On Campus
Spring 2002

MLK Day 2002:
Searching for Common Ground

In a year when the world has been riven by its differences, "Searching for Common Ground" was the theme of this year's Martin Luther King Day celebration. Few people are more qualified to speak to this search than the day's keynote speaker, Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, who, as the 23-year-old chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and an associate of Dr. King's, helped organize some of the key civil rights campaigns of the 1960s.

Lewis took a hushed Assembly Hall back to the 1963 march on Washington; to Mississippi and the 1964 voter registration drives; and to the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL, on the morning of March 7, 1965, where Lewis was one of 600 marchers beaten by Alabama state troopers.

Congressman John Lewis (right, with Bryan Lee '03) was the keynote speaker at this year's Martin Luther King Day celebration.

In March 2000, veterans of that march returned to Selma to commemorate the 35th anniversary of that bloody Sunday. But this time, says Lewis, the law enforcement officials gathered at the bridge "saluted us. And the governor shook our hands and said, 'Welcome home.' " Like the pursuit of justice, Lewis reminded his audience, the search for such common ground "is not finished in a day, a season or a year. It is the struggle of a lifetime."

Organized by the Academy's MLK Committee under the direction of religion instructor Betsey Farnham, the day also featured "Echoes of the Past," a performance by Maxine Maxwell, and workshops on such subjects as Seeds of Peace; South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission; and the balance between national security and civil liberties.

Rest in 'Peace':
John Knowles '45 (1926-2001)

John Knowles '45, author of A Separate Peace, died November 29, 2001.

Writer John Knowles spent just two years at the Academy, but Exeter belonged to him and he to Exeter more profoundly than most. Knowles, who died last November 29 at age 75, was the author of A Separate Peace, that indelible portrait of the shifting friendships and betrayals among a group of boys at a New Hampshire boarding school that is based, right down to the hard marble steps of the Academy Building, on Phillips Exeter.

The first of Knowles' nine novels, A Separate Peace was published to immediate acclaim in 1960 and captured the imagination of millions of readers who never went to boarding school. But the novel has special meaning for Exeter students, who can, quite literally, step into the pages and follow Gene and Phineas around campus and out to the banks of the Exeter River in search of Finny's tree, the site of both boys' fall from grace.

Charles Terry, emeritus instructor of English, taught A Separate Peace for many of his 30 years at the Academy. Originally, he notes, the novel was on the seniors' reading list; now it is assigned to lowers. "But I think it belongs on both lists," Terry says. "It raises the issue of how tricky friendships are in adolescence, which makes it a great book for 15-year-olds. But it's such a sophisticated and elegant novel that I think it's even more appropriate for seniors."

Terry finds several parallels between A Separate Peace and another great American novel. "Like The Great Gatsby," he says, "it's a first-person narrative. It's about friendship. And while it's ostensibly about this other person, it's really about the narrator. I don't think you could call the style derivative, but like Gatsby, there is the same perfection of form and content."

Terry has one final assignment he'd love to see a student undertake, perhaps as a senior project: Studying Knowles' original longhand manuscript, which the author donated to the Academy shortly after the novel was published. "The manuscript is full of interesting notes Knowles made to himself," Terry says, "and revisions are the most interesting aspect of the manuscript." It is, he adds, a rare glimpse into a rare writer, and Knowles' lasting gift to a school he loved so well.

'Exonians in Education': A Colloquium

Six alumni/ae educators returned to campus in November to reflect on their experiences at Exeter and at their own schools.

It was conceived, in the words of its organizer, English instructor Peter Greer '58, "as a broad tribute to the teaching profession." The first Exonians in Education colloquium brought back to campus six alumni/ae educators who, says Greer, have taken "their energies and talents to schools quite different from Exeter": Peter Hayes '74, of the Lakeside School in Seattle, WA; Kristin Kearns Jordan '87, Bronx Preparatory Charter School in New York City (Bulletin, Summer 2001); Barbara Sprague Naeger '81, Memorial High School in Manchester, NH; Jonathan Reider '63, University High School in San Francisco; Eleanor Campbell Ritter '73, Merlo Station High School in Beaverton, OR; and Norman Zamcheck '65, Richard C. Briggs High School in Norwalk, CT.

The tribute was also a working session that gave the educators a chance to reflect on their experiences at Exeter and at their own schools, and to ponder what Greer calls "a daunting but bedrock question": What do they, as educators, want education to be?

