good and bad, would haunt me no more.

But, a few years later, Jen Patti '91, then theAlumni Office's associate director, invited me to anevent-planning meeting for the Seattle-area alumnichapter. A free meal was part of the deal. I decided

Seattleite Nancy Schatz Alton '92 is an editor forFrontier and Meridian airlines' in-flight publications.She looks forward to comparing the new dining hallto Kagin during her next visit to Macalester.

it might be nice to meetup with familiar ghosts,especially when Jenasked me to choose therestaurant. This wassomehow reminiscent ofmy Macalester days,when I'd stop by variousfood-rich happenings,my backpack at theready for spare cookiesand half-sandwiches.

It turned out I signedup for more than some complimentary Pad Thai.Angela Johnson '91 and I began hosting events:a day at the zoo with biology Professor Jan Serie, a"Day of the Dead" lecture with Spanish Professor

continued on page 33

Nancy Schatz Alton '92

S P R I N G 2 O O I

Macalester Professor Leola Johnson, second from left,John Forde, second from right, on the set of "Mental Engineering."

Bill Moyers called it "the most interesting weeklyhalf-hour of social commentary and criticism on television."

*

TIM FRANCISCO

THIS MESSAGE...John Forde }83 and friends uncover the hidden agendas in all those television commercials

by Kate Havelin '83

OHN FORDE MAY BE the only veteran busdriver turned TV talk show host who'sbeen likened to both Jim Carrey and NoamChomsky. Those comparisons fly fromcritics who rave about Forde's edgy show,"Mental Engineering," which airs on PBS

in more than 75 cities.The program's premise is simple: critique

commercials as if they were movies. Forde decon-

structs ads with four panelists, including frequentguest Leola Johnson, a communication stud-ies professor at Macalester. "Mental Engineering's'1

title describes how ads attempt to manipulateviewers. "It's as if Wall Street and Madison Ave-nue have declared war on our psyches,"Forde says.

He's passionate about the messages thatAmericans get from ads: to be consumers rather

Kate Havelin '83 is a free-lance writer and editorwho lives in St. Paid.

M A C A L E S T E R T O D A Y

'Cumulatively,

commercial life

is eclipsing civic

and even

spiritual life/

than citizens. "People sec one hour of ads per day,that's 100 ads. It's consumption training. Cumula-tively, commercial liie is eclipsing civic and evenspiritual lite."

Taped in St. Paul at kTCA-Channel 2, the localPBS station, Forde s addition to the TV schedulehas sparked a buz: of itsown. Last spring, theNew York Times publishedan effusive review of Fordeand his creation. So havethe Christian ScienceMonitor, ABC s "WorldNews Tonight" and USAToday. The St. Paul PioneerPress described the manichost as "an odd mix of BillMaher, Alex Trebek, NoamChomsky and an unrepentant yippie," while theAssociated Press compared him to "Jim Carrey witha N4aster's degree."

The accolades ring sweet for the lanky 42-year-old, who admits that until the age of 39 he didn'tknow what he wanted to do with his life. The Ply-mouth, Minn., native had bounced around a fewcolleges before a high school friend, Ken Boschwitz'82, persuaded him to try Macalester. At 21, Fordevisited Mac, and quickly decided "This was theplace for me." He majored in philosophy but wasn'tknown for his studies. "People said I majored inrecreation — that was pretty accurate," he says witha laugh.

Forde also found time to drive a school bus whileat Macalester. He continued behind the wheelwhile earning a graduate degree in psychology.Eventually, he landed his dream job: morningdrive-time sidekick on KSTP radio. After just sixmonths, though, KSTP told Forde he was "tooweird" for radio. "I was just crushed," he recalls.

o FORDE TURNED TO CABLE TV and

launched his 30-minute show in 1998, inspiredby a Mac classmate. "My friend Peter Berg went outand became a movie star, and I realized that whatI thought was impossible, was in fact possible —I could break into the media." Of course, with aninitial budget of $200 per show, "Mental Engineer-ing" was no "Chicago Hope." The money paid forgood food for the volunteer crew and high-qualityvideotapes. The set was, well, lean. But theconcept — and the conversation—clicked. "Theshow really is a word blizzard," Forde says. "It's80 percent mania, 15 percent righteousness and5 percent reverence.11

As one might expect, finding sponsors is a prob-lem. The first two seasons Forde's family was theprime underwriter. He had $50,000 for his retire-ment; Forde poured the money into his show.

"1 spent all of it. 1 knew this was very, verydangerous,"

Forde and his wife, artist Catherine Reid Day,were willing to take the risk. Each has changedcareers to follow a dream. The two met at analumni party that Day hosted when she was Mac'svice president of development. They married in1994 and live in the Macalester-Grovelandneighborhood with their 5-year-old daughter,Kara. "Mental Engineering" has become a familyaffair; Day is president of Porcupine ProductionLimited, which produces the show (Web:www.mentalengineering.com).

So tar, though, only the show's producer has got'ten a true paycheck. Others, like head writerJennifer Sheridan '84, a children's book buyer inNew York, receive nominal pay. Sheridan spendsfive to ten hours a week on the phone with Forderefining scripts. (Stephen Queen '86 has also servedas a writer on the show.) "He's a brilliant guy,"

Feats of 'Engineering'A DUPONT COMMERCIAL trumpets the company's success at turningocean water into drinking water and developing medicines that fight HIV.It implies that DuPont is working on growing food where food can't grow andsaving historic treasures from disintegrating.

