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L E T T E R SB U L L E T I NSpring 2008Volume 78 Number 3Bulletin Staff9Director of DevelopmentChris LathamEditorJulie ReiffAlumni NotesLinda BeyusDesignGood Design, LLCgooddesignusa.comProofreaderNina MaynardMail letters to:Julie Reiff, EditorTaft BulletinThe Taft SchoolWatertown, CT 06795-2100 U.S.A.ReiffJ@TaftSchool.orgSend alumni news to:Linda BeyusAlumni OfficeThe Taft SchoolWatertown, CT 06795-2100 U.S.A.TaftBulletin@TaftSchool.org2818Deadlines for Alumni Notes:Summer–May 15Fall–August 30Winter–November 15Spring–February 15Send address corrections to:Sally MembrinoAlumni RecordsThe Taft SchoolWatertown, CT 06795-2100 U.S.A.TaftRhino@TaftSchool.org1.860.945.7777TaftAlumni.comThe Taft Bulletin (ISSN 0148-0855)is published quarterly, in February,May, August, and November, by TheTaft School, 110 Woodbury Road,Watertown, CT 06795-2100, and isdistributed free of charge to alumni,parents, grandparents and friendsof the school. All rights reserved.This magazine is printed onrecycled paper. Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

L E T T E R SF E AT U R E SThe Parody’s the Thing.......................... 18National Lampoon cofounder Henry Beard ’63 has madea name for himself making fun of just about everything.By Sarah AlbeeHow to Avoid DangerousClimate Change..................................... 24If global temperatures continue to rise, the risk ofpotentially catastrophic impacts increases greatly.By Amy Lynd Luers ’84This Is My Home.................................... 28The Challenges and Opportunities of ManufacturedHousingStory and photos by Adam Rust ’87D E P A R T M E N T SLetters.................................................... 2Alumni Spotlight.................................... 3Around the Pond................................... 9Sport...................................................... 16By Steve PalmerFrom the Archives.................................. 72The Talk of the Town, 1936On the Cover: Global Warming? Amy Lynd Luers ’84helps us make sense of the legislation Congress is debatingand which laws really will help us avoid dangerous climatechange (see page 24). Miquel Zueras/Getty ImagesTaft on the WebFind a friend’s address or lookup back issues of the Bulletinat TaftAlumni.comFor more campus news andevents, including admissionsinformation, visit TaftSchool.orgj Why have a prom in thespring when you can getsnowed on heading to theWinter Formal? Joe Dillard’09 was among the manystudents attending theannual event. For moreinformation, see page 12.What happened at thisafternoon’s game?Visit TaftSports.comDon’t forget you can shoponline at TaftStore.com800.995.8238 or 860.945.7736Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

L E T T E R SFrom the EditorSome of you may remember our coverageof spring break trips offered byTaft in recent years—and March wasjust as busy this year. In addition tothe Collegium tour that Bruce Fiferhas been organizing for the last decadeor more, TJ Thompson took the jazzband to perform on Beale Street inMemphis. The Orphanage Outreachtrip to the Dominican Republic is inits fourth year, and last year’s leadershipand democracy-in-action program toSouth Africa was so popular that it wasrepeated this spring as well (see insideback cover for photos).Of course spring training is as popularas ever (and a number of studentsmanaged to participate in both kinds oftrips) with baseball, lacrosse and crewall traveling to Florida for a few days ofgood weather to jump-start the season.This issue includes a wrap-up of thewinter season, but if you want to seehow the spring teams are coming along,please check out TaftSports.com.Taking a cue from my brother-inlawHenry Reiff ’71 (see “Going BackHome,” fall 2007) I was able to spend afew hours hanging drywall in the UpperNinth Ward while attending an alumnimagazine conference in New Orleansin March. Although we weren’t able tofinish much in a short period of time,it was powerful to see such an infamousplace firsthand, even so long afterKatrina. And I also gained a newfoundappreciation for how service-orientedtrips can open our students’ eyes andadd more to their education than wecould ever do on campus.And the trips don’t end here.In June, another group will head toGuatemala to help in community projectsthere—not to mention the Pageand Poole Fellows and Kilbourne ArtsFellows, who are busy planning theirsummer. The learning never ends.—Julie ReiffCum Laude?The attitude of the school to the fact that allCum Laude inductees were girls seems to beone of mild indifference, if not amusement.I find it downright distressing. What’s happeningto our boys?—John W. Elder ’45At the WadeAll the guys at the Wade House (winterBulletin, page 68) are from the Class of ’65,not ’60. Since we could not smoke until wewere seniors, this photo must be 1964 or ’65.The person standing is Derek McDonald;Charlie Jacobson is smoking the cigar.—Guy Hatfield ’65Regarding Study HallDuring my tenure at Taft, mids and lowermidswere required to spend their freeperiods there (see winter issue, page 32), Ibelieve without exception during class time,but if their grades were good enough, theycould skip the afternoon 5:15 to Vespersand night 7:00–8:30 ones, but they wererequired to be in their rooms. As I recall, thelibrary was not an acceptable place to be.For uppermids and seniors, if yourgrades were bad enough, and mine werealmost the entire time, you had to attendstudy hall. They had to really be bad to haveto go during class time on your free periods,but I spent most afternoon and evenings instudy hall rather than in my room.The lowermids sat to the front andmids in the rear half. There were assigneddesks. And, yes, we wore coat and tie to eachand every one. The big joke was to steal analarm clock and either put it in a drawer inthe master’s desk or under the platform andset the alarm to go off during the study period.Apparently, study hall duty was rotatedamong the more junior masters.I found I could daydream just as well instudy hall as in my room. I taught myself theGreek alphabet from the back of a trig tablebook one period instead of studying what Ineeded to be studying. I do still remember it.Where were the exams administeredwhen Mr. Potter co-opted the study hall?We had all the exams with the famous littleblue books in that room—bar none.—Tommy Hickcox ’57A Good SoakingIn the picture of students shoveling snow(page 68) the caption indicates that this waspart of the Job Program. In my day, 1945–49,it did not include any outdoor work—especiallynot snow shoveling which could not beanticipated two weeks in advance.My guess is that these boys were shovelingsnow instead of participating in theirrequired athletics that day. We had to playeither football or soccer in the fall; hockey,—continued on page 35Love it? Hate it?Read it? Tell us!We’d love to hear what you think aboutthe stories in this Bulletin. We mayedit your letters for length, clarity andcontent, but please write!Julie Reiff, editorTaft Bulletin110 Woodbury RoadWatertown, CT 06795-2100or ReiffJ@TaftSchool.orgTaft TriviaCan you name Taft’s legendary hockey coach who earned the nickname“Winter God”? If you need a hint, check out the photo on page 34. Send a cardor e-mail to the address above with your answer. A Taft luggage tag will be sentto the winner, whose name will be drawn from all correct entries received.It looks like the multiple-choice question from last issue was still toodifficult for most readers. The Parents’ Association Field House, whichneighbors Rockefeller football field, was built in 1938. I hope more of youwill play Taft Trivia this time! Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

j Steve Erlanger ’70, in the oldcity of Jerusalem, gets ready tomove to Paris after four yearsin the Middle East as New YorkTimes bureau chief. Rina CastelnuovoFrom Jerusalem to ParisThe first piece Steve Erlanger ’70 wroteas Jerusalem bureau chief for the NewYork Times was about a roadside bombing,and there’s been no shortage ofnews in the four years since: the deathof Yasser Arafat, Ariel Sharon strugglingfor life after a massive stroke, Israel’swithdrawal from Gaza, and Hamas’ victoryin the Palestinian elections.As he packed for the move to becomethe paper’s Paris bureau chief,National Public Radio’s “Talk of theNation” asked Steve about the chancefor a peace agreement. “There’s a longway to go,” Steve said, “Peace is notcoming soon, I promise.”Despite that sober summary, Steveoffered this observation:“Gaza is fascinating, somethingnew in the world,” he said. “It’s a semistate,it’s semi-occupied and it’s in thecontrol of a group that by the U.S. andthe European Union and Israel is considereda terrorist group…. Gaza seemsto be pulled apart from the West Bank,so it’s making the idea of a future of aPalestinian state, which George Bush favors,seem more divided, farther away.”Steve was interviewed on OpenSource back in January about GeorgeBush’s legacy in the Middle East:“Whatever you thought of the Annapolismeeting, the United States snappedits fingers and within a week got 49countries to come to Washington, includingthe Saudi foreign minister andthe Syrian deputy foreign minister. Thatwas power,” said Steve. “That power hasnot disappeared. George Bush may beconsidered—particularly at home—aweak figure, and abroad he may behated by many people. But this notionthat American power is down the drainis simply wrong.”Steve got his start in professionaljournalism as a correspondent for theBoston Globe while still a teaching fellowat Harvard. He joined the Times asa metropolitan reporter in 1987, butsoon became Bangkok bureau chief andhas since served as Moscow bureau chief(the post he held when Barclay Johnson’53 interviewed him for the spring 1995Bulletin), chief diplomatic correspondentin Washington, bureau chief forCentral Europe and the Balkans andBerlin bureau chief.Is it depressing to report from theMiddle East? NPR asked. “It’s also enthralling,”said Steve. “I like reportingfrom places where there are real problems,not just whether you have a latteor something. People live at an edge.The Palestinians have enormous problemsand yet they are willing to talk toyou, they’re hospitable. The Israelis havereal enemies in the region but they’revery talkative and eager. It’s a fascinatingstory; it’s just not one that’s going to endvery quickly. What depresses me sometimesis feeling that when it’s not goinganywhere quickly, that I’m just cataloginguseless death. That is depressing.”To listen to these interviews, orread recent articles by Steve, or any,in fact, from his two decades with theNew York Times, visit TaftAlumni.comfor the links.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