It's a pertinent question these days at Exeter, which, as part of the Academy Master Plan process, is engaged in its first comprehensive curriculum review since 1985. Greer-who, as the first holder of the Bates-Russell Distinguished Faculty Professorship, is charged with "investigating various curricular initiatives beyond the walls of PEA, to see if what is out there can inform what we do here, or if what we do here can inform what is out there"-deliberately shaped the colloquium to feed into the review process. Such a proactive self-study is, he says, "important for the current health of the school and for its robust and intentional growth."

The alumni/ae teachers (three of whom brought along colleagues from their home schools) spent part of the first day back at the Harkness table, attending classes-first with a student and then with an Exeter faculty member, followed by time for discussion with each. Much of the second day was spent in discussion with the Academy's Curriculum Review Committee, chaired by English instructor Ellen Wolff and Director of Studies Steve Kushner.

According to Greer, the alumni/ae's fresh perspectives "imparted a vigor or even an urgency to familiar ideas. They challenged us in ways that gave me, at least, keener eyes with which to look at the school that has been my professional home for many years."

But the high point, at least for Greer himself, was the all-school assembly that opened the colloquium and gave him "the chance to introduce our students to six PEA graduates who have committed themselves to a profession that has, at its core, the virtue of a certain and significant kind of service." It's his hope that some of these young Exonians might themselves consider a career in education. Concludes Greer: "How satisfying in and of itself that outcome would be."

Shakespeare Conference Returns for a Second Season

The Shakespeare Conference, founded by English instructor Rex McGuinn, will bring two dozen teachers to campus this summer to study Twelfth Night.

Twelfth Night has always had special appeal for Rex McGuinn, an English instructor at the Academy since 1987 and founder of the Academy's Shakespeare Conference. It was, after all, the first play of Shakespeare's he ever encountered. But more to the point, McGuinn considers Twelfth Night an undertaught and sometimes underestimated play. "Other than politics," he says, "everything that's in Hamlet"-which Shakespeare wrote just the year before-"can be found in Twelfth Night." Both plays are full of meditations on love, betrayal and death, and for a comedy, he says, Twelfth Night can be every bit as melancholy as a certain Dane.

So it seems only fitting that Twelfth Night will be the featured play at this summer's Shakespeare Conference, which will bring 26 teachers of Shakespeare to campus from June 23 to 28 to study the play in depth. Joining McGuinn will be the same impressive cast he assembled for conference's inaugural season: PEA drama instructor Sarah Ream '75, who has served as staff director at the Royal National Theatre in London; Adrienne Thomas, voice coach at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts; Alan Dessen, a professor of English at UNC and a recognized authority on Elizabethan stage practices; and H.R. Coursen, an emeritus professor of English at Bowdoin who, like McGuinn, has a special interest in using film to teach Shakespeare. And, schedule permitting, they will be joined by actor Alessandro Nivola '90, who, among other credits, starred in Kenneth Branagh's recent film version of Love's Labours Lost.

McGuinn is a firm believer in bringing performance into the classroom, and while conference attendees will spend time analyzing Twelfth Night's language and structure, they will also have daily sessions in breath, voice and acting. "I've learned more about Shakespeare by performing a part than almost anything else I've ever done," says McGuinn, who, it should be added, has a Ph.D. in Elizabethan theater. When students perform a scene, they learn that you don't "memorize and recite the lines; you discover and say them. And every day, you rediscover it for the audience," and for yourself.

Faculty Follies

To teach at Exeter, it's not enough to be bright and hard working. You must also be willing to risk a little public humiliation now and then, and several dozens instructors did just that when, under the direction of history instructor Amy Schwartz, they presented the 2002 Faculty Follies.

Together, they turned a routine Monday morning assembly into an all-faculty version of "Saturday Night Live," complete with skits, musical numbers and the first (and quite probably the last) public performance by In-Bred (upper right), a hip-hop dance group inspired by the student dance troupe Outkast.

As Inigo Montoya, the swashbuckling swordsman from the film The Princess Bride, Spanish instructor Fermin Perez-Andreu (left) commanded the stage-only to be dragged off it by a faculty SWAT team. Mercedes Carbonell and Christine Robinson (above left) did a "live" music video to the Bonnie Raitt song "Real Man," and found him in colleague Peter Greer. And in a takeoff on ESPN, Peter Southam, Joyce Kemp and Rich Aaronian (right) provided play-by-play coverage of the "Harkness World Cup" on, naturally, the SPEAN network.