To John Forde, it's a "classic corporate ad that praises technology andexaggerates multiculturalism."

For examples of "Mental Engineering" at work, seeMacalester Today on the Web: www.macalester.edu/-alumni

Sheridan says of Forde, a member of Mensa, "but hetends to speak in Fordespeak. I quickly understoodmy role was to decipher what he was saying."

Fordespeak or not, many viewers are getting"Mental Engineerings" message. PBS stations inNew York, Washington, D.C., Denver, Boston andChicago signed on for this season. "I love makingthe show for its educational purpose and as long asI can keep doing it and putting bread on the table,I will," Forde vows.

There's no shortage of bread on the table lately,thanks to Lutheran Brotherhood, a Twin Citiesfinancial services company that hired Forde to helpteach teen-agers around the country how to viewmedia messages critically. He doesn't advocate justturning off the tube. "If you don't watch TV," hesays, "you don't know what America isall about."

on theWEB

S P R I N G 2 O O I

A mock trial helps students become

better advocates for the environment CAUby Jan Shaw-Flamm '76

O YOU SWEAR TO TELL the truth,the whole truth and nothing butthe truth?1'

The first witness is sworn in.Attorneys tor the plaintiffs lineone table, those for the defen-dants—-the United States

government — another. Theblack-robed judge prepares to hear

the case: Was it an abuse of discretion by the Secre-tary of Commerce to issue findings that there isinsufficient evidence that purse seine fishing has anadverse impact on the dolphin population?

"Objection!" "Overruled!" "Leading thewitness!"

The scene rings of authenticity, but the court-room is in the Olin-Rice Science Center, thelawyers are students and this is a mock trial. Theonly real attorney present is "judge" MartinGunderson, chair of Macalester's PhilosophyDepartment, and he's not really a judge.

This is an artful simulation designed to bridgethe classroom and the real world.

The mock trial is one of several simulations inthe case study course "Environmental Analysis andProblem Solving," team-taught by ProfessorsAldemaro Romero and Brett Smith. Now in its sec-ond year, the course draws on people from acrosscampus and beyond to play roles in simulations thatprepare students for careers as environmental pro-fessionals. In designing the course, Romero,director of the college's Environmental StudiesProgram, drew on his experience with nonprofitorganizations and as a consultant to privatecorporations.

"When I was hired for this position at Macal-ester," says Romero, "I asked myself what kind ofskills 1 needed to do all those jobs that 1 was never

Free-lance writer Jan Shaw-Flamm '76 writesprimarily about higher education and is a regularcontributor to Macalester Today.

taught in college. The idea was to use real cases, sothe students learn the specific problems in environ-mental issues, but at the same time to have themperform different roles while doing those cases."

This simulation began when a campus securityofficer in uniform walked into the classroom anddelivered subpoenas to startled students. "That

continued on page 23

ROUGH WATERS

Despite death threatsin his native Venezuela,Professor Al Romero stillchampions the environment

¥ orking as an environmentalist can be a riskybusiness. Just ask Aldemaro Romero, asso-ciate professor and director of Macalester's

Environmental Studies Program.

While heading an environmental organization in hishomeland of Venezuela, he and a colleague made adiscovery that could have cost him his life.

The two observed dolphins being used as bait forsharks by fishermen who then "harvested" the sharkfins for sale in the lucrative U.S. and Japanese mar-kets. "I took a videotape in which you could seefishermen killing and butchering the dolphins," saysRomero. When informed of this practice, Venezuelanauthorities declined to act.

"The videotape was shown a month later on CNNworldwide," says Romero. "The Venezuelan govern-ment received a huge amount of criticism fromenvironmentalist citizens everywhere. Then I startedto receive death threats in my country against my fam-ily and myself, so I had to come [to the U.S.] as apolitical refugee. Later, I learned that I was indictedfor treason to the motherland.

"I also received death threats from Venezuelangovernment officials which were published on thefront page of the Wall Street Journal. It was laterlearned that our discovery of the killing of dolphins offthe coasts of Venezuela happened at the same timethat the Venezuelan government was trying to lift theU.S. embargo against importation of tuna caught by

2 o M A C A L E S T E R T O D A Y

"The most valuable part of this wholeclass is learning how to work withpeople in many different ways,"said junior Catherine Neuschler(Bowie, Md.), near left, a lawyerfor the plaintiffs.

Venezuelan fishing boats, some of which had beenlinked with drug smuggling, a fact I was previouslyunaware of. Suddenly I felt like a character in aHitchcock movie: The Man Who Knew Too Much, i.e.,they thought I knew more than 1 actually did, whichexplains why the death threats and the threats of kid-napping in the U.S., threats that the FBI took seriouslyenough to investigate but encountered the wall of diplo-matic immunity since these later threats came from aVenezuelan consular official in Miami."

Romero's story is told in a TV series called "TheUltimate 10 — Stings," which premiered March 2 onThe Learning Channel.

omero, a father of two, didn't set out to lead alife worthy of Hollywood. He received his under-

graduate degree from Universidad de Barcelona andearned his Ph.D. from the University of Miami. Heworked for The Nature Conservancy in D.C. beforereturning to Venezuela. After fleeing that country in1994, Romero taught at both the University of Miamiand FloridaAtlantic Uni-versity beforejoining theMacalesterfacultyin 1998.

threats in my country against

my family and myself, so

I had to come [to the U.S.]

as a political refugee/Romerocherishesteaching andconsidersresearch to be an integral part of teaching. A broadlytrained biologist, he is highly regarded for his work in anumber of areas, including the investigation of unusualcave-dwelling fishes. In his departmental laboratory,Romero has constructed a three-camera video systemto record and digitize the movement of the fish in his

tank for the purpose of studying fish behavior.Students are often full co-participants in his research,traveling to such locations as Trinidad, Grenada andthe Bahamas and ultimately co-authoring the pub-lished articles.