Connecting the DotsBefore heading to college, classmatesDan Furman, Willy Oppenheim andNick Smith ’04 took a year “on” andwent to India for three months.“We returned home with a raisedawareness of how little it takes to changesomeone’s world,” says Willy, “and howmuch material wealth surrounds us.”As volunteer English teachers ata small school in Dharamsala, theylearned the power of “connecting thedots.” The school was a hub of differentcommunity-service projects, all drivenby volunteers from India, Tibet, Europeand the U.S. Traveling to other parts ofIndia, they came across innumerableprojects they also wanted to support.“On our last day, we metOmprakash, an old gentleman who suffereda severe stroke 30 years earlier andnow lived at the Mother Teresa Homefor the Dying and Destitute in Delhi,where six nuns care for 300 physicallyand mentally disabled residents,” Willyexplains. “Living conditions were farfrom what we would call ideal, butOmprakash told us that he felt likehe was in paradise, simply because thenuns had been so kind to him.”By letting the voices of peoplelike Omprakash resonate among theirfriends and families, Dan, Willy andNick hoped they could share the senseof humility and gratitude that this maninspired in them. So they returned tothe U.S. and started writing letters.Deciding to focus primarily onprojects involving education, the trioembarked on a six-week research trip in2006 to visit more than 20 schools inTibet, funded by grants acquired throughJohns Hopkins and Bowdoin College.“We are also working to connectthe dots by directing volunteers towardschools around the world that haveexpressed the need for native Englishspeakers to help teach the language,”Willy says. “We do not offer any sort ofguide service that will escort travelers toand from their volunteer opportunities;we offer advice and encouragement toyoung Americans looking to broadentheir perspectives by entering a foreigncommunity and forging relationshipswithout the filter of an organized travelgroup. We strongly believe that thiseffort of ours will be eye opening andintensely educational for both Americanvolunteers and the foreign communitiesthey will serve.”The original group has now beenjoined by Gordon Guthrie ’04, AshleyMoore ’05 and former Taft Englishteacher Steve Le. Their largest donationto date is $10,000 to help fundan afterschool center near Cape Town,South Africa, but they have also supporteddiverse projects in India,Nepal, Tibet, Afghanistan, Pakistan,Zimbabwe, Cambodia.“The thing I want people to understand,”says Willy, “the thing thatexcites me most, is that our website(omprakash.org) has become a selfgeneratingnetwork of relationshipsthrough which Americans can find ways tohelp meet the needs of different grassrootseducational projects around the world.”j Willy Oppenheim ’04, DanFurman ’04, Nick Smith ’04, inthe mountains above McleodGanj in Himachal Pradesh innorthern India, got the ideafor their nonprofit Omprakashwhile volunteering in thecountry during a year off.Courtesy of Omprakash Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

Girls on the Run“I began running with my dad when Iwas 11 years old,” Tracey Cahill Early ’96told Fitness magazine in February, “andam grateful for all that it’s given me.”Tracey is now executive directorof Girls on the Run Manhattan,a division of GOTR International, anonprofit group that helps preteensdevelop healthy lifestyles through running,which she launched back in 2006with six participants. There are nowmore than 200 girls enrolled.j Through Girls onthe Run, Tracey CahillEarly ’96, right, coachesIsabela Caetano, 10, whocould barely run a milewhen they started. Shenow regularly jogs three.“She went from beingreally shy to being aleader,” adds Tracey.Courtesy of Fitness MagazineVolunteers serve as role models tothe girls through coaching a 12-week,24-lesson curriculum that addresses allaspects of girls’ development—theirphysical, emotional, mental, social andspiritual well-being.“I’ve never seen anything morebeautiful than the expressions of pride,confidence and strength as those girlscross the finish line!” adds Tracey.For more information, visitgirlsontherun.orgSquash and IvyA number of alumni reunited on the courts in New Haven last November for theannual Ivy League scrimmage that kicks off each season. From left, Sydney Scott ’06(#2 at UPenn), Alastair Smith ’05 (Harvard), Supriya Balsekar ’04 (Harvard captain),Taft coach Peter Frew ’75, Michael Shrubb ’06 (Dartmouth), McKay Claghorn ’07(Cornell), Alisha Mashruwala ’07 (#2 at Harvard as a freshman).The Mayor is InMaplewood, New Jersey, hada meet-and-greet reception inFebruary for their new mayor, KenPettis ’74, followed by an informalquestion and answer session. Witha population of 24,000, the townshipis located in Essex County, just15 miles from New York City.Although Ken was elected tothe five-member township committeein 2003, he is the firstblack mayor in Maplewood’s 84-year history. Still, he pointed outthat it would be even more historicif race did not even need tobe mentioned.“While I am not so naive tobelieve that we are there yet, I dobelieve that we here in Maplewoodmay be as close to Dr. King’s dreamas anywhere in America,” he told theNewark Star-Ledger, “even thoughwe, too, have a ways to go.”Ken, a native of Chicago, beganhis public service in Maplewoodabout 15 years ago, when he decidedsomething had to be doneabout various issues affecting hisneighborhood.“That experience demonstratedto me that, at least in this town, agroup of concerned citizens togetherwith a responsive governmentreally can make a difference.”A graduate of Brown and formertrustee at Taft (1999–2003),he and wife Karen have two children,Kendra ’06 and Kristian.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

More on GeorgeHarlow Unger ’49 has been namedMount Vernon’s distinguished visitingfellow of American history for 2008.As such, he will deliver three talksthere—on June 17, September 16,and November 18—on “The HiddenGenius of George Washington.”His most recent book, America’sSecond Revolution: How GeorgeWashington Defeated Patrick Henryand Saved the Nation, describes thestruggle among the Founding Fathersover how to govern themselves andtheir countrymen following independencefrom Britain. Harlow isthe author of 15 books, includingThe Unexpected George Washington:His Private Life and the awardwinningbiography Lafayette.“His talent for delving intolittle-known aspects of the personalitiesand character of historicalfigures makes him an incrediblycompelling speaker and scholar,” saidMrs. Shepard Ansley, regent of theMount Vernon Ladies’ Association,the country’s oldest national preservationorganization, which ownsand operates Washington’s home.“George Washington didfar more than lead America’sRevolutionary War,” says Harlow.“He was also the father of ourConstitution and architect of oursystem of government, which revolutionizedthe world by entrustingcitizens with rights never beforegranted to ordinary people in theannals of man.”For more information, visitmountvernon.org.Alumni Puck TimeTwenty-eight players took the ice inthe annual Alumni vs. Alumni HockeyGame in Odden Arena on February9. Red beat white 5–3, with MattDonaldson ’88 sneaking in a final goalbefore the buzzer. Before dropping thepuck, the group took a moment to rememberScott Richardson ’82, a faithfulalumni game participant for many yearswho passed away in June.Remember Madame Butterfly?m Front, from left, Brian Grady ’96, MikeErensen ’00, Christian Jensen ’01, EricTurgeon ’97, Eric Hidy ’93, Jonathan Lieber’91, Jeff Overman ’97, Courtney Wemyss’78, Jerry DeLeo ’82, John Long ’88;standing, Headmaster Willy MacMullen ’78,Sean Coakley ’97, coach Danny Murphy,Sean Bennett ’09, Matt Donaldson ’88,Mike Aroesty, Dougie Freedman ’88, TimCooney ’90, Gary Rogers ’83, Jordy Davis’91, Larkin Glazebrook ’76, Chris Watson’91, Paul Stancs ’79, Tucker Cavanaugh ’86,David Wood ’69, Casey Archer ’86, PaulKessenich ’88 and Pete Maro ’83.After a year with Vancouver’s BalletBritish Columbia—where she was featuredin work by John Alleyne, CrystalPite, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp andMartha Graham—dancer Tara Lee ’93is back with Atlanta Ballet, which shejoined in 1995 and where she recentlyplayed the lead in Romeo and Juliet.“I got to experience a whole new perspectiveon my art,” says Tara of her timein Vancouver. “I was given the chance toperform different repertoire and to workwith some very talented artists.”Although she has undertaken someprofessional choreographic work, includingtwo pieces performed by theAtlanta Ballet and a commissioned pieceshe created on Emory Dance Companyin 2004, dancing has obviously kept herbusy since 2002, when she was last profiledin the Bulletin (summer 2002, “AButterfly Takes Flight”).“Dancing itself has remained mytop passion,” adds Tara, “and I’m sograteful to have enjoyed a long career.”“This whole year has been incrediblyrewarding,” she says. The company recentlycompleted its performances of Romeo andJuliet, which was a personal highlight forTara, who adds, “Whatever we’re workingon at the moment is my favorite. Whenyou commit yourself physically, mentally,emotionally, spiritually to what you’re doing,it’s hard not to love it.”This spring, the company performedtwo contemporary classics:Twyla Tharp’s In the Upper Room, andGeorge Balanchine’s Serenade. Theyfinished out the season with a collaborationwith Big Boi of the famous hip-hopduo Outkast in April. For more information,visit AtlantaBallet.com.b Tara Lee ‘93 as Juliet in Atlanta Ballet’srecent production of the Shakespeareclassic. Charlie McCullers. Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

Everything But the Kitchen Sink:What Every Modern Woman Needs to KnowFrancesca Beauman ’95Simon & Schuster, 2007Twenty-first-century women arecalled upon to perform any mannerof tasks, recall even the mostrandom bits of information andall the while carry on a charmingconversation. Thankfully, fromhistorian and British televisionpersonality Francesca Beaumancomes this indispensable and authoritativesurvival guide that willallow women to tackle any problemand work any party with ease,style and grace.Everything But the KitchenSink is a compendium of delightfullywitty facts, figures, diagrams,lists, charts, quotes and practicaladvice. True, you may notever need to know how to roast ahedgehog, treat a shark bite, or say“No, thank you. Please leave mealone” in Russian. But isn’t it goodto know you can?Fran divides her time betweenLondon and Los Angeles. Herbook, Pineapple, King of Fruits,was published in 2005. For moreinformation, visit her website,aniaandfran.co.uk.In PrintHispaniola: A Photographic Journeythrough Island BiodiversityEladio Fernández ’85 et alForeword by E.O. WilsonHarvard University Press, 2007A Dominican-based conservationistand photographer, Fernández isdocumenting the efforts of a distinguishedteam of internationalscientists as they unravel the workingsof evolution being played outon the island of Hispaniola.At 40 million years, Hispaniola(home to Haiti and the DominicanRepublic) is far older than theGalápagos. Its considerable age,along with a diversity of habitats,makes this island one of the mostspectacular, if poorly understood,troves of biota on the planet. Theextraordinary richness of species,much of it endangered andyet to be described, is showcasedhere in nearly 400 spectacularphotographs. The photos are accompaniedby essays—in Englishand Spanish—that make knownthe Hispaniolan fungi, plants, andanimals by the experts who knowthem best.What Fernández captureshere so vividly is not just the amazingvariety of living creatures thathave erupted in evolutionary isolation,but the urgency of scientistsracing to give that variety a namebefore it vanishes.This is My Home: The Challenges andOpportunities of Manufactured HousingAdam Rust ’87Carolina Academic Press, 2007Housing of choice or housing oflast resort? Manufactured housingis both. Importantly, it is home formillions of Americans. Throughphotos and interviews of residentsin land-lease communities, ThisIs My Home acknowledges thatproblems confront manufacturedhousing and suggests that hope liesin the examples made by the workof innovative nonprofits acrossthe country. It will leave a readerwith a new sense for how manufacturedhousing can be an asset incombating our nation’s affordablehousing crisis. Adam, a photojournalist,is director of researchat the Community ReinvestmentAssociation of North Carolina.(Read excerpts on page 28.)The Adventures of IsabelOgden Nash, Illustrations by Bridget Starr Taylor ’77Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2008Meet Isabel, a remarkable girl(based on Ogden Nash’s owndaughter) who encounters fourfearsome foes and doesn’t worry,scream or scurry. Courage, spunkand a lot of humor help makeIsabel’s adventures something you’llshare over and over again. Listen toOgden Nash read the poem on theaccompanying CD. Bridget’s beautifulwatercolor paintings bring thepoem vividly to life.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