Trustee Roundup

The trustees of the Academy met Thursday, January 23, to Saturday, January 25. In addition to their regular schedule of meetings, they hosted a dinner in appreciation of the faculty and staff who worked with them on the task forces and steering committee of the Academic Master Plan (AMP). The dinner marked the official end of that phase of the process. The Academy is now exploring ways to fund the initiatives and programs that the AMP and its trustee/faculty task forces have identified as key to the future of the school.

A small group of trustees also met with the Student Council's new trustee relations committee.

The Budget and Finance Committee heard reports detailing the development of the 2002-2003 academic year budget. They proposed a budget that has, for the first time since 1997, no new initiatives, due primarily to a projected increase in medical costs of 28 percent next year. The trustees approved an increase in tuition of $1,500 for boarding students, bringing the total tuition to $28,500, and $1,200 dollars for day students, bringing the day tuition to $21,700.

The Buildings and Grounds Committee heard reports on the many projects that are underway or planned for the coming year, including construction of the four new faculty houses, the waterproofing of the library and the ongoing landscaping plan.

From Ethan Shapiro, dean of students, the board heard reports on the advising system and reactions to a number of proposals made by the Academy Life Task Force. Curriculum committee heads Ellen Wolff and Steve Kushner offered an update on curricular review and engaged members in an exercise regarding the goals of the Academy's curriculum. Doug Rogers, director of the Summer School, described the new ACCESS EXETER program for middle school students in the summer school, receiving a round of applause for this new initiative for students entering grades eight and nine.

Presentations were also made by Rahul Tripathi, financial analyst, on project priorities, and by Mary Gorman, director of financial planning, on the financing of projects.

The board continued conversations regarding universal access, a concept to ensure that Academy facilities are accessible and welcoming to all people, including those with physical challenges.

Table Talk with Ambassador Craig Stapleton '63 | by Bill Ewing

Craig Stapleton '63, U.S. ambassador to the Czech Republic, understands better than most just how the world can change in an instant. "It was exactly two weeks, almost to the minute, from the time I presented my credentials to President Vaclav Havel and the attacks of September 11," he explains by phone from his office at the U.S. Embassy in Prague. "I had just sat down for a meeting with the British ambassador, when his deputy told us that two planes had hit the World Trade Center."

Like all American diplomats living abroad at that fateful moment, Stapleton suddenly found himself cast into the middle of an international crisis that would dramatically change the tenor and focus of his appointment. September 11 also meant that Stapleton's transition from the private sector-where he had enjoyed a successful career in business as president of Marsh & McLennnan Real Estate Advisors, Inc. in New York-into the world of international diplomacy would be an abrupt one. By necessity, Stapleton hit the ground running and hasn't had much time to catch his breath since.

"My experience had been in business, but as ambassador, it was my responsibility after the attacks to make sure we took all of the security precautions that we could and gathered as much information as we could," says Stapleton. After immediately convening a crisis management team at the embassy, Stapleton and his staff, working closely with Czech police, military and intelligence, implemented a comprehensive security plan. "Our first concern was the security of our embassy and protecting Americans working and traveling in the Czech Republic," he explains.

Stapleton can't say enough about the support offered by the Czech people and political leaders in the wake of September 11. "The prime minister said very early on that an attack on New York is an attack on Prague," says Stapleton. "Having lived under Nazi occupation during World War II and communist domination for 40 years, the Czech people understand the threat of 'isms' and radical ideologies. They place a very high value on personal freedom." In addition to providing additional security and sharing intelligence reports, the Czech government also offered to send their most elite rescue units, dog teams, burn doctors and even blood to New York and Washington; in the days following the attacks, the entrance to the U.S. Embassy in Prague was covered with flowers, candles, notes and memorials.

The United States and Czech Republic have been working cooperatively and to great effect ever since the "Velvet Revolution" brought about the overthrow of the Czechoslovak communist regime in 1989. "The Czechs are in the forefront of escaping communism and joining Europe," explains Stapleton. "They are new members of NATO and leading candidates to join the European Union. They are converting their institutions to support democracy, freedom of information and open markets. America is playing an important role in these efforts, as a counselor and a source of encouragement and direct assistance."