As editor of the paperless Environ, Romero connectsa wider audience to an interdisciplinary approach toenvironmental issues. Environ is an electronic, peer-reviewed journal that supports commentary betweenauthors and readers. He also orga-nizes EnviroThursdays, a series ofweekly meetings presenting videosand speakers on environmental top-ics. For a faculty audience, Romeroorganized the PEW conference"Breadth vs. Depth: How to Develop aSolid Environmental StudiesProgram," held at Macalester inApril 2000.

Romero also attends to the implicitresponsibilities of his position throughhis work as co-chair of the CampusEnvironmental Issues Committee,which raises awareness of environ-mental issues on campus.

"Like it or not, especially in a placelike this where you have such closecontact with the students, youbecome a role model," he says. "So I try to live up tothat expectation by not only trying to be a goodteacher and a good researcher in environmentalism,but also a good citizen. I've tried to make the collegea really green campus. I don't think it will be healthyfor the program to have a highly regarded academicprogram on a campus that doesn't practice what

it's preaching."fo —Jan Shaw-Fiamm 76

Al Romero

S P R I N G 2 O O I 2 I

1 was there

[in The Hague]

with 225 extremely

dedicated,

intelligent, motivated

students....

We all inspired

each other.'

WARMING TO THE TASK

Nathaniel Bills '02 lobbieswith passion and skill atan international conferenceon global warming

hen European television camerasfocused on Nathaniel Bills, hewas ready. He knew just how to

maximize those seconds with the rightsound bite.

After all, he had already experienced a dry-run press conference during his Macalesterclass's October simulation of the sameglobal warming meetings he was attendingin The Hague a month later.

Last summer, Bills did door knocking andenvironmental education in Minneapolis onbehalf of the Sierra Club. A colleague sug-gested he apply to be one of 225 U.S.activists that Greenpeace would send tothe Sixth Conference of the Parties(COP 6), the international gathering dedi-cated to arresting global warming.

There in The Hague, Bills spent 10 dayslobbying U.S. delegates, stopping them inhallways, grabbing any spare moment totalk facts and highlight the importance ofachieving an effective treaty.

It might seem like a bit of a reach for acollege junior to be lobbying delegates atan international conference, but the experienceshows that the world is hungry for young activistswith the necessary will, skills and intellectual com-prehension of the issues.

Bills, an environmental studies and philosophy majorfrom Townshend, Vt.f already possessed the will.The skills, and the knowledge, he further developedin the ENVI 55 simulation led by Brett Smith, visitingassistant professor of environmental studies.

In 1997, the initial 170 countries met in Japan tocreate the Kyoto Protocol agreement. Subsequentmeetings have been devoted to designing a plan toachieve the emissions reduction goals. In the COP 6simulation, students studied the issues, then negoti-ated as representatives of countries who would bemeeting some weeks later.

Smith was pleased with their performance. "Thestudents came to a consensus on all disputedissues with some clever negotiating. I am very curi-

Junior Nathaniel Bills (Townshend, Vt.), an environmental studiesand philosophy major, attended the COP 6 conferenceon global warming.

ous to see if the actual negotiations at The Haguecome out as well," he said in early November.

,y7\las, it was not to be. A stalemate between U.S.y---\ and European delegates left the nations withsignificant work to do at the next COf? which couldtake place sometime in 2001. Nevertheless, Billssaw progress.

"When you get 180 countries from around the worldto sit down and try to hammer out a treaty like this,which is binding, which is going to affect everyone,that's an immense task. This is COP 6, and eachtime, I think, they get a little farther."

Students raised money for their own airfare, andBills is still working to cover that $580 bill. But hedoesn't question the value of the effort. "I was therewith 225 extremely dedicated, intelligent, motivatedstudents who felt very strongly about this issue, whofelt very deeply, and we all inspired each other.

People felt a lot of hope."— Jan Shaw-Flamm '76

2 2 M A C A L E S T E R T O D A Y

continued from page 20

really happens," Romero explained to students,"and then you must know that every document youhave is now a matter of public record."

The class of 19 was divided into lawyers,witnesses, investigators and a clerk of court. Allimmediately immersed themselves in the facts ofdolphins, purse seine fishing and the federal MarineMammals Protection Act. The trial itself tookplace in two 114-hour sessions, building on thedepositions and the pretrial hearing of the pre-vious week.

Two students, Michael Gelardi and CatherineNeuschler, frequent classmates since their firstsemester, suddenly became adversaries as opposinglawyers. Gelardi relished the experience. A juniorfrom outside Eugene, Ore., majoring in bothenvironmental studies and political science, heplans to go to law school, then work in environ-mental policy. As an environmentalist, it wasunsettling for Gelardi to find himself defending theU.S. government against plaintiffs that includedthe Earth Island Institute, the Humane Society andthe International Wildlife Coalition. That was partof the learning experience.

"When you start playing this role, you get verywrapped up in it, and you start to believe that you

'It's easy as an environmentalist

to have this knee-jerk reaction,

but the more that you study issues,

the more complicated you

find out they really are.'— Michael Gelardi '02

really are right,'1 says Gelardi. "But by the sametoken, it helps you to see the other side of the issue.It's easy as an environmentalist to have this knee-jerk reaction, but the more that you study issues,the more complicated you find out they really are.It's easy to demonize someone, to say, 'These peopleare right, these people are wrong,' but that's hardlyever the case."