In PrintCrime, Jews, and News: Vienna 1895–1914Daniel Vyleta ’92Berghahn Books, 2008Crimes committed by Jews, especiallyritual murders, have longbeen a staple of anti-Semiticinvective. Through the lens ofcriminality this book providesnew insight into the spreadand nature of anti-Semitism inAustria–Hungary around 1900.It also provides a re-evaluation ofthe phenomenon of modern ritualmurder trials by placing them intothe context of wider narratives ofJewish crime.Dan is the son of Czech refugeeswho emigrated to Germanyin the late 1960s. He holds aPhD in history from CambridgeUniversity, and lives and works inBerlin. The book is volume 8 ofa 10-part series on Austrian andHabsburg Studies.Pavel & IDaniel Vyleta ’92Bloomsbury, 2007Set during the winter of 1946–47,one of the coldest on record, Pavel& I unfolds against the tattered socialfabric of postwar Berlin. PavelRichter, a decommissioned GI,finds himself at odds with a roguecolonel in the British armed forcesand a Soviet general when anAmerican friend deposits a deadRussian spy in his frozen apartment.The race to take possessionof the dead spy’s quarry soonbegins threatening Pavel’s friendshipwith a street orphan namedAnders and his budding love forhis upstairs neighbor, Sonia. As theaction hurtles toward catastrophe,the hunt merges with one for thetruth about the novel’s protagonist:Who exactly is Pavel Richter?Peopled with pimps, prostitutes,spies and a gang of child thieves,Pavel & I explores the power ofstorytelling to wrest meaning fromthe wreckage of civilization. Anelectrifyingly suspenseful novelplayed out among the first salvosof the Cold War, Pavel & I is aliterary debut that introduces awriter of brilliant imagination andvirtuosity.“Vyleta conjures a convincingpostwar Berlin in all of its moralambiguity,” writes Publishers Weekly.Booklist writes, “Vyleta pens anintricately creative tale.... This novelcharges through a frigid winter andan equally chilling political adventure.”This is Dan’s first novel.MUSICThe Flame You FollowJason Spooner ’91Falcon Ridge Productions, 2007Armed with a sound and clarity ofpurpose that can only result fromcountless live shows and years ofensemble performance, the trio,fronted by Jason and rounded outby Andy Rice (bass) and ReedChambers (drums), quietly entereda small rural studio in the dead ofthe Maine winter and set to work.“We all felt the same need tobuild this record from the groundup,” says Jason, “around the coresound of the band.”“Spooner’s roots-rich contemporaryfolk sound stretches far andwide,” writes reviewer Jim Kirlin.“He filters through his folk, blues,soul, funk, rock, and even classicsinger-songwriter influences, givingthem all a place at the table.His songs belie a sharp-tooledcraftsmanship on the writing side,yet wash over the listener withfluid finesse.”The maturity and strengthof his debut album, Lost Houses,quickly began to turn the headsof fans and critics alike. Jason alsowon the International finals of the2007 Mountain Stage New Songcontest in New York City and washonored as a national finalist inthe 2007 Starbucks Music Makerscompetition in Boston. Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

For more photosor informationabout events oncampus, please visitTaftSchool.org.Around the pondby Joe FreemanDemocracy in ActionStudents in Rachael Ryan’s APGovernment classes awakened long beforethe first bell on January 7, to pileinto buses and take a three-hour journeyto New Hampshire, where they becamefirst-hand witnesses to presidentialpolitics on the eve of the nation’s firstprimary. Students spent the day attendingrallies for Senator John McCain andSenator Hillary Clinton. Given theirage and exuberance, many of them wereasked to fill coveted places on the risersbehind candidates.As pictures of Tafties streamed outon CNN, MSNBC and the New YorkTimes website, Taft students witnessedthe energy, spirit and subtle imagecraftingthat lies at the center of a majorpolitical campaign. Ryan described theevent as “one of the most exciting racesin recent history and a once in a lifetimeopportunity to see, hear and meetHillary Clinton and John McCain.”Harrison Siegel ’08 noted the “unbelievableresponse that people hadwhen they saw the candidates. It showedme that as long as people cared, no matterwho the president is, our countrywill have a chance to succeed. It was alsoenlightening to see how money affects acampaign, from Hillary’s polished andcontrolled rally to McCain’s impromptuspeech on the steps of a courthouse.”“Listening to the candidates’ speeches,”said senior Emily Gumbulevich,“made me realize how much the nextpresident’s term will affect my life as Iheard the vast changes that both senatorshope to make in the next four years.”j Seniors CarissaBloosom andFei Zheng meetSenator HillaryClinton during theNew HampshirePrimary.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

Seniors Maggie Hutton and Shanika Audige play spinster sisters in the winter production of Arsenic and Old Lace, along with CharlieFraker as their nephew “Teddy Roosevelt.” Peter Frew ’75Jury-rigged JigThe Jigger Shop set up temporaryquarters in February in a corner ofthe dining hall while the studentunion and snack bar in the Artsand Humanities Wing underwentmuch-needed renovations. Sandyand Marty, above, expect the Jig tobe back in operation in its regularquarters by the start of summerschool. Peter Frew ’75The Weird SistersTaking full advantage of a wonderfulcast of veteran actors, drama teacherHelena Fifer directed and produced athree-night run of the classic comedyArsenic and Old Lace over FebruaryParents’ Weekend. The play, writtenin 1939 by Joseph Kesselring, takesplace in a boarding house run byMartha and Abby Brewster (ShanikaAudige ’08 and Maggie Hutton ’08).In addition to looking after theirnephew Teddy (Charlie Fraker ’08),who believes himself to be TheodoreRoosevelt, they provide a final restingplace for their lonely boarders. Whenthe true nature of their hospitality isuncovered by their nephew Mortimer(Max Jacobs ’08), he becomes embroiledin an effort to protect hisaunties and his fiancée, Elaine Harper(Madeline Bloch ’08). When hisbrother Jonathan (Brendan Maaghul’08), a serial killer disguised as BorisKarloff, returns to the house to hidefrom the law, the conflict driving thisdark comedy is fully exposed.From an elaborately designed setthat evokes a boarding house frozenin late-Victorian Brooklyn to a wildlypopular ensemble cast, includingthe scraggly Mr. Gibbs (MatthewAle ’08) and the aspiring playwrightOfficer Brophy (Samuel Fifer ’11),the production received numerousaccolades from parents, students andfaculty. Ms. Fifer enjoyed the challengesof putting on the production,noting the comedy’s darkness as asignificant departure from the farcicalcomedies put on in years past.The actors also enjoyed thechange. Maggie described her roleas “really fun” and noted that “theentire cast really seemed to fit intotheir parts.” Charlie Fraker added,“I couldn’t have asked for a bettergroup of kids to work with for myfinal Taft production.” Brendan explainedthat the production gavehim his first experience in playing amajor role onstage, noting that “youcould see the results of the hard workyou put in when people come to theshow and enjoy themselves.”10 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

Yee-Fun YinSounds of Afrika“Nguzo Saba!” This Swahili term,meaning “seven principles” and referringto the seven principles of Kwanzaa,rang out from the stage of BinghamAuditorium as the drum and dancetroupe Sounds of Afrika performed forthe Taft community in January.The group, founded in 1995 byKojo Bey, Abishai Ben Reuben andDeborah Calhoun and dedicated topromoting and sharing African andAfrican-American culture in schoolsand communities, has performednationally and internationally inschools and at cultural festivals.The members of the troupe havediverse backgrounds in the arts andhave studied African drumming anddance techniques extensively. Theystress the importance of developingunity and respecting all culturesthrough their performances.In addition to performing forthe school community, Soundsof Afrika offered dance and drumworkshops for groups and classesthroughout the day.“I had never participated in adrum circle before,” said dance teacherElizabeth Barisser, who organizedthe troupe’s visit, “in spite of havinginvited Kojo to many venues andwatching him conduct one. The drumcircle was the most intensely communalexperience I’ve ever participatedin outside the realm of dance—thepower of creating a collective rhythm,the sense of purpose, the knowledgethat my small rhythm mattered.”Students also found inspiration inthe workshop experience. “It showedme how beautiful it is when a biggroup works as one to make beautifulsound,” said senior Louise Trueheart.Bailey Fowlkes ’09 called theworkshop “really powerful for me,and I was overcome with the sensethat I was participating in an importanttradition from another culture.”A Romantic InterludeOn Valentine’s Day, Taft hosted the60-member Radcliffe Choral Society,the renowned women’s choir fromHarvard University, for a free concertin Walker Hall. The group came toTaft in preparation for a performancefor the American Choral DirectorsConvention in Hartford, and theconcert was arranged through the effortsof the group’s business manager,Antonia Fraker ’04. One of the oldestwomen’s choirs in the nation andhighly acclaimed for its worldwidetours, the choir boasts a dynamic repertoirethat ranges from Renaissanceto contemporary arrangements. Inaddition to performing for the community,the group spent an eveningon campus, eating in the dining hall,visiting with students and touringthe campus.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 11

Peter Frew ’75Yeah, Baby!The Class of 2008 hosted theWinter Formal at the FarmingtonMarriott in February. This year’stheme was “Austin Powers,” andstudents piled into buses in themidst of a furious snow squall todance the night away to big bandand DJ music. The school monitorspoured significant amounts oftime and energy in decorating thehotel in modish fashion, and manystudents embraced the theme,bringing out their best velvet suits,ruffled shirts and costume jewelry.The school monitors were particularlyexcited about the turnout, andaccording to Monisha Dillard ’08,“it was really exciting to see thosestudents not normally involvedin the social scene to break out atFormal. There were fewer than 30students who chose not to go.”Louise Xu ’09 plays the pipa, a fourstringedlute and one of the oldestChinese musical instruments, for theGlobal Concerns Benefit Concert.Yee-Fun YinGlobal BenefitsStudents in the newly formedGlobal Concerns Club put on abenefit concert in February andraised $300 for a school in Peru(a project identified by Kelin Hall’05 who has volunteered there).Performers included the jazz band,a faculty rock band, piano soloists,step and even Irish dancing.Rockwell Visiting ArtistThe works of Caren Canier (P’05,’08)were on exhibit in the Potter Galleryfrom January 25 to March 5. Canier,professor of drawing and 2D designat Rensselaer Polytechnic Institutein Troy, New York, holds a BFA inpainting from Cornell University andArtist Caren Canier, second from right,talks with students at the opening of herexhibit in Potter Gallery. Yee-Fun Yinan MFA in painting from BostonUniversity, where she studied withPhilip Guston and James Weeks.She has won numerous awards forher work, including grants fromthe Pollock/Krasner Foundation,the Ingram Merrill Foundation,and fellowships from the AmericanAcademy in Rome and the New YorkFoundation for the Arts. Her workhas been shown in solo and groupexhibitions in galleries and museumsacross the country.Canier addressed the communityin a school meeting, where shediscussed her longstanding relationshipwith the school as a spouse andmother of Taft Alumni. She then describedthe process by which she goesabout creating her paintings, notingthe importance of photographsto capture images in her mind andshowing different stages of composition.She described how she shifts andaugments the various elements of thework, adding and removing figuresto create a unity through the entirepiece. She also discussed the importanceof color contrasts and symbolicimagery in her works, describinghow trees, or cars, or family members,or figures taken from classicalsculpture are meant to evoke specificideas working in tandem. Ultimately,Canier stressed the relationships betweenthe individual parts of herpainting as a way to show that “discipline,exhilaration, hard work andteamwork are all key to making thethings that we do meaningful.”12 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