Stapleton joins a long list of distinguished Exonians who have been involved in the foreign service and international diplomacy, including John D. Negroponte '56, current U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. He came to his current post by way of the business world, but his family has a long history of civic and political involvement. A native of Colorado, where his grandfather was the former mayor of Denver and his father was a Democratic leader, Stapleton came east to Exeter, as did his brother, Benjamin F. Stapleton III '61. His time at the Academy, he recalls, was "positive, but very competitive," and many of his most lasting friendships were forged at Exeter.

From Exeter, Stapleton went on to graduate magna cum laude from Harvard and earn an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School before beginning a career in real estate management and development. He joined Marsh & McLennnan in 1982, managing the company's international real estate holdings. "For 12 years, I worked in midtown New York, and the view from my window was the World Trade Center," says Stapleton. "Marsh & McLennnan had offices in the towers and I had a lot of friends and colleagues killed in the attack. I took it personally."

Married to Dorothy Bush Walker since 1971, Stapleton is a cousin by marriage and longtime friend and business partner (including the Texas Rangers baseball club) of President George W. Bush. He expresses great admiration for the leadership being displayed in Washington during these extraordinary times. "I know [the president] very well, and I have seen him get through some very tough situations when he was governor of Texas," says Stapleton. "Of course, he never expected to have the challenges that he has had to face since September 11, but I knew he had the determination and executive ability to do whatever was required. He has been a good role model for all of us-if he can lead us through this as president, I can make it through as ambassador."

Stapleton acknowledges that he didn't have a résumé that looked like it was pointing directly at international diplomacy. "But in my private sector career I had done a lot of business in western Europe, so I was well acquainted with the business practices there and reasonably conversant with European politics," he explains. "I think my business background makes me more decisive than a lot of the other people who serve in these posts. It helps me keep my eye on setting goals and meeting them. It's part of the way I think about the job."

While much of his time is consumed by the war on terrorism, Stapleton feels that the Czech Republic is a country in which the U.S. is having a very positive impact. "There's still a revolution going on here," he says. "The transformation isn't going to happen overnight; it will take a generation. But it's underway and it's exciting to be a part of it."

Neon Diver

Two or three times per year, faculty member Steve Lewis packs up his camera and heads out west to explore the lost highways and dusty byways of America's deserts. With only a loose destination in mind, Lewis spends weeks on end driving solo through the arid landscapes of the Southwest. "I'm interested in photographing whatever presents itself as I'm driving along-natural or manmade," says Lewis, who has been teaching at PEA since 1983 and is now chair of the art department. "I shoot landscapes, plants, animals, cars, people, buildings-there are a lot of different possibilities in the desert."

Lewis' resulting body of work, Desert Road Trip, was awarded a first place in the annual photo contest held by Photo District News magazine and was the subject of a two-page spread in its December 2001 issue. "I'm really happy about this award," says Lewis. "It was a really beautiful layout and it will be seen by a lot of people."

A Private Life Goes Public

Martha "Patty" Rogers was born in Exeter in 1761, lived quietly in the town for her entire life, died here in 1840 and is buried in the town cemetery. Her life quickly vanished from view, for as former Exeter Historical Society director Marilyn Easton notes, "unmarried women like Patty scarcely left a mark on the page." But now a year of Rogers' life has been reclaimed, thanks to the publication of Easton's new book, Passionate Spinster: The Diary of Patty Rogers, 1785 (Xlibris Corporation, 2001). The diary is also the subject of a small exhibition (through April) at the Academy Library, where Easton is on staff.

Easton first learned of the diary when a copy was donated to the Exeter Historical Society. "I found it very interesting, because it was a unique chance to encounter the mind of a woman from the late 18th century," says Easton, who spent two years annotating the diary, adding introductory sections on Rogers' family, town history and the tenor of the times.

The diary itself is a record of friends visited and church services attended; of the declining health of Rogers' beloved father and, most notably, her growing passion for William Woodbridge, the first preceptor (or principal) of the fledgling Phillips Exeter Academy. It was a passion that went largely unrequited, much to Rogers' despair. "This is what I'm always looking for," says Easton, who has a Ph.D. in social psychology, "how similar the human experience is, no matter what the period."In her later years, says Easton, Rogers became "a leader in her church and a mentor to younger women in their spiritual lives."