Neuschler, a junior from Bowie, Md., is also anenvironmental studies and political science major.She served as a lawyer tor the plaintiffs. At the pre-trial hearing, the plaintiffs — to Neuschlersmind — were "under-prepared, and Mike and theother defense lawyers exploited that very, very well.So we were faced with the challenge of having tocome back from that and make our case. It wasexhilarating in a way."

At times the courtroom atmosphere was con-tentious. "Professor Romero said that last year inthe middle of the simulations the groups weren'ttalking to each other, and that's somewhat whathappened this year," says Neuschler. "The most

valuable part of this whole class is learning how towork with people in many different ways. Whetherit's to work with them or work against them, you'restill working with them, just in opposition."

"All the students' presentations of cases arevideotaped," says Romero. "I later sit with the stu-dents and go over their performance in terms of

Junior Michael Gelardi(Eugene, Ore.), who plans to work

in environmental policy, foundhimself in the role of a U.S.government lawyer against

environmental plaintiffs.

words per minute, body language, presence,organization, tables, everything. In the environ-mental arena, communication is so importantbecause you're talking to the public, to the federalor state agencies, to corporations. You need toget the point across, and you need to learn thetechniques of doing that."

"Professor Romero is a lot of fun, but he'salso demanding," says Neuschler. "He has highexpectations for all of us, and he does everythinghe can to make you live up to those expectations."

The verdict? "Judge" Gunderson found for theplaintiffs, as did the judge in a similar actual trial inApril. The mock trial decision rested not on the

continued on page 33

For more on this story,see Macalester Todayon the Web:www.macalester.edu/

-alumni

on the •••

WEB

S P R I N G 2 0 0 1

H U N G R Y

Whether baking cakes and pies in Philadelphia,

running a Thai restaurant or serving seafood in St. Paul,

some alumni have a consuming passion for food

E D I T O R S ' N O T E : As many alumni will notice, we stole our headline from the beloved Hungry Mind

Bookstore adjacent to the Mac campus. The 31-year-old independent bookstore is still thriving

under a new name adopted last year: Ruminator Books, <www.ruminator.com>

GREY H E C K '90OWNER, CAKE BAKERY AND CAFE, PHILADELPHIA

ulinary credentials: An anthropology major at' Mac, she earned a baking and pastry degree

from the Culinary Institute of America and startedin the restaurant business 10 years ago. Cake, thefirst restaurant she's owned, opened March 25, 2000,and has won a "Best of Philly" award for best tart inthe city. Using all-natural ingredients, Cake makeseverything from scratch: cakes, pies, tarts, cookies,bars, wedding cakes and many breakfast items."I like to think of us as a great alternative toStarbucks: great coffee, great treats and a cozy placeto sit and hangout."

Favorite restaurants: "I have to admit that myhusband and I are restaurant junkies. We go out toeat often. One of our favorite restaurants is D'Metri'sin downtown Philadelphia. It's a tiny BYO placewith way too many tables, always packed, but so, sogood. Clean, crisp food, mostly seafood. The waitstaff are all these fabulous-looking, tough women.Another favorite is a Chinese-French place near uscalled Cin-Cin. We get amazing takeout there abouttwice a week." f-

'Best meal' ve ever eaten':

F ° ' alumni c o m m e n t s

see Macalester Todayon the Web:www-macalester.edu/

~alumnion tbe\WEB:

2 4 M A C A L E S T E R T O D A Y S P R I N G 2 O O I

KIRK BRATRUD '84OWNER-CHEF, SUPERIOR WINDJAMMERS, INC., DULUTH, MINNESOTA

Kirk Bratrud in 1996at his Bayport (Minn.)

American Cookery, wherehe was known for using

ultra-fresh and oftenquite unusual produce

to create memorablemeals. Star Tribune criticJeremy Iggers called the

restaurant "a paradise forsophisticated palates."

J I M S I L B E R S T E I N '8$OWNER, TINA'S CUISINE AND ENCORE CAFE,

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA

'Best mealI've ever eaten .For alumni comments,see Macalester Today

on the Web:www.macalester.edu/

-alumni

/ on the

WEB

Culinary credentials: Tina's, a gourmet deli, bakeryand specialty grocery, was a project he worked on

with his family after graduating from Macalester."[Economics Professor] Karl Egge's 'Entrepreneurship'class proved to be an inspirational tool for this pur-pose." After pursuing an M.B.A. at Northwestern, heplanned "never to return to Bloomington, but after amere 10 months in the'regular' corporate world, Irealized that my true passionwas entrepreneurship. In1991,1 returned to Bloom-ington and opened theEncore Cafe, a 220-seat, art-deco cafe and restaurant."

Favorite restaurants: "Ilived in Chicago for threeyears and visit frequently.

"I realized that my true passionwas entrepreneurship," says Jim

Silberstein '85, pictured withRachael, Mac Class of '21, at

Tina's In Bloomington, Ind.

Aside from 3 a.m. visits to The Wiener Circle orDemon Dogs, one experience stands out. I believethe place was called Bossa Nova. The food wasgreat, as was the atmosphere, but what made itmemorable was the service. My then-girlfriend, andnow wife, Beth, and I still talk about it. There wereperhaps four or five people waiting on us. Eachserved a different purpose. They took care of ourevery need, but somehow seemed to leave us alone.The wait staff watched from afar, timed their visitsperfectly, were friendly and attentive. In this dayand age, where good service is a rarity, we stillremember that particular dining experience."