The Dream is GlobalThe Taft Community continuedits tradition of celebrating MartinLuther King Day by offering a seriesof workshops and lectures inspiredby the legacy of Dr. King’s vision of acolor-blind nation. The central themefor this year’s celebration revolvedaround global diversity and the importanceof service.The two-day series of events washighlighted by a lecture given byDr. Gloria White-Hammond, aBoston-based pediatrician andminister, and a leading voice in issuesof health, youth developmentand slavery and genocide in Sudanand Darfur. A graduate of HarvardDivinity School and co-pastor of theBethel AME Church, she shared herexperiences of traveling to Sudanand working to start public serviceinitiatives both locally and globally.Students also heard a presentationby Linda Biehl, co-founder of theAmy Biehl Foundation. Amy Biehl, aWe are the World: Collegium Musicum performs as part of the school’s MLK Dayfestivities. Peter Frew ’75Fulbright scholar committed to humanrights, was murdered in Cape Town in1993, and her parents began the foundationbearing her name to end racialviolence. Joining Linda Biehl on campuswas Kevin Chaplin, the CEO ofthe Foundation, and Easy Nofernela,one of the four men involved in Amy’skilling. The group spoke of contemporaryracial issues in South Africa, citingthe Truth and Reconciliation hearingsadvocated by past President NelsonMandela and Archbishop DesmondTutu as a way of healing the scars createdby racial violence and injustice.As in years past, these communityevents were complemented bya variety of teacher and student-runworkshops that examined variousglobal issues associated with race andpoverty. The school hosted area religiousand civic leaders for a prayerbreakfast on Monday morning.Taft also hosted a program for areamiddle-school students that offeredprograms in artistic, academic, andathletic skills, continuing the school’simportant mission of service and outreachin the greater Waterbury area.Bond, Bob BondFor director and video teacher RickDoyle, his fascination with all thingsBond started in 1961. “I fell in lovewith Dr. No,” says Rick, but it tookPhoto by Yee-Fun Yin,Design by Keith Culkin ’09another 20 years before he tackled007 on film.“It started as a fun thing to dowhile I was at Forman School in the’80s,” adds Rick. “The first one wasso cheap that when we ran out ofguns, we used our fingers and shouted,‘Bang!’ Things have gotten a littlemore advanced since then. I take alot of pleasure in trying to create thesame feeling as the real Bonds.”Rick has made about 12 Bondfilms over the years. In Paragon Tryst,Bond is played by Bo Redpath ’10,Louise Trueheart ’08 as Moneypenny,and Oliver (the villain) is Nick Morgan’08, along with a houseful of thugs.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 13

Around the pondPeter Frew ’75Ulrich GuillardUlrich Guillard, founder and CEOof the Batey Relief Alliance, spoke inMorning Meeting about the group’sten-year history and the organization’scollaborative work to address the socioeconomicand health needs of childrenand families severely affected by poverty,disease and hunger in DominicanRepublic’s bateyes (sugar cane laborcommunities), as well as plans to expandthe organization’s humanitarian missioninto neighboring Haiti.BRA’s main focus is health, specificallythe spread of HIV/AIDS. Theydeliver primary care and medicines to over10,000 people annually, and are buildinga health complex to serve another 20,000.To learn more, visit bateyrelief.org.Ulrich is a U.S.-trained attorneywith academic focus on internationallaw and business. He is the founderand president of Falcon InternationalConsulting and has worked as a legislativeaide for U.S. political figures,including a New York City mayor.Other Morning Meetings duringthe winter term included ColumbiaUniversity chaplain and associate provostJewelnel Davis and storytellers from theInstitute for American Indian Studies, includingTerri (Many Feathers) Delahanty.Winter DanceConcertA mother-daughtermoment: dance teacherElizabeth Barisser, left,and her daughter Eleanorperform in “Reflections,”as part of the winterdance concert. Yee-Fun YinCourtesy of Taft PapyrusCode Red?As we go to press, seniors anxiouslywait for fat letters in the POs. Papyruseditor-in-chief Nate Breg ’08 createdthis take on the government’s threatlevelsystem as it applies to the collegecounseling process.14 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

Model StudentsTraining leaders of tomorrow starts withthe students of today, and so a few dozenTaft students got a sense of whatthose responsibilities might be by attendingModel Congress or Model UnitedNations programs this winter.Twenty-three students spent fourdays in Boston in late February, participatingin Harvard’s Model Congress.“This conference gives kids a tremendousopportunity to learn what it islike to be a member of Congress and tryto get laws passed or act as a lobbyist or amember of the press corps,” says adviserRachael Ryan, noting that senior EmilyGumbulevich spoke about the caseinvolving “under God” in the pledgewith the director of the ACLU whenhe came to Taft “because she had servedIn Briefas a lawyer who argued that case beforethe Supreme Court at Model Congress.It is the best way to learn—by doing.”At the conference, senior NateBreg served as the Austrian delegateon the historical committee that dealtwith the rise of Hitler and Germanyprior to WWII (and won the Awardof Excellence for his role). HannahVasquez ’09 served as AlexanderHamilton on the historical constitutionalconvention. For more details,visit harvardmodelcongress.org.Teachers Kris Fairey and AnnabelSmith took a delegation of ten studentsto Yale for a Model United Nationsprogram a month earlier. They wereassigned to represent the Haitian delegation.(Since that’s a nine-memberdelegation, Jessica Yu ’09 became a delegatefrom Latvia!)“Given both our school-widefocus this year on Haiti (based onthe all-school read Mountain BeyondMountains last summer) and the increasingmomentum in the school forglobal studies,” says Kris, “this renewedparticipation in the Model U.N. offers amost fitting way for students to focus oncurrent issues and events connecting thenearly 200 member states.”Model UN Conferences happen allover the world, and all over the U.S., butthe Yale program has been in operationfor 34 years. Students independently researchthe issues distributed in Decemberthrough position papers to the variousU.N. committees on which they serve.Nearly 50 high schools attend, mostlyfrom the Northeast, but also fromCalifornia, Tennessee, Kenya and China.To learn more, visit yale.edu/yira/ymun/.ACLU speakerAnthony D. Romero, executive directorof the American Civil Liberties Union,spoke at Morning Meeting in March aboutprotecting basic freedoms during times ofcrisis. He took the helm of the 87-yearoldorganization just four days before theSeptember 11, 2001, attacks. In 2005,Romero was named one of Time Magazine’s25 Most Influential Hispanics.Best Taxi Ride EverOver winter vacation, Taft science teacherRobertson Follansbee enjoyed his 15minutes of fame after an appearance onCash Cab, a trivia show on the DiscoveryChannel. He and two college friends piledinto an ordinary looking New York Citytaxi, and, as they were ferried through thestreets of Manhattan, correctly answeredevery question asked by the host. Arrivingat their destination, Rob and his friendschose to go for the difficult double-ornothingbonus question. Rob quickly cameup with “Kodiak” in answer to a questionabout a bear native to the Aleutian Islands.Rob and his friends won nearly $4,000 andstill hold the record for the biggest winnersever to appear on the series.Dial M for MurderAn entirely student cast and crew producedthe well-known thriller written byFrederick Knott and made famous by directorAlfred Hitchcock. Nick Tyson ’09directed the Masque and Dagger productionin the Woodward Black Box Theateron March 1 and 2. The cast consisted ofM&D regulars and newcomers alike, includingKate Sutton ’08, uppermids AlexisMcNamee, Kathy Demmon, Will Sayre,Juliet Ourisman, Brianna Ong, DanielaGarcia, Catherine Winslow, and middlerLara Watling.Photography showTwo Taft photography students, GiovanaEspejo and Barbara Romaine, werejuried into this year’s 28th AnnualPhotography Exhibition sponsored bythe New Canaan Society for the Arts.The show ran from February 10 throughMarch 9. For more information, visitcarriagebarn.org/photoshow08.htmlOff-BroadwayDavid Friedman, withfive Broadway shows,his own off-Broadwayshow, eight Disneyfilms, three televisionseries and recordingsby such artists asDiana Ross, Barry Manilow and NancyLaMott to his credit, brought his upbeatcabaret performance to Walker Hall onFebruary 29. He was joined by Broadwaysingers Scott Coulter and Kristy Cates.Monthly Walker Hall concerts are free andopen to the public.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 15

S P O R TW i n t e r W r a p - u p 2 0 0 8b y S t e v e P a l m e rJack Nuland ’09 executes a perfect legshot while capturing 2nd place at theNew England wrestling tournament at160 pounds. The Western New Englandchampion, his record this season was 17–1.Julie ReiffPatsy Odden drops a ceremonial puck in the first game of the 25th anniversary PatricaK. Odden Tournament as Choate captain Emily Vitale and Taft captain Bridget Sylvestertake the faceoff. Taft faced Hotchkiss in the final contest, placing second, but finishedthe season at 15–6–1. Peter Frew ’75Girls’ Basketball 10–10An impressive win against rival Hotchkissin the final game, including a season-high56 points, was a fitting way for the teamto end. This was a team that had athletictenacity and played tough defensebut had to work hard for the offensivepoints. Led by captain and three-yearstarter Chelsea Berry ’08 (8 pts. pergame) and defensive specialist BrookeHartley, the Rhinos won six of their finalseven games to gain the .500 record. Newsenior Nyasha Miller was the team’s leadingscorer and most versatile player, whileAnn Samuelson ’08, Christine Trusio ’08and captain-elect Ches Fowler ’09 playedwell around the basket all season.Boys’ Squash 5–13Last year’s #8, Max Kachur ’10, moved upto play in the top spot all season, just oneindication of the mountain this youngteam faced. It was a slow start for Taft,dropping four of their first five matches,but led by the steady play of captain PeterJohnson at #2 (11–8 record), the teamimproved dramatically as evidenced bytheir 2–5 loss to New England championBrunswick later in the season. They alsoended on a high note, with a 7–0 winover Westminster and a 4th-place finishin the “B” draw of the New Englandtournament. In that tournament, WillBunker ’09 won at #7, while CharlieWagner ’09 placed 2nd at #4.Girls’ Hockey 15–6–1This was a skilled group that played solidteam-hockey at both ends of the ice. In fact,coach Jon Guiffre’s squad defeated severalof the best teams in New England, includingBerkshire (1–0) twice, Westminster(4–2), Tabor (2–1) and Choate (4–2),but fell agonizingly short of making thetournament. The peak of the season camein the double-overtime game at homeagainst rival Berkshire. After 63 minutes,the score stood 0–0, but a Berkshirepenalty and Taft’s pulled goalie set up asix-on-four advantage with 24 secondsleft. The first three shots did not go in, butthe final face-off went to Geneva Lloyd’09 at the blue line, who fired a low shotinto the corner for the improbable victorywith 1.9 seconds left. The team sorelymissed tri-captain Ashleigh Kowtoniuk’08 (knee injury) and next year will miss16 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

