Dickinson Magazine Fall 2018

FA L L 2 0 1 8 | VO L U M E 9 6 | N U M B E R 2

The How-To Issue

in season Learn about the new High Street Residence Hall on Page 17.

Photo by Carl Socolow ’77

[ useful for the common good ]

How to Navigate the Road Ahead MARGEE ENSIGN, PRESIDENT

These are challenging times for American higher education.

Even a college as old and as distinguished as Dickinson is facing challenges unforeseen a decade or two ago. But be assured, Dickinson is thriving. We have been engaged this year in serious and focused discussions about who we are, what we hope to become and how we will get there. A plan of action is taking shape.

1.

To respond to demographic changes, Dickinson must become far better known outside of the Northeast. And it is crucial that Dickinson continue to be affordable and accessible to all students. We will need loyal and articulate

members of the national and international Dickinson community to help us reach these students. We have many great stories to tell—our early commitment to sustainability and to community engagement, our decades-long leadership in global education, our innovative Mosaic and ALLARM programs. Each day, talk about Dickinson in your workplace or your community. Share stories you see on our website and our social media channels. Help us tell the world about this distinctive and useful liberal-arts experience.

2.

We will establish new revenue-enhancing programs to increase our reach and our visibility. Beginning next

summer, we will offer innovative programming for high school students to prepare them for success in college.

Our joint programming with the U.S. Army War College—a unique partnership between a liberal-arts college and a service academy—will strengthen our offerings in peacebuilding, international cooperation and humanitarian response.

3.

While remaining absolutely committed to our liberal-arts mission, we will implement more effective ways of helping to guide and prepare students for the careers— often the many careers—that will await them in a rapidly changing world. We have merged our advising, career services and

internship placement offices into the Center for Advising, Internships & Lifelong Career Development, which is focused on student and alumni success. We commit to making an internship available for every student who wants one so our students get to apply their knowledge and attain real-world experience. Our internship opportunities will be both domestic and international, at public and private institutions. Will you commit to hosting and hiring one of our students?

4.

We shall continue to provide a world-class education that evolves as the world changes. Our highly regarded

writing center provides essential support for all students. We are responding to the growing importance of mathematics and data analysis with a new quantitative economics major as well as with big data classes. Our Quantitative Reasoning Center provides a level of support that is uncommon in a liberal-arts college. And delivering on the promise that liberal-arts colleges make—but often fail to fulfill—we are ensuring that value questions are at the core of what we do and have developed an Ethics Across the Curriculum initiative.

5.

Carrying on the revolutionary tradition of which we are all so proud, we are establishing a new Center for Civic Learning and Action. Building on our exemplary record

of civic engagement, the college will become far more involved in strengthening the country’s dedication to democracy, justice and constitutional government.

6.

Dickinson will be the first college in the country to institutionalize inclusion, continuing our efforts to equip all of our students, faculty and staff with the skills needed to work in a global society. We all must increase our

understanding of and our communication with those who come from different cultural backgrounds. We shall weave such competency throughout everything we do, much like we did when we made sustainability a cornerstone of the Dickinson experience and education.

7.

When our students leave Dickinson, they will join a “Dickinson forever” community of lifelong learning.

Knowledge today changes so rapidly that even the very finest education soon finds itself in need of an update. We want to

make sure that our alumni, parents and friends are able to stay current with the very latest ideas and information impacting our careers and reshaping our futures, so we will establish an ambitious new lifelong-education program for Dickinson alumni.

The road ahead for U.S. higher education will be neither smooth nor straight. But the Dickinson community knows its true north, and together we will navigate a bright future Dickinson.