2 6 M A C A L E S T E R TODAY

Culinary credentials: A history major at Mac, he isthe former owner-chei of Mrs. B's Historic

Lanesboro Inn and Bayport American Cookery; thelatter received the Zagat restaurant survey's second-highest score in the Twin Cities market and wasincluded in Gourmet magazines list of "America'sTop Tables." He is currently owner-chef of SuperiorWindjammers, Inc., in Duluth, a new venture thatprovides tours of Lake Superior on a 60-toot ketch

with room for 47 passengers and a dining roomaboard that seats 20.

Favorite restaurant: "I like Goodfellow's in Min-neapolis for special occasions. The staff is genuinelyperceptive and dedicated to making the best use ofthe restaurant's resources on your behalf. Wheneverything goes right, the many details of service,food and restaurant enfold you in a reassuringwarmth that inspires openness and celebration."

L E S L I E A R P R E V S I N y66CHEF AND FOOD WRITER, BRONXVILLE, NEW YORK

\ ulinary credentials: The firstwoman chef at New York's

Waldorf-Astoria, she ran suchNew York restaurant kitchensas 1/5 Avenue and her ownRestaurant Leslie in GreenwichVillage. She was one of 13 chefsfeatured on the PBS series"Master Chefs of New York.""Now 1 write about food andcreate recipes for us folks athome!" Her first cookbook,Great Fish, Quick: DeliciousDinners from Fillets and Shellfish(Doubleday), was a Julia ChildAward finalist. Her second, EasyElegance in an Hour: Simple,Delicious Dishes to Dazzle YourFamily and Frierids, will be pub-lished by Time-Life in the fallof 2001.

Leslie Revsin, who now writes about food, broke thegender barrier in the kitchens of the Waldorf-Astoria in1972 and was one of the "great women chefs in New York,"according to a 1999 New York Times article.

Favorite restaurants: "I haveno favorite restaurants (I usedto). While I find that restaurantcooking these days can bemightily impressive, 1 often findthe experience of it less thansatisfying. And at the end of theday, impressive doesn't do it forme. Unless its accompanied by abig dose of real heart. When myhusband and I go out, whichisn't very often, we gravitate toethnic food for its vibrant,earthy flavors and down-to-earth approach."

S P R I N G 2 0 0 1

C O R Y H I L L '85MANAGING PARTNER, GRACE

RESTAURANT, NEW YORK CITY'S

TRIBECA NEIGHBORHOOD

ulinary credentials: He has 15 years-" of experience in the food service

industry; he got his start at the originalSawatdee Thai Restaurant (run by Macparent Supenn Harrison and family) inthe Twin Cities and also worked atMuffuletta in St. Paul before moving toNew York. Former general manager ofPeter's Waterfront Alehouse in BrooklynHeights, he is often consulted on beerselections for restaurants and cateringand has a vast knowledge of beer styles,regions and producers.

Favorite restaurants: "My favoriterestaurants are definitely ethnic. I lovediscovering new types of food and flavorcombinations. 1 am into Pakistani foodnow, which I get at a local cabbie hang-out. 1 love Vietnamese food, and I havealways loved dim sum. In New York,I believe you have the widest variety ofethnicities and therefore the closestapproximation of globe-trotting.

"I find it fascinating that culturesall over the world have some sort ofdumpling. I loosely define a dumpling asa starch wrapped around a meat or veg-etable. We have raviolis, dumplings,pirogis, sandwiches, burritos, meat pies,and on and on. One day I am going toopen a restaurant as a tribute to this com-monality. My brother thinks it shouldbe called Tastes like Chicken.1" o

Supenn Harrison, rightforeground, who originally

came to Minnesota to trainas a teacher, became anacclaimed restaurateur

with seven Sawatdee Thairestaurants. She runs

Sawatdee with her family—daughters Cyndy '02,

far right, and Jenny '99and husband Bruce.

MACALESTER TODAY

Eleanor Ostman Aune '62 is the author of Always onSunday, a recent book drawing on her 30 years as a foodwriter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

ELEANOR OSTMANAUNE y6iFOOD WRITER, ST. PAUL

ulinary credentials: For more than three decades,she wrote about food in all its aspects for the

St. Paul Pioneer Press, Her Sunday column, "TestedRecipes," ran for 30 years and provided tedder for arecent best-selling book, Always on Sunday. Sheserved as a judge in all the national food contestsand founded the Newspaper Food Editors andWriters Association. She still writes about food,does regular radio shows, teaches cooking classesand organizes worldwide travel for food writer col-leagues—38 trips to date. "I continue to eat myway around the world."

Favorite restaurants: "In Minnesota, The BlueHorse in St. Paul was my all-time favorite—alas,long gone. Current chosen destination: The NapaValley Grille in the Mall of America for an upscaleexperience, or a Vietnamese or Thai hole-in-thewall for something spicy. I love Famous Dave'sribs—he credits me for being the first to write aboutthem, giving him encouragement to go into the bar-becue biz. The best steak we've had recently was theNew York strip at Kincaid's in downtown St. Paul.The Double Dutch Fudge Pie at the AndersonHouse in Wabasha is worth the drive. Elsewhere,I love every morsel I've ever put a fork—or chop-sticks—to in New Orleans, Tuscany orHong Kong."