Easton admits becoming very close to her subject in the course of her research. "Sometimes I'd go over to the cemetery and talk to her," she says with a smile. And what might this most private woman think of the publication of her diary? "I think the older Patty wouldn't want me to do this," says Easton, "but the younger woman would."

One of the contestants in the Ugly Bug Contest for N.H. schoolchildren.

The contestants were an unusual lot: Some had thick, hairy legs, others veiny, translucent wings; most had two eyes, a couple had eight. One thing they all shared in common, however-at least when viewed under extreme magnification with the Academy's scanning electron microscope (S.E.M.)-was a certain otherworldly repulsiveness. But this was precisely the point, as these contestants, insects one and all, were submitted by elementary schools across the state as part of the Ugly Bug Contest conducted this past fall by retired PEA biology instructor Jim Ekstrom.

"Bugs are probably second only to dinosaurs in interest to most elementary school kids," says Ekstrom, who is still the resident S.E.M. expert on campus. "But this contest was about more than just 'gee whiz, golly' pictures taken with the S.E.M. The idea was to get kids to do some research." Thanks to support from the N.H. Department of Education, about two dozen schools participated.

The rules of the Ugly Bug Contest were simple: Each school was asked to find a far-out looking insect; identify it using the school library, the Internet or "a weird uncle's bug collection," jokes Ekstrom; and then ship it off to the Academy for further analysis. Ekstrom verified the species and took a variety of photographs of the bug using both reflective-light microscopes and the S.E.M. Each participating school then received a custom-made poster featuring their bug that could be used for measuring exercises. Ekstrom also created a detailed website with a photo gallery and assorted puzzles and links. The grand-prize winner, a three-inch brown dobsonfly submitted by the James Mastricola School in Merrimack, won his young handlers a new stereo microscope for their classroom.

Non Sibi atGround Zero

Determined to counter the devastation of September 11 with "a message of peace and hope," Ashwini Jaisingh '04 organized a project to fold close to 1,400 paper cranes and hang them at ground zero in New York.

Ashwini Jaisingh '04, a lower from Montclair, NJ, first visited New York City's ground zero last November. The devastation was, she says, unlike anything she had ever seen, and yet the scene was also strangely familiar. "It reminded me of visiting Hiroshima, Japan, and seeing the epicenter of where the atomic bomb was dropped," she says. It also reminded her of a response to that devastation: a memorial to Sadako Sasaki, a young Japanese girl who developed leukemia as a result of the radiation. Before her death, Sadako folded hundreds of paper origami cranes; after her death, her family and friends carried on her efforts, and today the monument is covered with thousands of brightly colored cranes, "a symbol," says Ashwini, "of peace and hope for a world where we can live without fear."

Ashwini felt this message had great relevance following September 11, and decided to undertake a similar project here. "I started during Thanksgiving break and folded about 100 by the time I returned to Exeter," she says. Back on campus, she held folding sessions in the common room of McConnell Hall. By the time she returned home for the December break, she had bags filled with close to 1,400 cranes.

Together with Meg Halpern '04, a friend from McConnell, Ashwini "lugged all the cranes onto a bus into the city one Saturday during break," and hung them at two locations: along one of the fences barricading ground zero and at a memorial in front of an NYPD precinct. Their message of peace and hope brought a grateful email response from a man whose sister died in the WTC collapse and who saw the garlands during one of his weekly visits to ground zero: "Besides brightening up a bleak area," he wrote, "it gave me great comfort as I'm sure it did the spirit of my sister. A true pacifist, she loved paper cranes [and] undertook a project of folding 1,000 cranes after she read the story of Sadako. . . . I thank all of you who took the time to fold these cranes and for the love it has brought to my heart in memory of my sister."

Letters to the Editor

A Profile in Courage
John W. Nason '22 died November 17 at age 96. A number of Exonians may remember John from his tenure as a college president, first at Swarthmore and later at Carleton. I write now to remind others of why he was truly one in a million.

In 1942, John stepped forward to convince, or shame, our wartime government into releasing thousands of young Americans of Japanese ancestry from the relocation camps into which they had been herded, so they could continue their education in U.S. colleges. At this time, John was the president of Swarthmore, and he tried to convince presidents of several other colleges and universities of great national repute to join him in this effort. But one after another found reasons, or excuses, to say no.