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[ feature ]

[ contents ] D I C K I N S O N M AG A Z I N E " FA L L 2 0 1 8 | VO L U M E 9 6 | N U M B E R 2

UP FRONT

23 How to Make Revolutionary Chocolate —Priscilla Addison ’09

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useful for the common good

3

your view

25 How to Create a Comic Book —Gregory Lockard ’03

4

college & west high

26 How to Build the Perfect Playlist —Manny Ocampo ’18

8

in the game

27 How to Fulfill a Lifelong Dream —Richard Hepner ’60

18

kudos

28 How to Get Creative in the Kitchen (Sustainably!) —David Durstewitz ’10

24 How to Discover Your Voice as a Student Activist —Espoir DelMain ’21

29 How to Prep Your Pack Like a Pro —Alexandra Mier y Terán ’19 IN BACK

30 How to Turn a Knitting Hobby Into a Crafting Career —Joy Fishburne Macdonell ’89

34 beyond the limestone walls

31 How to Tie Unusual Tie Knots —Mike Holden, professor of chemistry

36

32 How to Understand Urban Blight in America’s Neighborhoods and Work to Eliminate It —Jeri Stumpf ’66

our Dickinson

54 obituaries

33 How to Improve Your Memory —Teresa Barber, professor of psychology

56

33 How to Repurpose Your Copies of Dickinson Magazine

closing thoughts

President Margee Ensign Vice President of Marketing & Communications Connie McNamara Editor Lauren Davidson Lead Designer Amanda DeLorenzo Class Notes Designer Neil L. Mills College Photographer Carl Socolow ’77 Contributing Writers MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson David Blosser ’19 Alexander Bossakov ’20 Matt Getty Kandace Kohr Tony Moore

Address changes may be sent to Dickinson Magazine, Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013-2896. www.dickinson.edu/magazine | dsonmag@dickinson.edu | 717-245-1289 Printed by Progress Printing Plus in Lynchburg, Va.

ON THE COVER

Cover illustration by Talia Amorosano ’17 (art & art history, English), who recently completed a year as Dickinson’s post-baccalaureate intern and is starting a new job as a multimedia specialist at Penn State University’s Department of Information Technology.

SUSTAINABLY PRODUCED

Printed using wind energy and soy-based inks on Finch paper. All Finch papers are produced in Glens Falls, N.Y., using 66% on-site sustainable energy sources: emission-free hydroelectricity from the Hudson River and biomass co-generation from wood waste. Finch sustains natural American forests, supports independently certified fiber sourcing and reduces fossil fuel emissions.

Magazine Advisory Board Jim Gerencser ’93 Donna Hughes Gregory Lockard ’03 David O’Connell Adrienne Su Kirk Swenson Alisa Valudes Whyte ’93

d ic k i n s o n ma g a z i n e Fall 2018

© Dickinson College 2018. Dickinson Magazine (USPS Permit No. 19568, ISSN 2719134) is published four times a year, in January, April, July and October, by Dickinson College, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, Cumberland County, PA 17013-1773.

Periodicals postage paid at Carlisle, PA, and additional mailing office.

FOLLOW US:

dickinson.edu/socialmedia www.facebook.com/DickinsonMagazine

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[ your view ] On “One for the History Books” What a pleasure to see the expose on Professor Steve Weinberger in the recent issue of Dickinson Magazine. Professor Weinberger was my freshman seminar advisor. At our first meeting, he changed the course of my academic career—and for that matter, my life!

I told him I wanted to graduate in three years and go to law school. He asked me what my rush was. He told me I would be crazy to do that and that I needed to slow down and enjoy the best four years of my life and that I should definitely go abroad for a year. I listened to him and indeed had four of the best years of my life including a year in England. Slowing down a bit also made me realize I really didn’t want to go to law school. To this day, I reflect fondly on that conversation whenever I hear the Billy Joel song Vienna, and I realize I need to slow down and enjoy my whole life. Thank you, and all the best to you, Professor Weinberger!

TONIA BLEECHER ’89

CHEVY CHASE, MD

M LAURA KAYE @laurakayeauthor What a fantastic tribute. I had Professor Weinberger circa 1989-92 and still remember his classes fondly! Truly the end of an era. Best wishes to him!

M KARL QUALLS @prof4russia Steve and the college have changed remarkably over the last 50 years, but there are two constants during that period, as the photos show—his trademark beard and the desks in Denny Hall. Congratulations, Steve! It has been a pleasure working with you the last 18 years.

WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

The men’s lacrosse championship photo that was printed on Page 1 (table of contents) of the summer issue was taken by Lily Mott ’18.