many seniors: New England player ofthe year, tri-captain Erin Barley-Maloney’08, the team’s leading scorer (20 goals,20 assists); tri-captain and four-year playerBridget Sylvester ’08; and top NewEngland defensive player, Kailey Nash’08. Captain-elect Lloyd will help leadthe ’09 team along with assistant captainBecca Hazlett ’09, who finished the seasonwith a 1.43 goals-against average andsix shutouts in net.Co-Captain-elect Bobby Manfreda ’09helped the basketball team go 17–6–0 forthe season and become quarterfinalists inthe New England Tournament. Peter Frew ’75Boys’ Hockey 13–9–1The boys’ team was talented and scoredgoals in bunches (91 total) but alsosuffered from unfortunate injuries andsome defensive letdowns. After a 4–4start to the season, Taft would go onan eight-game winning streak, includingtough road wins against Kent (5–4)and Salisbury (3–2). The most excitinggame this year was a 6–5 home victoryagainst Salisbury, in which KevinNugent ’08 scored four goals. Down3–5 late in the game, Taft exploded forthree third-period goals to win in theclosing minutes. The leading scorer wasRobbie Bourdon ’09 (16 goals, 17 assists),who centered the productive linewith captain-elect Jesse Root ’09 (23pts.) and Sean Curran ’08 (25 pts.).Three-year varsity letter winners andco-captains George Hughes ’08 (20pts.) and Andy Balysky ’08 (20 pts.)led the team on and off the ice and willbe missed next year along with TomCantwell ’08, Aaron O’Callahan ’08and a strong group of seniors.Boys’ Basketball 17–6New England QuarterfinalsThe boys’ team once again qualified forthe New England Tournament, the fifthtime in the past six years, this time asthe #6 seed. Characterized by an aggressiveteam defense led by captain MikeMastrocola ’08, Taft won 13 of theirfinal 15 games, including victories overleague rivals Loomis (47–42), Trinity-Pawling (62–45) and Avon (72–62).Their best win came at home over a talentedSalisbury team (60–51), avengingan earlier loss. Senior point-guard TyroneHughes led the team in scoring (18 ppg)and assists. Hughes was just as effectivedefensively, and for his all-around playwas named to the First Team All League.Greg Nicol ’10 was the team’s leadingrebounder, and Rob Daley ’08, PatrickAntoine ’08 and Drew Connolly ’08 allplayed an important role at both ends ofthe floor. Next year’s squad will be led byversatile co-captains Bobby Manfreda’09 and Dan Lima ’09.Girls’ Squash 9–8After a slow start, including tough 3–4losses to Andover and Exeter, the girls’squad pulled things together and finishedthe season with five straight wins.Behind the strong play of Kelly Barnes’10 at #1 and Ellie O’Neill ’11 at #2,Taft defeated Deerfield (4–3), wonthe “B” division of the National HighSchool Team Championship with a 4–3decision over Tabor, and then avengedan earlier loss to rival Hotchkiss (4–3).At the New England Tournament, captainChelsea Ross ’09 finished 5th in the#4 draw, and Megan Clower ’08 placed4th in the #7 draw.Boys’ and Girls’ SkiingDespite the snow that fell early and latethis season, the weather did not help theski competitions. The final NEPSACchampionships were canceled twice, leavingthe Berkshire League Championshipsas the final event, where Taft placed 6thoverall. In the Giant Slalom, captain WillHibbs ’08 placed 12th and Ben Johnston22nd, and co-captain Annie Shafran’09 39th out of 80 skiers. In the slalom,Hibbs was 14th, Johnston 18th, andShafran 42nd.Wrestling 10–6This talented team wrestled their bestwhen the odds were stacked against them;missing four varsity wrestlers, Taft defeateda solid Choate team 42–29, behindwins by Tucker Jennings ’10 (112 lbs)and captain-elect Jimmy Kukral ’09 (119lbs). The Rhinos ended with a victory overperennial powerhouse Trinity-Pawling,36–35, with John Riggins ’08 (171 lbs),co-captain Isaiah Capel ’08 (189 lbs) andseveral others winning after moving upin weight. At the Western New EnglandChampionships, Taft would enjoy itsbest day, even without injured co-captainSam Shiverick ’08 (171 lbs). By placingin the top four at four different weightclasses, Taft finished with 144 points in4th place of the 20 competing schools.Capel took 3rd at 189 lbs, captain-electWill Ide ’09 placed 4th at 140 lbs, IsaacBamgbose ’09 was 4th at 145 lbs, ReedShapiro ’10 4th at 152 lbs, and MikeBrunelli ’11 took 3rd at 103 lbs. Leadingthe way was captain-elect Jack Nuland’09, who won the 160 lb championshipand then placed 2nd at the all-NewEngland tournament two weeks later.For more on the winter season,visit TaftSports.com.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 17

The Parody’sthe ThingcofounderHenry Beard ’63has made a namefor himselfmaking fun ofjust abouteverything.By Sarah Albee18 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

Sitting in the hushed, clubby restaurant on the 22ndfloor of the Yale Club on a chilly day, Henry Beardscans the menu with a practiced eye. His voice issoft-spoken, his affect self-effacing, his mannerspolite and reserved. With his tweed jacket, glasses and neatlytrimmed gray beard, you might think him a professor, or a psychotherapist,perhaps even a lawyer on a dress-down Friday.In outward appearance, manner and general outlook, inshort, Henry Beard doesn’t appear to be much of a crack-up.But then he’ll utter a low-voiced comment that reduceshis listener to helpless laughter.Beard has authored or co-authored more than 40 humorbooks, many of which have spent weeks on the New YorkAndy Borowitz. Beard admits the screenplays “went nowhere.”“Writing well-respected, if unproduced screenplaysstruck me as an ideal profession,” Beard says. “I made a lot ofmoney. But I just wasn’t comfortable with producers tellingme what to do. You know, ‘It’s great, Henry. Now just changethe mom to a dad, the dog to a dolphin and the love scenes tocar chases.’”Beard admits that going back to regular book-publishingcontracts was an adjustment. “You have a look at your contractand find yourself saying, ‘Hey! There are four zerosmissing here!’”Beard also favors the tougher humor genre. It’s a truthuniversally acknowledged in show business that it’s harder“Follow your dreams…except for the one whereyou show up at work naked.”Times best-seller list. His list of books includes Latin forAll Occasions, The Official Politically Correct Dictionary andHandbook, Poetry for Cats, French Cats Don’t Get Fat and dictionarieson fishing, cooking, sailing, skiing and golf.Beard’s specialty is parody. But you get the feeling hecan write something funny about virtually any subject, andin any comic genre, and that the words roll effortlessly offof his pen. His medium is strictly print. He has a knack forincongruities, for generating jokes that are based on a collisionof unlikely contexts. But he shines at wordplay—inhis best-selling book, Murphy’s Laws of Golf, for example,he defines a sand trap as “a deep depression filled with sandfilled with golfers in a deep depression.”Better on paperFor a brief time a number of years ago, Beard did make an attemptat writing screenplays, collaborating with the writer/humoristto make people laugh than to make them cry. And it’s evenharder to make people laugh when there are no visual propsto cue them about what’s funny. Performing comedians havethe benefit of inflection, pauses and timing—and sometimes,shamefully, laugh tracks. The written word on the page, onthe other hand, has nothing to support it.But even without the benefit of visual props, Beard’sbooks make you laugh until milk comes out your nose.Part of Beard’s comic genius lies in his ability to take thebanal and introduce the unexpected, to turn clichés on theirheads. “Follow your dreams,” he writes, “except for the onewhere you show up at work naked.” A bumper sticker in hisbook, Latin for All Occasions, reads: SI HUNC TITULUMCURRULEM LEGERE POTES, ET LIBERALITEREDUCATUS ES ET NIMIUM PROPRE ME SEQUERIS,which translates as “If you can read this bumper sticker, youare both very well educated and much too close.” The titleThe Fine Print: a partial collection of Beard humor• Bored of the Rings:A Parody of J.R.R. Tolkien’sthe Lord of the Rings(with Douglas C. Kenney, 1969)• Sailing (with Roy McKie, 1981)• Gardening(with Roy McKie, 1982)• Dodosaurs: The DinosaursThat Didn’t Make It(with Rick Meyerowitz, 1983)• Ship’s Log(with Roy McKie, 1983)• Fishing: An Angler’s Dictionary(with Roy McKie, 1983)• Miss Piggy’s Treasury ofArt Masterpieces from theKermitage Collection (1984)• Cooking: A Cook’s Dictionary(with Roy McKie, 1985)• The Pentagon Catalog:Ordinary Products atExtraordinary Prices(with Christopher Cerf, 1986)• Golfing: A Duffer’s Dictionary(with Roy McKie, 1987)• The No Sweat Aptitude Test(NSAT) (1988)• A Dictionary of Silly WordsAbout Growing Up: Writtenfor Parents Who NeverUnderstand Anything Anyway(with Roy McKie, 1988)• Skiing: A Skier’s Dictionary(with Roy McKie, 1989)• Latin for All Occasions:Lingua Latina OccasionibusOmnibus (1990)Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 19