Fortunately, John had entrée to John J. McCloy, a noted banker who was serving in the wartime government. He went to Washington and convinced McCloy to join him and to bring the matter to Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson. He in turn got to President Roosevelt, and the wartime "security" internment was modified. All told, some 3,000 Japanese-Americans were able to enter U.S. colleges and universities before World War II ended. John Nason did his share of convincing the colleges to accept these students.

I called on Nason a couple of years ago, and when reminiscing on his wartime act of courage and intiative, he said, somewhat wistfully, "I think that was the most important thing I ever did." All Exonians might tip their hats to the memory of John Nason, and resolve to do likewise when the chips are down.

      -Alden Todd '35, Anchorage, AK

Dean Kerr, Post-PEA
I can't compete with other alumni who've recently shared their recollections of Edwin Silas Wells (Dickey) Kerr from our days at the Academy (Winter 2002 Bulletin). However, I do claim an exclusive from an encounter in his later days. In the spring of 1964, I had taken my daughter, Emily, to be interviewed for admission at the Colorado Rocky Mountain School in Carbondale, CO. I knew that Dean Kerr was in semiretirement at the school, which was run by his old friends, John and Ann Holden. A student was assigned to show us around the campus. Just before the student-guide took Emily to visit some classes, I asked her, "Where might I find Dean Kerr?" "Who?" the girl guide countered. "Dean Kerr," I repeated. "Oh, you must mean Wells," she said, much to my astonishment. "He has a study hall in the library." I found the library and there he sat, at a desk where he could look up from his reading to observe the several students in his charge. I tiptoed to the desk and, in my best study-hall-hushed-voice, whispered, "Dean Kerr, I'm George Rosenberg '33." He looked up at me and, so help me, he said, "Shhhhhhh!"
      -George Rosenberg '33, Tucson, AZ

"Now Is the Time to Teach __________?"

In our coverage of the impact of September 11 on PEA classrooms (Winter 2002), we asked teachers and alumni/ae to respond to the question: "Now Is the Time to Teach _______?" Their comments elicited the following three responses. Betsey Farnham '46 (Hon.), PEA Department of Religion My two lower sections of Religion 270, An Introduction to Islam, met for the first time just two days after September 11. I briefly considered teaching the course as I usually do, and after one day decided that I couldn't possibly. I suggested to both classes that we spend the first week or two trying to understand what had happened, why it had happened, how our country should be responding, and perhaps most importantly, what we should do in the aftermath of that horrifying morning. They were wonderfully responsive, and so for the next several weeks we read articles in The New York Times and any other paper we could get ahold of. We watched replays of "Nightline" and other programs I had taped. And we tried to become more familiar with the geography, the background, some history, and the customs of those parts of the world that appeared in the news every day. We also talked about American influence in the Muslim world and how we and our culture might be perceived by others. The students read many articles and discussed all these things with great interest and enthusiasm. They really wanted to understand. After a couple of weeks we began our studies of Islam with Karen Armstrong's biography of Muhammad and then our text, Frederick Denny's An Introduction to Islam. We read from the Qur'an, and whenever I forgot to bring in newspaper articles or bits of video, both classes would remind me or bring in something they had found and thought the whole class might find interesting. Toward the end of the term, we were invited to have supper and break the Ramadan fast with members of a Muslim group in Durham. The girls in the group were unhappy they had to eat behind a curtain with the women, and we talked endlessly about that separation and what it meant and didn't mean. My students did all this with an energy that made it clear we were learning and doing important things. They delighted in debunking stereotypes and explaining Islam to friends and roommates. I think they sensed that the ideas in the text were indeed held firmly by the Muslims we met, that what they were learning really mattered, and that they were engaged in an effort to bring together two groups of people who at different times and in different ways have felt wounded by each other. Now, and always, is certainly the time to teach our students that in an increasingly interconnected world, we must understand our neighbors. Gerald D. Levy '41, President, Education Group, National Executive Service Corps The question "Now Is the Time to Teach _______" sits just over the Bulletin's moving account of the deaths of three alumni, aged in their 30s and 40s, in the World Trade Center collapse. One response surely must be that "now" is any time, and teaching at Exeter must continue to be what it has been all along-an effort by all faculty to engage the students in such a way that they feel impelled to make the most of their capabilities. Implicit is that we are mortal, which many of us don't seem to acknowledge. I certainly didn't, until, at the age of 20, a bullet from a German machine gun almost ended my life. Nine months in the hospital gave me ample opportunity to reflect on the gift of life. My response, then, is what is taught is far less important than how it is taught. The great teachers, and Exeter has always had them, will ignite the sparks. The combustion will produce thoughtful, concerned and involved citizens, educated in the broadest and the best sense. Kenneth H. Bacon '62, President, Refugees International Now is the time to teach diplomatic history. Following the September 11 attack against the United States, President Bush immediately assembled an international coalition to fight terrorism. Later he called on the United Nations to help reconstruct Afghanistan following the expulsion of the Taliban. Both moves signaled a change from the administration's more go-it-alone approach during the first nine months in office. Now it is clear than American leadership comes from engagement, not isolation. The problems of terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and destabilizing poverty can only be addressed by nations working together. Throughout American history, the United States has oscillated between engagement and isolation in trying to protect its national interests. September 11 made it clear that today's international problems are too big for even a superpower to solve alone; security comes through alliances and cooperation.