We want to hear from you! Send letters via email to dsonmag@dickinson.edu or mail to: Dickinson Magazine, P.O. Box 1773, Carlisle, PA 17013-1773. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Summer Issue Success Just finished reading the latest edition … very cool! I’m always excited to read what amazing things Dickinson faculty, family and alums have done and are doing, like using their education and professional skills to make our world a better place! You guys also have such a great talent for showcasing that in such an interesting way in the magazine. Keep up the great work!

JERI STUMPF ’66

WILLOW STREET, PA

What a fabulous issue of Dickinson Magazine you produced for the summer! Not only is it easy to read with a superior layout and design, but the content clearly shows that Dickinson continues to be a college “on the move.” As I prepare to really retire in the spring of 2019 (I took early retirement from Dickinson 10 years earlier), I am particularly interested in how small liberal-arts colleges will navigate the choppy waters that we are currently encountering and will continue to experience through the 2020s.

Dickinson presents an outlook for the future that is confident and bold!

In this issue, it is clear that the college is serving the common good through its curricular and cocurricular emphasis on civic engagement, ethics and sustainability. Dickinson’s new Bridge Program “engages the world” as we said back in the 2000s. At the same time the college works

on these important national and international issues, it is committed to finding new sources of revenue that will allow it to continue to fulfill the vision of Dr. Rush, and it is establishing new “useful” majors such as quantitative economics that will appeal to prospective students looking for a liberal-arts college that “gets it.”

And my congratulations and gratitude go out to Steve Weinberger after 50 years of dedicated service. Steve was a longtime professor when I arrived at Dickinson in 1999, and I always enjoyed my interactions with him.

This is a great time to be a Dickinsonian.

Thank you for showing that so well in the summer magazine.

ROBERT J. MASSA P’07

Former Vice President for Enrollment & College Relations BRANCHBURG, NJ

A St. Croix Connection The story begins last August when my son accepted an offer to move to “paradise” and open a brewery. He took his wife and my granddaughter, Hana, to St. Croix and began planning and construction—until Maria hit. Only a week later I was glad to hear that Hana was back in school, because the parents were so good about pitching in to get the school back up and running. Sometime later Hana informed me that her teacher went to Dickinson. I put that fact in the back of my mind until I saw Carisma’s article. My Hana will be, I hope, one of those “next generation of hurricane survivors.”

ALAN BRONSTEIN ’66

ELKINS PARK, PA

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Swimming Alumni Meet (other alumni competitions included baseball and men’s and women’s lacrosse)

X-House BBQ 4

Sorority & Fraternity Pancakes on the Plaza

Photos by Carl Socolow ’77 unless otherwise noted

[ college & west high ]

Whether you're part of the Parents Leadership Council or the John Dickinson Society, an alumni athlete or a proud Red Devil parent, a recent grad or a golden grad, the 2018 festivities offered abundant opportunities to reconnect and explore.

Additional coverage at dson.co/hcfw18.

Joe O'Neill

Hike to Pole Steeple

All-campus Barbecue & Tailgate

Downtown Carlisle Harvest of the Arts

Laura Wills

Homecoming & Family Weekend

SCENES FROM

Nov. 16 – 18 PROJECT3

The Cubiculo Theatre, High Street

Events music lectures art Calendar of Arts: dickinson.edu/coa

Carlisle Happenings: lovecarlisle.com

The Clarke Forum: clarke.dickinson.edu

Nov. 30 – Dec. 2 Carlisle’s Wonderland Weekend

Dec. 9 Dickinson in Song: The Dickinson College Choir

Rubendall Recital Hall, Weiss Center for the Arts

NOV. 2 – FEB. 16

Unloaded: An Exhibition Exploring Guns in Our Culture

The Trout Gallery, Weiss Center for the Arts NOV. 5 – 28

Senior Studio-Art Seminar: Works In Progress

Goodyear Gallery, Goodyear Building NOV. 13

The Clarke Forum: How Democracies Die

Daniel Ziblatt, Harvard University NOV. 16

The Dickinson College Jazz Ensemble

Rubendall Recital Hall, Weiss Center for the Arts NOV. 29

The Clarke Forum: Feminist Sorority Girls: A Place for Intersectionality in Tradition?