'Best meal1 ve ever eaten ':For alumni comments,^ c a / e ^ see

SUPENN HARRISON and family,including daughters JENNY 9 9 andCYNDY'02 HARRISON,PROPRIETORS, SAWATDEE THAI RESTAURANTS, MINNESOTA

vvww.macalester.edu// on the\ -alumni

WEB

ulinary credentials: Supenn Harrison opened herfirst restaurant, the Siam Cafe, in 1979—the

first Thai restaurant in Minnesota. There are nowseven Sawatdees, in St. Paul, Minneapolis,Bloomington and St. Cloud. Each offers the sameauthentic Thai cuisine. Supenn, who originallycame to Minnesota to train as a teacher, teachescooking classes while running her many restaurantsthat also offer catering.

Favorite restaurants: Supenn and her family enjoyeating out often. "Our favorite restaurant is It'sGreek to Me in Minneapolis for the casual dinner.

Their calamari and gyros are the best in theTwin Cities. For a business luncheon, there'sGoodiellow's in Minneapolis, but try to stick to thelight entrees. For a special occasion, the OceanaireSeafood Room in Minneapolis has excellent foodand the fish is unquestionably fresh."

Web: www.sawatdee.com

S P R I N G 2 0 0 1 2 9

BROCK OBEE '93CHEF-OWNER WITH WIFE NATALIE, 128 CAFE, ST. PAUL

'Best mealI've ever eaten .For alumni comments,see Macalester Today

on the Web:www.macalester.edu/

-alumni

on theWEB

ulinary credentials: Located across the street fromthe University of St. Thomas, the four-year-old

restaurant has become a neighborhood favorite, aswell as being popular with Mac students and alumni.It won City Pages' "Best Caesar" award two years in arow and rated as high as second in the "New Ameri-can" category of the Twin Cities' Zagat restaurantsurvey. "While we can be described as having 'newAmerican cuisine,' my wife and I strive to createdishes that reflect our desire to create 'comfort food'that isn't boring. We've been described as havingeverything from 'truckstop toCharlie Trotter'; hence our 1killer barbecued ribs are as popu- £lar as our grilled vegetables with *saffron cous cons with honey- <*lime vinaigrette."

Favorite restaurants: "When wedine out, which is infrequently,we particularly like Auriga andGoodfellow's, both in Minneapo-lis. Auriga is a restaurant notunlike ours, in that it is owned byyoung and creative chefs. Themenu is always adventuresome

Owner-chef Brock Obee '93, right,a political science major at Mac, and below,

with Mac friends at his 128 Cafe,located at 128 N. Cleveland Ave., St. Paul,

across from the University of St. Thomas.Clockwise from top left: Wendy Moylan '92,

Brock, Liz Wefel '91 , Roberta Yamada '91, FeryanAhmed '92 and Sameer Rabbani '92.

and they do an awesome appetizer of polenta, aspara-gus and scrambled farm eggs. Goodfellow's sets the(expensive) standard for local dining. We haven'tbeen there as much as we would like.

"My mom is still one ot the best cooks I know.Because my parents were in the Foreign Service andposted in India, Pakistan and East Africa, 1 was oftentreated to the various dishes of each respective post.We were more likely to have chicken curry thanspaghetti and meatballs when I was a kid!"

Web: www.128cafe.net

M A C A L E S T E R TODAY

• '

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John Schneider '91, left, Sam Ernst '88 and Jim Dunn '88 at their new restaurant, Red Fish Blue: An Ocean Diner,on Grand Avenue, adjacent to the Mac campus. They also own Table of Contents in Minneapolis.

JIM DUNN '88, SAM ERNST588and JOHN SCHNEIDER '91OWNERS, RED FISH BLUE, ST. PAUL, AND TABLE OF CONTENTS, MINNEAPOLIS

ulinary credentials: Jim Dunn explains how he,Sam Ernst and John Schneider got into the

restaurant business: "The day before graduation in19S8, David Unowsky of the Hungry Mind Book-store hired me to work at the Hungry Mind Review.About a year later, David announced he was lookingfor people to open a cafe to go with the bookstore.Well, Sam and I both held a number of other jobsover the next year or so, including working at DunnBros. Coffee, and Sam had been thinking aboutopening a restaurant with a chef from D'amicoCucina, so the idea seemed possible.

"By the time Table of Contents opened, we'dtransformed from a cafe to a full-service restaurant:soup & sandwiches had become Ahi tuna andcarpaccio. Having worked with John at Dunn Bros.,we recruited him to be our manager shortly afteropening, and when we started our second restaurantin 1995, he became a partner.

"None of us brought much experience to thetable—we really put to the test the old adage that a

liberal arts education teaches you how to learn. Andit does. While we've learned to hire people for theirskills, we still insist on understanding how everyaspect of the restaurant works, from corporate struc-ture to the dish machine. That drive to understand isa constant challenge. It keeps the business exciting."

Jim Dunn's favorite restaurants: "Rainbow onNicollet in Minneapolis: simply outstanding Asianfood—we all love it. And you don't need a co-signerto pay the bill. The French Laundry, Napa, Calif.:arguably the best restaurant in the country—andif you don't want to argue, it's still going to be onany foodie's top 10 list. Arado, in Los Angeles'Koreatown: four big reasons to go: 1) you may be theonly English-speaker at any given time; 2) despitelinguistic challenges, the service is unfailingly gra-cious; 3) the sushi is awesome; and 4) four peoplecan stuff themselves on sushi and beer for $ 100."