of a book on his Latin “Bestseller List” translates as “Great-Tasting Hot Meals Your Slaves Can Whip Up in Two Daysor Less.” A suggested excuse for an errant schoolkid is translatedas, “A coyote whose habitat was destroyed by urbansprawl ate my homework.”Beard is married to the writer Gwyneth Cravens. “She isa fabulous writer and a great person. The two of them completelyunderstand one another,” says Beard’s long-time friendand collaborator Christopher Cerf. He describes Beard assoft-spoken, shy, almost hermetic. But “under his breath he’llmumble brilliantly funny things. I’ve heard him utter some ofthe smartest one-liners of anyone I’ve ever known.”He’s also genuinely nice.Root causesBeard was born and raised in New York City. His parents wereboth Christian Scientists, and while they were “not proselytizers,”he does note that when he got sick as a kid not only couldhe not get any support whatsoever, “there was a certain air ofdisapproval” from his parents. Whether it was his upbringingor just plain dumb luck, Beard admitted with a sheepishshrug that “I have never been seriously ill in my life.”Valedictorian of his Taft class and a legacy at Yale—both his father and his brother went there—Beard’s greatact of youthful rebellion was to attend Harvard instead.Why Harvard? Characteristically, Beard did not want tochoose the easy path. Perhaps, Beard says, it was his maternalgrandfather who ultimately swayed his decision. He putyoung Henry into the car one day and drove him aroundCambridge, showing him the excitement of Harvard Square,while at the same time muttering darkly subversive commentsabout New Haven.At Harvard, Beard joined the Lampoon as a staff writer.He had no interest in joining one of the finals clubs, oreven writing for the Crimson. He knew he was cut out forhumor writing.Along with fellow Lampoon staffers Bob Hoffman andDoug Kenney (who would go on to co-write Animal Houseand Caddyshack), Beard helped to produce nationally distributedparodies of Playboy, Life and Time magazines.The Playboy parody sold over half a million copies,pouring dollars into the Lampoon’s empty coffers. The moneywas used for a much-needed renovation of the buildingthat housed the magazine, an eccentric, triangularly shaped…Sand trap: “a deep depression filled withsand filled with golfers in a deep depression.”—Murphy’s Laws of GolfFollowing in the footsteps of his father (Alexander Beard1908), Beard attended Rectory and then Taft. Going to boardingschool was “what one did,” he stated matter-of-factly, if onewere the son of “reasonably solvent parents.” Taft’s job “was notabout the promotion of social justice, or the correction of pastbad behavior on the part of the ruling classes,” he added. “Itsjob was to educate people who could pay the tuition.”building known as the Castle, that had fallen into disrepair.“Unlike the fancy finals clubs, which had huge endowments,the Lampoon had nothing,” says Beard. “And the buildingwas a money pit. All of the funding for the renovation of theCastle was parody money.”The staff of the Lampoon—all male of course in thosedays—tended to be a mix of personalities, ranging from former• The Book of Sequels(with Christopher Cerf, SarahDurkee & Sean Kelly, 1990)• Latin for Even More Occasions:Lingua Latina Multo PluribusOccasionibus (1991)• Latin for All Occasions andEven More Occasions/AudioCassette (1991)• French for Cats: All the FrenchYour Cat Will Ever Need(with John Boswell & GaryZamchick-illustrator, 1991)• The Official Exceptionsto the Rules of Golf(with John Boswell,& Ken Lewis-illustrator, 1992)• The Official Politically CorrectDictionary and Handbook(with Christopher Cerf, 1993)• Golf Your Way (1993)• Mulligan’s Laws: A Lifetimeof Golfing Wisdom fromthe Genius Who Inventedthe Do-Over by ThomasMulligan (1993)• The Way Things ReallyWork (And How TheyActually Happen)(with Ron Barrett, 1993)20 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

class clowns to socially awkward, brainy misfits. But it was aplace where humor was taken very seriously. Beard thrived.The Life parody, though critically successful, did notdo as well financially as the Playboy parody had done. TheLampoon’s bank account plunged into the red again. Feelingpartly responsible, Beard and Kenney decided to embark uponanother money-making project. They co-authored a booklengthTolkien parody called Bored of the Rings. The book soldextremely well, and all the revenues went to the Lampoon.All the revenues? Beard nods cheerfully. “Well, we didget meal tickets to Tommy’s Lunch,” a deli near the Castle.In spite of its dubious fare, battered Formica-topped tablesand unflattering lighting, the place was a favorite late-nighthangout spot for Harvard students.Even after graduating from Harvard, Beard, Kenney andHoffman were still looking for ways to improve the fortunesof the Lampoon. Accordingly, they convinced the Lampoonstaffers to license the magazine’s name in exchange for a verygenerous royalty. The three then founded a nationally distributed,for-profit magazine—the National Lampoon.The money paid to the Harvard Lampoon for the use ofthe name, along with revenues from Bored of the Rings andfrom the profitable Time parody, permanently resolved thefinancial crises of the Harvard Lampoon. And Beard was thecommon denominator on all three ventures.At the National Lampoon, Beard acted first as executiveeditor, and then as editor in chief. The magazine was an idealplace for young writers to take chances and to generate funnymaterial on a regular basis. It included satires of classicalliterature and pulp fiction as well as hilarious high-conceptparodies. By virtually all accounts, the early ’70s were theNational Lampoon’s funniest and most creative period. The…National Lampoon published books,produced an off-Broadway show, record albumsand a critically acclaimed radio hour—which inmany ways presaged Saturday Night Live…magazine attracted top talent long before the Harvard-to-Hollywood humor-writing pipeline was established. UnderBeard’s leadership National Lampoon published books, producedan off-Broadway show, record albums and a criticallyacclaimed radio hour—which in many ways presaged SaturdayNight Live both in cast (John Belushi, Chevy Chase and GildaRadner) and in format.Beard sold his share of the magazine in 1974, followedsoon thereafter by Kenney and Hoffman. After they left, themagazine took a right turn politically, and a marked downwardplunge editorially.What does BS really stand for?If the Harvard Lampoon was his comedy school, Taft wasBeard’s comedy nursery. He wrote a regular humor columnfor the Papyrus, called “The Bard.” (Visit TaftAlumni.com toread some of his columns.) His comic intonation is evidenteven in his youthful prose.His Taft career was a program of instruction in the classicalgreats, and boys were taught a shared cultural inheritancethat included Latin, art, history, literature and writing. Mathand science, too, of course, but Beard admitted that they were• The Official Politically CorrectDictionary and Handbook/Book and Cassette (withChristopher Cerf, 1994)• Poetry for Cats:The Definitive Anthologyof Distinguished FelineVerse (with Gary Zamchickillustrator,1994)• Sex and Dating: The OfficialPolitically Correct Guide(with Christopher Cerf, 1994)• Leslie Nielsen’sStupid Little Golf Book(with Leslie Nielsen, 1995)• O.J.’s Legal Pad (with JohnBoswell & Ron Barrett, 1995)• The Official Sexually CorrectDictionary and Dating Guide(with Christopher Cerf, 1995)• The Official SexuallyCorrect Dictionary andDating Guide/Cassette(with Christopher Cerf, 1995)• What’s Worrying Gus? TheTrue Story of a Big-City Bear(with John Boswell, 1995)Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 21

this bizarre education…. It meant that once I got to Harvard,I could spend all my time hanging out at the Lampoon.”You get the feeling Beard doesn’t just make it look easy;it is easy, for him. Beard’s parodies explore the dimensions ofabsurdity with exquisitely funny simulations of their originalsubjects.There are lots of humor books about dogs and cats onbookstore shelves, so what makes French for Cats, A Dog’sNight Before Christmas and Poetry for Cats stand out? Beardhas an uncanny knack for sounding like a dog or a cat,even in French. “Il ya peut-être eu un malentendu. Sortez del’endroit où je fais mes sommes immédiatement. (Perhaps therehas been some misunderstanding. Remove yourself from mynap place at once.)”He can also imitate all kinds of writing styles—epic poetry,for example, or iambic pentameter, or blank verse.His humor is purely funny, with a Wodehousian cadence.There’s something gentle and sweet about his writing, evenwhen he’s gleefully spoofing golfers and sailors and other assortedmembers of his own privileged class. Unlike plenty ofother funny writers, there seems to be no chip on his shoulder,no hint of vitriol or self-loathing.Life at Taft was a mix of classical education,adolescent mayhem and rigid authoritarian rule.“And the dining hall served Spam.”not his forte. (It’s possible he even may have cut up a frog ortwo but admits that, without any girls to throw eyeballs at,there wasn’t much fun in it.)It was at Taft, Beard says, that he learned to write. Hehoned his skills in part through sheer volume. In additionto his column for the Papyrus every other week, he was alsoassigned a weekly 1,200-word essay. And on a regular basisBeard and his classmates faced the dreaded English class exerciseknown as the 2–8–2 (2 minutes to think, 8 minutes towrite and 2 minutes to correct their work).Beard credited these exercises for instilling a facility tocommunicate in the English language. “It was also,” he concedes,“the making of a great bullshit artist.“There was an expectation to perform at a certain level,both academically and behavior-wise,” says Beard. Life at Taftwas a mix of classical education, adolescent mayhem and rigidauthoritarian rule. “And the dining hall served Spam.”Beard joined the army reserve in the early ’70s. “I don’twant to make Taft out to sound like an actual gulag,” hesays, “but I do recall thinking that, after Taft, Army foodtasted pretty good.”By the time Beard graduated from Taft, he “had the functionalequivalent of a college education.” Between Rectoryand Taft, Beard received eight years of Latin instruction. Asthe introduction to Latin for Even More Occasions points out,he “spent a good part of his wonder years reading the works ofCaesar, Cicero, Virgil, Horace, Catullus and Plautus.” Beardnever dreamed he would be “fortunate enough to cash in on“Henry’s humor has never been mean,” says Cerf. “Hehas a wicked sense of satire, but it is never raunchy humor,and it never skewers people. It may make them look silly, butit’s always gentle and fun.”To create a good parody, Beard says, “you need somethingto start with.” The copy often co-opts its original subject,• Bad Golf My Way (with LeslieNielsen & E.H. Wallop, 1996)• The Unshredded Files ofHillary and Bill Clinton(with John Boswell, 1996)• The Official Exceptions tothe Rules of Golf, CentennialEdition: The Hacker’s Bible(with John Boswell, 1997)• Zen for Cats (1997)• Rationalizations to Live By(2000)• Skiing (2002)• Fishing (with Roy McKie, 2002)• Where’s Saddam? (2003)• The Dick Cheney Code:A Parody (2004)• X-Treme Latin: Unleash YourInner Gladiator (2004)• X-Treme Latin: All the LatinYou Need to Know for Survivalin the 21st Century (2005)22 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