Donna Bickford, director of the Women’s & Gender Resource Center; Brontè Burleigh-Jones, vice president for finance & administration; Diana Turk, New York University; Deborah Whaley, University of Iowa DEC. 3 – 15

Brooke Wiley: Retrospective

Goodyear Gallery, Goodyear Building DEC. 11

Dickinson College Concerto Competition

Rubendall Recital Hall, Weiss Center for the Arts

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1.

2.

Hit the slopes at SKI ROUNDTOP, which offers many fun winter activities for various skill levels, including skiing, snowboarding and snow tubing.

Break out your ice skates for an afternoon of skating or hockey on LAUREL LAKE.

7.

Explore the 10TH ANNUAL HOLIDAY CRAFT AND FINE ART SHOW, coming to Carlisle on Nov. 24 with a host of handmade crafts, art pieces and more!

6.

Go cross-country skiing at CALEDONIA STATE PARK, where there are over 10 miles of trails for all skill levels.

How to Enjoy a Winter Getaway in & around Carlisle

5.

Eat, drink and be merry at one of several local craft breweries/pubs, like BURD’S NEST BREWING, GRAND ILLUSION CIDER and MOLLY PITCHER BREWING, most of which offer a special, holiday-inspired brew.

4.

3.

Take in the CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA YOUTH BALLET’s performance of George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker on Dec. 15 and 16 at Whitaker Center or Dec. 22 and 23 at Hershey Theatre.

Winter in central Pennsylvania can be tricky for travel, but there are also a number of unique opportunities to enjoy during the colder months.

So if you find yourself in or around Carlisle this winter, as the snow blankets the landscape and paints the town perfectly white, try one—or all—of these wintry activities. —Kandace Kohr

Check in and stay awhile at the CARLISLE HOUSE BED & BREAKFAST for a cozy visit, or splurge on the newly renovated SMITH STEINER ON SOUTH COLLEGE STREET. Both spots are within walking distance of downtown. And just outside of town is the recently renovated Allenberry Resort!

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B

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We’re taking Campus Close-Ups off social media and putting them in the magazine for an all-athletics edition to show off some of the awesome, action-packed spaces around campus. Test your knowledge, then head to Dickinson.edu/magazine for the reveal photos!

Congratulations to the 2018 Dickinson Athletics Hall of Fame inductees! We were proud to honor these Red Devils during Homecoming & Family Weekend: Caitlin “Cait” Bradley ’08, cross country, indoor track & field, outdoor track & field; Chris McInerney ’08, football and baseball; Lisa Nichols Cialino ’08, women’s soccer; Lizzie Cone ’07, women’s lacrosse; and the 2006 women’s lacrosse team.

Cheer on your Red Devils! Check out all the stats, scores, schedules and highlights at dickinsonathletics.com.

Watch free live broadcasts online, produced by students in the Red Devil Sports Network (RDSN). Follow @DsonRedDevils on Twitter, Dickinson Red Devils on Facebook and @DickinsonAthletics on Instagram for daily updates. #DsonRedDevils

[ in the game ]

Coach Talk EMILY: Q: What’s your philosophy for building a culture of winning?

A: Winning is a choice. We choose to work hard on the court and in the weight room, put in extra time and stay disciplined and committed. When all those things come together and we believe in one common goal, winning takes care of itself.

Q: What’s your strategy for landing more W’s this year?

A: We learned a lot about ourselves last year, and many of our players were able to gain valuable gametime experience. With the experience coming back and a mix of our newcomers, we’ll focus on being disciplined and doing the little things right.

Q: What do you say to recruits?

A: Look at our players. They’re

outstanding young women—driven in the classroom, driven on the court and engaged on our campus and in our community.

Photos by Carl Socolow ’77

Q: What do you look for in prospective players?

A: We always say that talent gets you noticed, but your work ethic, focus in the classroom and ability to be a good teammate make us want you to be a part of our team.