Exoniana: Do You Remember?

Where is this spiral staircase located and what memories does it evoke for you? The first person who sends (via U.S. mail only) the correct answer will win a prize. Answers and/or reminiscences will be published in the next issue. Mail to Exoniana, c/o The Exeter Bulletin, Phillips Exeter Academy, Communications Office, 20 Main Street, Exeter, NH 03833. Answer to the Last Issue: Exonians from the 1940s to the present identified the time-honored physics experiment known as the "Ball in Cup" lab, depicted in process at the new Phelps Science Center (above). And the Winner is: Sean A. Cameron '01 of Stoneham, MA, who received a leather notepad holder engraved with the Academy seal for being the first person to mail in the correct answer. "This picture captures the moment right before two students release the ball in the classic physics experiment called 'Ball in the Cup.' The experiment tests projections of projectile motion to see if the ball actually lands in the position where it has been theoretically calculated to land. I remember sinking the ball on the first try, and that experience was the first sign that I would thrive in my study of physics at Exeter and beyond." Back in Time I did this same experiment in the winter of 1945-46 (Science II), without the apparent electrical/electronic gear pictured. We used an old-fashioned stopwatch and hand computed the results. By rolling a steel ball down the wooden incline and measuring the time taken to drop a certain height (measured with the meter stick shown), one could compute the gravitational acceleration constant. John Koenig '48 York, ME Finding Direction This picture brought back the fond memory of really beginning to understand the scientific method: Come up with an hypothesis, design an experiment to test it, collect some data, analyze and iterate. This shot could have been taken in my physics class with Mr. Willoughby somewhere around 1970. In my case, he enthusiastically lit the fuse (or at least added lots more fuel) to my life as a design engineer. After figuring out just where that ball landed, I knew what kind of things I wanted to work on in life. Over the years, I've often reminisced about his contribution: how it really defined outstanding teaching, and how I would have meandered without the direction, confidence and warmth he gave me. This photo brought it all back. Thanks! Henry Sharpe III '72 Saunderstown, RI Meticulous Calculations The picture is of an exercise for students in the Physics 21 (or was it 22?) class. You had one chance only. If the ball landed in the cup, you received a 100 for your weekly quiz; if not, then a zero. The formula, which of course I no longer remember, also involved acceleration due to gravity. The calculations were easy enough (although in my day we had to use a slide rule). Did mine land in the cup? You bet it did! It is probably the only reason I remember. Robert S. Wilson '76 Manchester, NH Flunked It is a test in Physics 21 (or was in 1976, when I had to do it for Mr. Taft). I recall that I came into class that day without any idea of how to calculate the distance from the bottom of the ramp to the cup, and therefore flunked the test. Samuel Reckford '79 Short Hills, NJ All or nothing Your photo brought a laugh and a smile as I recalled using the same apparatus in physics class with Mr. Taft during the fall of my upper year. I was fortunate on this day. In particular, I remember the tightness in the stomach and the collective groans as we watched each other go through this ritual. This experiment not only taught us the independence of horizontal and vertical vectors, but also was a fun and, I hope, successful lesson in the black-and-white world of physics and engineering which would serve us well in the future. Thanks for the memory. Nicholas Warne '80 Andover, MA Not a Clue Ugh! Yes, I remember what's in the "Exoniana" picture. I took one look at it, and my stomach dropped and my face flushed. I remember walking in for my appointment for the ball drop (one-on-one with the teacher) full of confidence. But, alas, as the seconds ticked away, I realized I didn't have a clue, and I watched with dismay as the ball went flying on its merry way! Well, maybe I was proving chaos theory instead. Luckily, catching babies has little to do with metal balls flying down a ramp, at least most of the time! Thanks (I think) for the memory. Lisa Allee '80 Mancos, CO The Perfect landing The students in the photo are doing the Physics 21 "Ball in the Cup" experiment. I remember it vividly. Mr. Compton set the height of the cup at random and gave you the speed of the