S P R I N G 2 O O I

Elizabeth Brown '92 develops recipes andmenus for more than 30 stores in

Target's Department Store Divisionin Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit.

ELIZABETH FITZGERALD BROWN 92CHICAGO, CORPORATE CHEF OF MARKETPLACES

FOR DEPARTMENT STORE DIVISION OF TARGET CORP.

Culinary credentials: After graduating from Macal-ester, she attended the Culinary Institute of

America in Hyde Park, N.Y. She worked inPhiladelphia at the White Dog Cafe from 1994 to1998, in positions from line cook to executivesous chef, and co-authored The White Dog CafeCookbook (Running Press). In her current job, shedevelops recipes and menus for more than 30 stores

Mae Eng Chen '48 at Chen's Chinese Restaurant inLong Beach, Calif. Director Oliver Stone filmed severalscenes at the restaurant for his 1993 movieHeaven & Earth.

in Minneapolis, Chicago and Detroit, and alsotrains the culinary staff.

Favorite restaurants: "Although I live in Chicago,I travel to Minneapolis several times a month. I amamazed at how much the restaurant scene has devel-oped in Minneapolis since I graduated. There are allsorts of fabulous places to eat! Some of my favoritesdowntown are: Aquavit, Zelo, Brasserie Zinc, and ofcourse Dayton's Marketplace!" o

They also serve...These alumni are also involved in therestaurant-catering-food business:

• Jessica Bankes Beattie '89 and Jay Beattie '88own a gourmet Italian deli, Cucina Fresca, inSeattle's Pike Place Market.

• Brena Penn Phelps '74 runs a specialty cake shop,Couture Cakes by Brena, in Houston, Texas, whichcreates exquisitely designed wedding cakes.

• Tonija Hope '97 manages Cafe Atlantico restaurantin Washington, D.C., which she calls "a funCaribbean/Latin American spot."

• Mae Eng Chen '48 and her late husband openedChen's Chinese Restaurant in Long Beach, Calif., in1986, and she ran it until selling Chen's in 1999.The restaurant continues to have an adjacent"temple" for New Age enlightenment sessions andMae Chen continues to lead classes there.

M A C A L E S T E R T O D A Y

ANOTHER TASTE OF COLLEGEcontinued from page 17

Juanita Garciagodoy 78. Then fen called again:Would I like to join the Macalester Alumni Board?

It sounded like a grand excuse to see my TwinCities-based family more often — three weekendseach school year. Heck, I'd rack up a decent num-ber of frequent flyer miles. And Jen assured me thattwo, sometimes three square meals a day would beserved. But even thoughts or steaming Itza pizzasticks weren't enough to get me revved up for one-and-a-half-day board meetings.

My head swirled with disbelief and confusionafter the first weekend meeting. I'd met countlesssuccessful alums, including an epidemiologist forthe Centers for Disease Control and a former staterepresentative (1 remembered her campaign signsfrom my days in St. Paul). While waiting for ourreturn flight, David Hodge '70, a dean at the Uni-versity of Washington, handled my questionswith wisdom.

"What am I doing with all of these over-achievers?Why did they ask me to be on the board?"

David gracefully remained silent.

•O\V, THREE YEARS LATER, I'm much closerI to answering my own self-absorbed question.

As a magazine editor, sometimes I do feel out ofplace while sitting at a table full of lawyers at aSunday breakfast. But that moment is fleeting.Later, I find myself laughing at a joke someone hasmade to lighten the mood of a committee discus-sion. These weekends remind me of my bestmoments as a Macalester student. Like the way myadviser, history Professor Jim Stewart, would inviteme into his office, often when I was stressed to thevery core. "Take a seat," he'd say. uHave an Altoid,it'll make you feel better." A well-placed comment,be it a joke, a compliment or a valuable insightabout a tough topic, can change the course of adiscussion, a bad day or a life path.

It's similar to the slow realization that dawned

on me while I attended college: I had more thanenough brains to contribute to any discussion. Theday Dean of Admissions Bill Shain called and toldme I was accepted at Macalester, 1 didn't believehim. Surely they had made a mistake. I wanted myparents to call back and double-check. My brothershad both been accepted to Mac. They're brilliant.I just worked hard. I wouldn't last a semester.

But I did last. And I count the times that my pro-fessors praised my writing skills as tools; tools 1called upon years later as I finally picked up a penagain and began to work towards my goal of writingfull time.

And that is why I'm on the Alumni Board.Because I know there are more Nancy Schatz's atMacalester. And I can contribute to theireducations by asking ques-tions and voicing myopinions at board meet-ings. I can secondHarmony O'Rourke's ('01)idea of starting an endowed fund for paid intern-ships for students who can't afford to completeunpaid internships. I can keep asking about need-blind admission, to make sure people frombackgrounds similar to mine — students withouttrust funds — can continue to attend Macalester. Ican help plan an alumni day of service, maybe justso I'll get out there myself, roll up my sleeves and dowhat I can to change my small piece of globe.

My time at Macalester made me believe (no mat-ter how cynical I am most mornings) in a statementby Margaret Mead: "Never doubt that a small groupof thoughtful, committed citizens can change theworld; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.1'

My time on the board reinforces that idea, andit's most likely why I signed on for three more yearson the Alumni Board, after I told myself my firstthree years were enough. Besides, I've eaten morethan my share of free cookies. I want to make surethere are some left for Macalester students ofthe future. O

These weekends remind me of my

best moments as a Macalester student.