Q: What’s a big highlight from your first year with Dickinson?

A: Playing F&M at home during winter break, when we were neck and neck in the standings. We had multiple players step up and have a big game, and our whole men’s lacrosse team was in the stands cheering us on. It was an awesome game atmosphere that provided great energy!

Alan Seretti has been the head men’s basketball coach at Dickinson since 2009, leading the Red Devils to unprecedented success. Emily Hays, on the other hand, is entering just her second season as women’s head coach. So as the new season gets underway, it seemed like a good time to catch up with both of them and all things Red Devils basketball. –Tony Moore ALAN: Q: What’s your strategy for maintaining a culture of winning?

A: We’ve had some great coaches and great players, and they have built a bridge from our past to our current groups. And the ability of our alumni to communicate what it means to be a member of the Dickinson community and our basketball program has been and will continue to be a huge key to our success.

Q: What do you say to recruits?

A: If they want a first-rate education that they can use for the common good, then we’re probably speaking with the right individuals. If they want to go to an Ivy League graduate school, own a business, win a championship, be the National Player of the Year ... we’ve had players accomplish those things and more.

Q: What are some highlights from your years with Dickinson?

A: The best memories are the relationships we develop with our student-athletes and alumni. On the court, the championship game appearance in 2011, the Centennial Conference championship victories in 2013 and 2015 and defeating nationally ranked Wooster to advance to the Sweet 16 in 2014 were especially satisfying.

Q: How do you keep players focused on basketball as well as academics?

A: Our faculty is outstanding, and the guys know when they choose Dickinson that they’re here for academic purposes first and foremost.

Last year our team GPA was a cumulative 3.4.

Check out an extended Q&A at Dickinson.edu/magazine 9

[ college & west high ]

Pedaling Toward Partnerships

d ic k i n s o n ma g a z i n e Fall 2018

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[ college & west high ]

S

afe transportation is a major concern for residents of Carlisle’s Northside neighborhood. Without access to vehicles or reliable public transport, some report that they can’t take advantage of needed social services, like YWCA programs and the Project SHARE food bank. Bicycles can sustainably and affordably bridge that gap, so when the Northside Carlisle Learning and Action Network (NCLAN) launched last fall, bringing members of the Dickinson community together with local leaders to address issues facing Northsiders, safe cycling was on the table.

Within three months, NCLAN introduced the Northside Ride.

Presented by Dickinson in partnership with four local nonprofits, the April 14 event drew approximately 100 Northside residents, ages 3 to 75. All had access to a free pre-ride tuneup and bike maintenance lesson, courtesy of student volunteers from Dickinson’s Handlebar bike repair shop and community partners.

The 3.3-mile group ride began at Hope Station and included stops at the Carlisle YWCA, Project SHARE and New Life Community Church. At each location, Northsiders sharpened bike skills and knowledge—such as how to travel safely with traffic, properly lock bikes, use hand signals and brake effectively—by answering questions and completing fun, simple tasks, like dodging obstacles, participating in a slow race and navigating traffic cones.

Each success was rewarded with a passport stamp.

At the end of the event, riders displayed their filled passports and were rewarded with a free bicycle light set.

The event drew 35 volunteers, including five Dickinson staff members and 15 students. Together, they delivered bike tuneups and safety checks to 43 community members, fitted and distributed 54 helmets and handed out 35 locks, 45 light sets and 20 youth bikes. And while participants connected with neighbors, became more skillful riders and gained the equipment and knowledge that allowed them to follow Pennsylvania bicycling rules and regulations, they also became familiar with a designated bicycle route and with the community organizations along it, just a short ride from home.

The event was sponsored by Dickinson’s Center for Sustainability Education (CSE), along with Cole’s Bicycles, Hope Station, New Life Community Church, Project SHARE, Recycle Bicycle Harrisburg, the Raven’s Claw honor society, Crabtree Rohrbaugh & Associates Architects and YWCA Carlisle.

Of the roughly $2,000 raised, nearly $800 came from Raven’s Claw fundraisers. Event organizers donated surplus equipment to LifeCycle, a program of Carlisle’s New Life Community Church, for distribution to those in need.