ball as it left the ramp. I am happy to report that my ball landed perfectly in the center of the cup (no rim). I was especially thrilled with my success at the time, as I desperately needed the points toward my grade. In retrospect, I am impressed by the "all or nothing" nature of the project. I'm glad to see that it continues to this day. Jonathan M. Kiger '81 Dunwoody, GA Computing the Results The object in the picture is a ramp with a ball bearing held at the top by an electromagnet. It is used for studying ballistics (the physics of projectiles). The fun part comes at the end of the lesson when your knowledge is put to the test. I had the honor and pleasure of taking physics from C. Arthur Compton ("Questions, problems, anxieties?"), and I had written a short computer program to calculate the landing point. Thus he was somewhat puzzled when, after I had taken my measurements, I ran out of the room to plug the numbers into the program. Fortunately, my programming was as competent as my measuring skills, so I received, in the parlance of Harry Potter, full marks. Paul VerNooy '82 Hockessin, DE A Shaking Hand My heart nearly stopped when I saw the photo of students in physics class calculating where to place a ring clamp on a pole to get the ball to go through the ring. These students appear to be working together-I recall this assignment being part of a quiz, just before Thanksgiving, which we had to solve and perform on our own. My hand was shaking as I released the magnet holding the ball at the top of the ramp. I remember thinking "this is never going to work" as the ball went down the ramp, and experiencing pure shock as the ball swished through the ring. This experiment finally convinced me that physics equations actually might have something to do with real life! Kristin Wolcott Edwards '85 Narberth, PA Rite of PEA Passage This experiment was as much an academic rite of PEA passage as the English department's reporter-at-large assignment or the upper year history research paper. The student would be rewarded with unbounded exhilaration if the ball fell into the cup; private and bottomless dejection if it did not; or some mixture thereof if, as in my case, the ball hit the rim of the cup and caromed away. Indeed, now over 15 years later, I can still hear instructor Lewis Hitzrot's tone of mild, chiding exasperation as he pointed out that though I had placed the cup at the proper distance, I had also placed it slightly to the right of the ramp, out of line with the ball's fall. In the end, that ultimate lesson-that participation in reality involves elements too easily overlooked in our intellectual ponderings-was as lasting and vital as any that came from a quiz, test or grade. Would that every high school science experiment teach such a profound lesson. Ali T. Kokmen '88 New York, NY Physics Not For Me The photo is none other than the famous (or in my case, infamous) "Ball in Cup" physics experiment. I remember the day all too sadly-it was Parents' Weekend my lower year, and I was ready to show off to Mom and Dad what my physics teacher, Mr. Robinson, had taught me. I watched as the ball hurled past the cup and slammed into the wall across the room. To this day, I am ecstatic that Exeter taught me not to be a physics major in college. Randi Sherman '95 Boca Raton, FL Crawling on Floors I spent many hours crawling on the science building's floor trying to predict where the steel ball would land after it flew off the ramp. It was a perfect introduction to basic kinematics and parametrics-and the only lab in which I ever scored an "A." Vince Pallaver '96 Los Gatos, CA Only Yesterday It may be unfair for me to answer the question since I took AP physics at Exeter just last year, but as an alumnus I guess I am entitled to try. These students are performing a laboratory experiment in which they discover rotational kinetic energy. The laboratory asks them to calculate the distance the ball will travel after rolling down the ramp. Using error analysis they find a region the ball should land in. Edison S. Conner '01 Philadelphia, PA That's Me! I can remember doing this lab in Mr. Hiza's D Format physics class perfectly, because along with Shayan Abdullah, I'm one of the students working on a "Ball in Cup" lab. We are trying to place a cup in the correct spot in order for the ball to fall right into it. It took us two tries, not because of calculation error, but because of experimental error we could not control. It was a fun lab. David Chang '03 Burlington, MA Thank you for taking time to share your memories. -Alice Ann Gray

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