taking on its own life force and becoming more famousthan the original subject. Few people were aware of the relativelyobscure newscaster from a local TV station that GildaRadner was impersonating with her hugely popular, nasallyvoiced Rosanne Roseannadanna. But the word parody is oftenmisused. “The Supreme Court gave it a special exemptionAnd his books have sold like hotcakes.“I think one of Henry’s signature traits is his encyclopedicbrain,” says another of Beard’s collaborators, AndyBorowitz, “coupled with his profound and genuine modesty.A number of years ago I was having dinner with Henryand asked him if he knew anything about German wine. HeHenry was the only grownup on the staff.While the other guys sat around cracking jokes,Henry made sure the magazine came out.from copyright law,” says Beard wryly. “So whenever we didanything funny we’d call it a parody.”It probably helps that he’s also a quick study, with anability to grasp the essence of any subject he’s spoofing. Helearned skiing in two weeks in order to write a book about it(but came away deeply unimpressed with that pastime. Therewere too many ways to catastrophically injure himself).“He’s as smart and incisive as anyone I’ve ever known,”Cerf says. “As more than one person has pointed out, Henrywas the only grownup on the [National Lampoon] staff.While the other guys sat around cracking jokes, Henry madesure the magazine came out. He’s the only person I’ve everworked with where we had fights about the other person nottaking enough credit,” adds Cerf. “You had to force him tobe fair to himself.”Midas TactusWhatever his process may be, there is no doubt Beard hasbeen blessed with a strong business savvy. The parodies heworked on kept the Harvard Lampoon solvent. The NationalLampoon circulation accelerated rapidly under his leadership.responded, ‘I don’t know much…’—and there followed a30-minute recitation of the grapes, varietals and vineyards ofGermany. I came away thinking that in order to know moreabout German wine than Henry Beard you would have to bea German winemaker.”His modesty is genuine, as is his lack of competitiveness.Although an avid golfer, he never keeps score. Says Cerf, “I’msure he’s very good. I’ve heard he’s very good. But the scoredoesn’t matter to him.”Beard concedes that he has had a remarkably successfulwriting career, but “I got there because I was absolutely,utterly, indescribably lucky, and then I tried hard not toscrew it up.”Sarah Albee, a former Harvard Lampoon member herself, is theauthor of more than 100 children’s books. She has had three ofher books appear on the New York Times bestseller list. Beforeshe began her career as a children’s book writer and editor,Sarah was a newspaper cartoonist, fashion model and semiprofessionalbasketball player. These days, she lives on campuswith her husband, Jon Willson ’82, and their children Sam ’11,Cassie and Luke.• The Complete Frenchfor Cats: French for Catsand Advanced French forExceptional Cats by Henri dela Barbe (2005)• French Cats Don’t Get Fat:The Secrets of La CuisineFeline (2005)• A Dog’s Night BeforeChristmas (Susann FerrisJones-illustrator, 2005)• Murphy’s Laws of Fishing(Phil Scheuer-illustrator, 2007)• Murphy’s Laws of Golf(Phil Scheuer-illustrator, 2007)• A Cat’s Night BeforeChristmas (Susann FerrisJones-illustrator, 2005)Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 23

How to AvoidDangerous Climate ChangeBy Amy Lynd Luers ’84If global temperatures rise more than 2°Cabove pre-industrial levels, the risk ofpotentially catastrophic impacts increasesgreatly. A U.S. climate policy consistentwith avoiding such temperatures wouldrequire a reduction in heat-trappingemissions of at least 80 percent by 2050.

A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that sustainedglobal warming of more than two degrees Celsiusor 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels (i.e.,those that existed prior to 1860) could have such damagingeffects as the extinction of many species and extensive meltingof the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets—causingglobal sea level to rise between 12 and 40 feet. In light of thisevidence, policy makers in the European Union have alreadycommitted their countries to a long-term goal of limitingwarming to 2°C.The United States has agreed in principle to work withmore than 180 other nations under the United NationsFramework Convention on Climate Change, but has donelittle to live up to that agreement thus far. And although thereis growing momentum within the United States to pursuedeep reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO 2) andother heat-trapping gases that cause global warming, U.S.policy makers have not had access to any rigorous scientificassessments that would provide a sound rationale for specificemissions reduction targets. This is one reason for the widevariation in state-level targets that have been put into law andfederal targets that have been proposed.Step One:Set a Global TargetA new Union of Concerned Scientists analysis fills the informationgap by proposing U.S. targets based on atmospheric levelsof heat-trapping gases that existing scientific studies suggestwould give us a reasonable chance of preventing a temperatureincrease of more than 2°C above pre-industrial levels. To beprecise, stabilizing the concentration of heat-trapping gases inthe atmosphere at or below the CO 2equivalent of 450 partsper million (450 ppm CO 2eq—a measurement that expressesthe concentrations of all heat-trapping gases in terms of CO 2)would provide a roughly 50 percent chance of keeping theglobal average temperature from rising more than 2°C.Given current levels of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere,meeting this stabilization target will likely requireatmospheric concentrations to peak above 450 ppm CO 2eqbriefly before returning to the target. Recent studies indicatethat, to follow such a path while still maintaining a reasonablechance of keeping temperatures from rising more than 2°C cumulativeglobal emissions must not exceed approximately 1,700gigatons (Gt) CO 2eq for the period 2000–2050. Constrainingcumulative global emissions (i.e., those of industrialized anddeveloping nations) in this way will require reductions on theorder of 40 to 30 percent below 2000 levels by 2050.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 25

Step Two:Divide Up the WorkIf we assume that the world’s developing nations pursue themost aggressive reductions that can reasonably be expected ofthem, the world’s industrialized nations will have to reducetheir emissions an average of 70 to 80 percent below 2000levels by 2050. Industrialized nations’ share of the cumulativeemissions budget must be no more than 700 GtCO 2eq (approximately40 percent of the budget).This 70 to 80 percent range for reductions by 2050 alsoassumes that industrialized nations’ emissions will peak in2010 before starting to decline, and that those from developingnations will peak between 2020 and 2025. A delay inthe peak of either group would require increasingly steep andunrealistic global reduction rates in order to stay within thecumulative emissions budget.Step Three:Define Our National GoalThere are several ways to determine the United States’ share ofthe industrialized nations’ emissions budget. Our analysis exploredthree methods, including allocations based on the currentU.S. share (among industrialized countries) of population, grossdomestic product (GDP), and heat-trapping emissions. Usingthese criteria, the U.S. cumulative emissions budget ranges from160 to 265 GtCO 2eq for the period 2000–2050, of which approximately45 GtCO 2eq has already been emitted.Given our aggressive assumptions about reductions byother nations and the fact that a stabilization target of 450ppm CO 2eq represents the upper limit needed to avoid apotentially dangerous temperature increase, we propose thatthe United States should reduce its emissions at least 80percent below 2000 levels by 2050.The costs of delay are high. To meet this minimum target,starting in 2010 the United States must reduce its emissions,What Happens IfTemperatures Rise More Than 2°C?Scientific studies indicate that crossing this temperature threshold will increase the riskof potentially severe impacts in the following areas.Sea level. Sustained warming between 1.6°C and 5.2°Cabove pre-industrial levels could initiate widespread destabilizationof the Greenland and West Antarctica ice sheets, leading tosea level rise between 12 and 40 feet. While the full increase maytake centuries to occur, even an increase of one meter (aboutthree feet) would threaten major cities including Mumbai, NewYork, and Tokyo, and inundate some small islands. Rising seasalso magnify the destructive potential of coastal storms; projectionsshow a mere 7- to 14-inch rise could produce flooding inBoston and Atlantic City, N.J., equivalent to today’s 100-yearflood almost every year on average.Wildlife. Even 2°C to 3°C of warming could threaten 20to 30 percent of Earth’s species with extinction, accordingto the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).Many coral reefs would become bleached at these temperaturethresholds, and marine ecosystems could suffer from increasingocean acidification.Weather-related events. Warming in this range hasbeen linked to increases in the severity of floods, droughts,fires, and heat waves. A 2.4°C increase, for example, wouldcause many cities across the northeastern United States to experiencea projected tripling in the number of days with hightemperatures above 32°C (90°F), increasing the risk of heatrelatedillness and death among vulnerable populations.Water resources. In the continental United States,drought-prone ecosystems are projected to expand approximately11 percent in area for each degree Celsius of additionalwarming. Worldwide, 1 to 2 billion people would be at risk ofincreased water scarcity.26 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

Cumulative U.S. Emissions in 2050under Federal ProposalsCumulative emissions2000-2050 (GtCO 2eq)400300200100Waxman(H.R. 1590)Sanders-Boxer(S. 309)Kerry-Snowe(S. 485)Lieberman-Warner(discussion draft)Olver-Gilchrest(H.R. 620)Lieberman-McCain(S. 280)Bingaman-Specter(S. 1766)Business as usual(EIA 2007)U.S. EmissionsBudget RangeOnly two current climate policy proposals(H.R. 1590 and S. 309) would stay withinthe emissions budget of 160 to 265GtCO 2eq defined by our analysis, andeven these proposals would result inemissions well above the low end of therange. For S. 1766, the potential rangeof cumulative emissions is provided(the lower portion of the bar representsthe best-case scenario assuming allcontingencies in the bill occur; the colorgradient in the upper portion of the barrepresents additional emissions thatcould occur under other scenarios).on average, approximately 4 percent per year (equivalent to anaverage absolute reduction of approximately 0.16 GtCO 2eqper year, or about 2 percent of current levels). If, however,U.S. emissions continue to increase until 2020—even ona “low-growth” path projected by the Energy InformationAdministration (EIA)—the United States would have to makemuch sharper cuts later: approximately 8 percent per year onaverage from 2020 to 2050, or double the annual reductionsthat would be required if we started promptly.The WayForwardOf the six climate policy proposals currently being consideredby the U.S. Congress (see chart), only two—the Safe ClimateAct (H.R. 1590) and Global Warming Policy Reduction Act(S. 309)—would require reductions consistent with stayingbelow the upper limit of our proposed U.S. cumulative emissionsbudget (265 GtCO 2eq). Not one comes close to thelower end of the proposed budget (160 GtCO 2eq).On the other hand, several of the proposals (H.R. 1590,S. 309, and S. 485, the Global Warming Reduction Act)do provide for periodic review by the National Academy ofSciences, which could maintain or strengthen U.S. targetsas needed to meet the goal of preventing a 2°C temperatureincrease—an essential element of any robust climate policy.Other proposals provide for review but fail to specify the 2°Cgoal or allow the targets to be strengthened.It is clear that the United States must quickly overcomeits current impasse on climate policy and actively pursue themany solutions for reducing heat-trapping emissions thatare already available to us (e.g., greater energy efficiency,increased use of renewable energy, reductions in deforestation).These changes can be encouraged by a wide rangeof market-based and complementary policies includingcap-and-trade programs, renewable electricity standards, efficiencystandards for electricity and vehicles, and incentivesfor cleaner technologies and international cooperation onemissions reductions.For the United States to be fully engaged in the fightagainst global warming, however, Congress must support legislationthat requires the deep emissions reductions neededto stay within the budget described here and protect futuregenerations from the risks of dangerous climate change.Amy Lynd Luers ’84, who was manager of the Union of ConcernedScientists California climate program, has moved to Google.orgto work on a new initiative to predict and prevent emergingthreats including climate risk and infectious disease. She lives inAlbany, California, with her husband Leonard, a geomorphologist(studies rivers), and their son Cedar.This article first appeared in Catalyst, the magazine of the Unionof Concerned Scientists, and is reprinted with permission.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 27