PROBABLE CAUSE continued from page 23film of dolphins being slaughtered nor on theexpert testimony of scientists, but on the fact thatthe Secretary of Commerce failed to carry out allrequired studies before allowing a looser definitionof udolphin-safe tuna."

"I was impressed with the performance of thestudents," Gunderson says. "They needed to presentcomplex factual and legal material within the con-fines of a tense adversarial trial with restrictive rules

of evidence. This is a difficult job for an attorney,much less someone who has not attendedlaw school.

As for residual animosity? As the lawyers shuffledtheir papers and the witnesses breathed a sigh ofrelief, the talk was of Saturday night's "reconcilia-tion party." Maybe the real world should studythe classroom. O

S P R I N G 2 O O I 33

C L A S S N O T E S

Two Sons of AfricaMacalester teammates meet again after 40 years

by James Toliver J6o

COTONOU, BENIN — It had been 40 years since I'd seenKofi Annan. We knew each other as Macalester students and

I recruited him for the track team, where he set a record in the 60-yard dash, though he later told me he would have to discontinue hisathletic activities in order to concentrate more on his studies.He was always a perfect gentleman and his quiet, consideratemanner generated considerable respect among his teammates.

Our Dec. 5 meeting coincided with the U.N. secretary-general'svisit to the Democracy in Africa Conference in Benin, a small, beauti-ful West African country, where I'm currently working for the Ministryof Education.

Benin seemed an ideal reunion site forMacalester's "Favorite Son," as Macalester Todaycalled him when he returned to campus in 1998, andhis "Roots"-seeking African American brother. Kofiwas my first African acquaintance. My ancestors mayhave been among the thousands of captives shipped to America,Europe and the West Indies from the very place where we were tomeet. There are sites in Benin that commemorate these atrocities.

Benin has managed, for the past several years, to keep its peaceon a continent whose people are trying to survive poverty, diseaseand fratricide. Ghana, Benin's neighbor and Kofi's home country, wasbeginning peaceful elections on the day we were to meet, while IvoryCoast, Ghana's neighbor, was wasting lives in a bloody pre-electionstruggle to determine who was Ivorian enough to run for office.

I'd followed press accounts of U.N. involvement in these and otherstruggles throughout the world, and had personally witnessed, overa 15-year period of Africa postings, my Motherland's pain in Guinea,Mauritania, Sudan, Niger, Mali, Chad and Senegal.

My wife, Nouria, accompanied me to the Cotonou Hotel whereKofi was staying.

I l l pray for you/ I said.

I l l need it/ he replied.

After a 10-minute wait while he finished another meeting, we weretaken into his suite. The Kofi who greeted us — hand outstretchedand a warm, natural smile—was the same Kofi I knew decadesback. There was no sign of the toll of what must be an overwhelmingresponsibility. I saw, in his manner, not the slightest affectation ofimportance. We shook hands before embracing and exchanging theaffectionate "Bise" (touching of cheeks) that is now a part of Africantradition as a result of extensive French cultural contact. As weembraced, I felt the definition of his shoulder muscles and I knew hewas still in good shape. I wondered whether, even now, he might notbe able to reclaim the 60-yard dash track record he had establishedat Mac in 1961.

It was to be a private meeting that would last 20 minutes. I intro-duced Nouria and we sat down to chat.

We briefly discussed the U.S. presidential election before talkingabout the passage of time and how "young" both of us still looked.

We exchanged remarks about our gray hair (his gray-ing, mine mostly white) and I reflected upon whatfriends, who haven't seen each other for a longtime, usually talk about. We spoke of mutual Mac

friends and acquaintances.I spoke of my no longer running, due to a martial

arts injury, and the adoption of an elliptical cross trainer as a fitnessalternative. Kofi laughed gently and I wondered if this is what gettingold is all about. It isn't as though these thoughts hadn't occurred tome previously. But his aura and down-to-earth manner addedanother dimension.

When the conversation turned to Nouria, I was surprised at howrelaxed she was. There was a communality between them. She isfrom Togo, a country bordering Ghana.

We didn't speak much about political matters, although I didremark to Kofi that as secretary-general he must be shouldering avery heavy load. He looked away and said, with a sadness I felt butcannot express, "I was in Sierra Leone and Liberia yesterday."

As we parted, the two of us shared the revolutionary handshake."Kofi, the people love you," I said. He smiled and said, "Sometimesthey can love you to death."

"I'll pray for you," I said."I'll need it," he replied.Nouria shook his hand to say goodbye and he told her,

"Take care of him."Two days after our meeting, the BBC and Voice of America

reported that "a smiling Kofi Annan" was in Ethiopia and hadannounced a peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.Some 15,000 cheering people turned out to greet him inEritrea. In his speech to them Kofi said, simply, that it was awar that did not have to happen.

James Toliver '60 has worked extensively in several Africancountries, including a presidential appointment as director ofthe Peace Corps in Mauritania. He is currently The Academy forEducational Development education planner for primaryschools at the Benin Ministry of Education. His daughter,Maimouna, is a junior at Macaiester.

Macalester track teammates Kofi Annan '61 and Jim Toliver '60meet Dec. 5, 2000, in Cotonou, the largest port and city in theWest African country of Benin.

S P R I N G 2 0 0 1 45

Center of attentionMacalester's new Ruth Strieker Dayton Campus Center opened in late January —months ahead of schedule. This view shows students studying on the second floor,

with the dining area below on the first floor. The center is certain to becomethe central gathering place on campus. See story on page 2.

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