This Is MyHousing of choice or housing of last resort? Manufactured housing is both.Importantly, it is home for millions of Americans. Working with the nonprofitCommunity Reinvestment Association of North Carolina, Adam, a formerphotojournalist, created a book of photos and personal stories from across the countrythat illustrate the problems that confront people who live in these communities.Governments and nonprofits make assumptions about suitable, affordable housing.Yet,” says Adam, “people, voting with their feet, flock to manufactured homes. This Is My Homeattempts to respond to this paradox in housing policy. Giving residents more control over theland where they live will give them more say over their destiny as homeowners and citizens.”His book has been called an asset in combating our nation's affordable housing crisis.28 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

HomeThe Challenges andOpportunities ofManufactured HousingStory and photos by Adam Rust ’87“We were scared that we were not going to live.When I heard the wind, I leaned over to lock the door.I never made it. I tried to protect my wife and kids. Therefrigerator fell on my wife. She got a bad bruise. I donot want to live in a mobile home anymore. I want ahouse. I want to live in a safe place.” On the day afterrain and heavy winds flipped his home in Leggett, NorthCarolina, upside down, truck driver Atilano Villeda,shown with Faviola, his daughter, still could not believehe lost his home of nine years.Bobbie Mozart, a retiredtelephone operator, neededan access ramp for hermobile home in Durham,North Carolina. Localofficials declined, citing rulesagainst using communitydevelopment block grants forrepairs to personal property.“She said,” tells Bobbie,“‘You don’t live in a home.You live in a trailer.’ That iswhat really upset me. This ismy home. She said, ‘It’s notconsidered a house.’” In theend, she got her ramp builtthrough a local nonprofit.Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 29

Calvin Johnson owns a singlewide with his partner, Angela Simple. Although an older home, built before theimproved HUD-code standards in 1976, they have done their best to maintain it. It may not be what some callbeautiful, but to Calvin and Angela, it has always been home. At least until they received the devastating news thattheir land-lease park in Fayetteville, North Carolina, was closing. As the notice period ends and winter approaches,Calvin remains stumped. He cannot afford to move his home. The park owner did not sell the land, although the waterand power were turned off. Calvin and Angela remained on site, feeling like squatters in their own home. They boughtwater and powered a few lights on batteries. Even so, other necessities were not so easily replaced. Once the parkclosed, the post office stoppeddelivering mail, and without aland line, Angela’s cell phoneserved as their only means ofcommunication. They washed inbathrooms at gasoline stations intown. Even the most basic thingsceased to be easy.Evan Ross draws electricity from his car battery to power a hot plate. He rests inthe doorway of his singlewide and looks out at a park full of abandoned homes. Aline worker at a chicken processing plant, he remains in his home although the parkhas no water. He laughs at how a little problem like no electricity or water made somany people leave their homes. “When I was growing up, we didn’t have electriclight. We had lamplight. That’s why this doesn’t bother me too much. My wife left.She wasn’t staying here anymore. She stays with her mom.” Abandonment hurtsland-lease residents like Evan in much the same way that condemned buildings canbring problems to those who live nearby in urban areas.30 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

Javier Gallardo’s family boughta new doublewide with a forgivableloan. The two parents and eightchildren had been living in a one-roomsinglewide. He says the loan programchanged his life. Riverside County,California, realized that systematicchange was needed for manufacturedhousing to keep providing shelter tomuch of the region’s workforce. Theydecided to launch a program thatworks with residents and park owners,in which residents can receive loansto purchase their homes. DaughterLiduvina, right, stays cool in the backyard of her new home in Thermal,where temperatures exceed 100degrees more than 100 days per year.The situation is not perfect.The park still has dirt roads and is farfrom luxurious, but new manufacturedhousing has made a difference in thefamily’s life.Javier finishes a day of workingin the fields with his son Alex.By accommodating the desire amongfarm workers to live in wide open spaces,the Riverside County plan honors culturalpreferences. “Last time we went back(to our old home) we were like,‘How were we living in these conditions?’”says Alex. “We didn’t have airconditioning. We had a cooler, ice. Itwas hot, like 120 and 125, sometimesit goes up to 130. We had no door. Wehad some times when it was windy—asandstorm—and a lot of sand wouldcome in the house because the windowswere broken…. Now we are okay.”Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 31

After the IRS seizedLockwood Mobile Home Park inLockwood, Nevada, park residentCharlie Cheramie helped organizeefforts for resident ownership. Hefeared that Lockwood would eitherclose, or that a new owner wouldincrease rents. Instead residentsworked with the Rural CommunityAssistance Corporation to buythe community themselves. “Itall started when my wife wrotea notice of a meeting at thefirehouse. I was very blunt withthem, ‘You are going to lose yourhome. Who is interested in forminga co-op so that we can buy thepark?’ I got a lot of responses.We are all low-income here…. Ifyou want to go somewhere else,well, if you realize that moving [asinglewide or doublewide] is goingto cost more money than you’vegot,…then you have to abandon it.You just have to leave it. Then youare going to lose your home.”“You can ’ t buy anything around here for under $200,000.You just can’t do it,” explains Jessica Sawyer, a homemaker inMilton, Vermont. “If you need a loan for a trailer, good luck! Thebank will tell you it is too risky. They don’t do that. They don’tdeal with manufactured homes. The credit union said, ‘Comeon in.’ It is a great place for people with little or no income toget started. They will help you get started. “We went throughand redid the floors. We have hardwood floors and slate tiles,wainscoting. My son’s room is getting redone. We redid thebackyard. If you want a house, this is the perfect stepping stone.I have a plan. In about three years, I will have enough money tobuild a house. This is my down payment.”32 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

Jeffery Harrisholds his daughter,Angel, while fryingsome bologna fordinner. Harris, a parttimewelder, strugglesto make ends meet.When WoodbridgeMobile Home Park inMurfreesboro, NorthCarolina, was sold, thenew owner raised lotrents from $100 to $165per month.Adam Rust '87 isresearch director of theCommunity ReinvestmentAssociation of NorthCarolina and an awardwinningphotojournalist.He earned a master’sin journalism from theUniversity of Missouri-Columbia and a master’sin regional planning fromthe University of NorthCarolina-Chapel Hill. Thisarticle is excerpted fromhis book, This Is My Home,published by CarolinaAcademic Press. For moreinformation, turn to page 7.“We are not ‘ trailer trash, ’” says retiree Edna Cudworth, also a Lockwood resident. “There areintelligent people over here, people that want to work. People that want a better place. Most are olderfolks, retired, handicapped. Very, very low income. We were victims of crime. It was tax fraud. Andwe were going to lose our homes. Some people would have become indigent. They would not havehad any place to go. ‘These are widows,’ I said [to the IRS agent]. ‘Would you get rid of your widowedaunt? Would you get rid of your grandfather?’ You should have seen his face! He apologized. Hesaid, ‘I am in the business of getting rid of property…. I did not know until I saw.’ Well, he became anadvocate after he saw.”Taft Bulletin Spring 2008 33

F r o m t h e A r c h i v e sTwenty-one years ago, Curt Buttenheim ’36 came across, “in anancient file” of his, a clipping from The New Yorker thathad been published shortly after his graduation from Taft—whichalso happened to be Horace Taft’s last as headmaster.Without the exact publication date, acquiring permission toreprint the anecdote in the Bulletin proved too difficult until now.The New Yorker’s searchable online archive helped us findthe date, and every issue of the magazine prior to 2006 is nowavailable on DVD in The Complete New Yorker.(That said, in the interim my sister has joined the EnglishDepartment at Worcester Academy and our publication of thispiece has nothing to do with sibling rivalry.)Thank you, Curt, for sharing the story, and thanks foryour patience!—EditorPhoto: Leslie D. Manning ArchivesThe Talk of the TownBy Lawrence L. Winship and Russell MaloneyJuly 25, 1936Dear Horace,Horace D. Taft, who is a brother of the ex-President, resigned a few weeks ago as headmaster of Taft School. Shortly after thishe received a letter from Worcester Academy, where somebody had presumably read a whittled-down newspaper item sayingthat Horace Taft had left Taft School. The letter was addressed “Dear Horace,” and went on to say that they had heard Horacewas leaving school, and would he perhaps be interested in enrolling at Worcester. Before Mr. Taft could get around to answeringthis, another “Dear Horace” letter appeared, asking if Horace wouldn’t tell them what subjects interested him. There wasa little questionnaire, including such questions as “How old are you?” and “Do you like to read?” This time Mr. Taft answeredthe letter. He filled in the questionnaire, saying that he liked very much to read, and that he was seventy-four years old.Since then there has been a cessation of correspondence from Worcester, perhaps temporary, perhaps permanent.Copyright © 1936 The New Yorker Magazine Inc. All rights reserved. Originally published in theJuly 25, 1936, issue of The New Yorker. Reprinted by permission of Condé Nast Publications.34 Taft Bulletin Spring 2008

AlternativeSpring Breaks 2008b Dominican Republic,Orphanage OutreachMarch 8 to 16Amanda Turner ’10 and Diana Szakál ’09 volunteer at a very small privateschool called Ciudad de Luz while in the Dominican Republic. This is thefourth year students have worked there. Enyi-Abal Koeneb Collegium MusicumSpring TourMarch 5 to 15Devant le pont d’Avignon: CollegiumMusicum gave concerts in Paris and Aixen-Provence,France, and Barcelona, Spain,during its annual spring tour. Peter Frew ’75Jazz Band Trip to Memphis cMarch 6 to 10The Jazz Band took advantage of an open evening to playat Wally’s Café, a renown jazz club in Boston, before flyingto Memphis to play on Beale Street over spring break.For more information onany of these trips, please visitTaftSchool.orgb South AfricaMarch 4 to 15Taft’s South Africa delegation with Zenani Mandela(the former president’s daughter). Other highlights ofthe trip included visits to Alexandra, Soweto and LangaTownships, Ithuteng Trust, and the Constitutional Court.continued from page 2—basketball or wrestling in the winter; and baseball,track, tennis or golf in the spring. Thebetter players, of course, played on the varsitywhile everyone else played intramurals as anAlpha, Beta or Gamma.Breakfast was at 7:00 a.m. and in thathour before class we ate, cleaned our rooms anddid our assigned jobs. The jobs were performedby underclassmen and seniors inspected them tobe certain they were done properly. As a monitor,I was head job inspector my senior year, andperhaps why I remember all this so well.The jobs pertained, mostly, to cleaning a classroom,hallway, etc. The exception to this was waitingon tables in the Dining Hall. This was the worstjob of all. The trays were heavy, the time involvedmuch greater; three meals a day for 14 straight days.Lowermids and mids did most of the waiting—uppermidsonly once or twice, seniors never.The whole school assembled in Binghamdaily after the last class and just before lunch forJob Assembly. On the stage, three monitors at atable facing the audience. The two on the endsread whatever announcements there were that day.The one in the middle spoke last, reading fromthe “soak” book—soak meaning demerit. Theoffender’s name was read aloud, he then stood athis seat and was advised of his offense. Typically,there were two or three boys so called out.—Bill Lammers ’49PS. Our class was the first to enjoy the WadeHouse (photo, page 68 of the winter issue).

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