“This event demonstrated to me that, at Dickinson, we are blessed with so many resources— including people and knowledge— and we have the ability to make a real impact.”

—Brenda Landis

“This event demonstrated to me that, at Dickinson, we are blessed with so many resources—including people and knowledge—and we have the ability to make a real impact,” said Brenda Landis, a multimedia specialist at Dickinson and Carlisle Borough Council member who lives in Northside (pictured, bottom left, with daughter Rosie). And, she noted, the benefits reverberate long after the finish line was crossed.

Also important, added Lindsey Lyons, CSE assistant director, was the partnership among Dickinson, nonprofit leaders and Northsiders. “This event addressed specific needs identified by the community members it served,” she explained. “It’s been exciting to see so many people bring ideas to the table.” —MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

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college & west high

IT’S EASY

for seasoned professionals to forget what it was like to transition from a student’s schedule to the 9-to-5 grind.

Or how we learned to dress for success, rock Microsoft Office, propose a new idea or identify our ideal work cultures—and all of the other bits of informal education that arrive with on-the-job experience.

For students who serve internships, that education begins long before graduation, and it benefits them at every stage of their undergrad careers. We asked students to share what they gained through internships—beyond job leads and resumé bullet points—that helped them long before their first job

Beyond the Resumé:

INTERNSHIPS

search begins. —MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

Reap Benefits From Day One

Developing career- Networking specific skills and identifying next steps

Mastering Expanding new schedules horizons and deadlines

—Zoey Miller ’20 (BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY), research intern, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

“I have a better appreciation of what it means to work a 9-to-5 job.”

“I now know how to navigate complicated protocols and large lab settings.”

“I learned the ins and outs about how a governmental agency works.”

—Olivia Termini ’19 (ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, CLASSICAL STUDIES), planning, measuring and oversight intern, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

“My internship experience this summer has better prepared me for next year and for life after Dickinson, because it has taught me the value of working in a team. While each of the employees have different responsibilities, it’s the collaboration of their ideas and shared efforts that make their department successful.”

—Erica Wells ’19 (SOCIOLOGY), community relations intern, New York Jets

“Beyond communicating with professionals from around the globe, I’ve worked with foreign diplomats and military servicemen, listening to their concerns on regional security and the pursuit of innovation.”

—Matthew Lawson ’19 (POLITICAL SCIENCE, SECURITY STUDIES), research intern, Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies

“Interning has helped me realize what I didn’t know and then identify where I want to channel my energy for the next two years.”

—Alette Kligman ’20 (POLITICAL SCIENCE), teaching fellow, Breakthrough of Greater Philadelphia

“I was able to ask employees about their career paths and better understand where my education and experience might lead me.”

—Samantha Florio ’21 (INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS & MANAGEMENT), finance and accounting intern, vineyard vines

d ic k i n s o n ma g a z i n e Fall 2018

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—Sophie Haas-Goldberg ’19 (INTERNATIONAL STUDIES), communications and development intern, International Bridges to Justice in Geneva

“[I’ve learned about] the daily commute and developing and maintaining professional relationships.”

—Declan Wasp ’19 (POLICY MANAGEMENT), marketing specialist intern, NASDAQ

“[I’ve learned] that working on and solving real-world problems with a deadline is different than working on homework that you can always come back to.”

—Prabuddha Tuladhar ’19 (COMPUTER SCIENCE, MATH), summer analyst, Aladdin Product Group, Blackrock

“I was surprised to learn of the plethora of opportunities available to Russian language majors.”

—Jules Isacson ’19 (RUSSIAN, ECONOMICS), Russian language and culture intern, Library of Congress

“This has been a great opportunity to explore cyber, which is normally explored by STEM majors.”

—Amanda Custer ’19 (INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, SPANISH), research intern, Institute of World Politics

“I have gained a wealth of knowledge about the impact of an environmental nonprofit, a career path I had never considered exploring before.”

—Ariel Levin-Antila ’21 (ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES, PSYCHOLOGY), communications intern, Earth Day Network

“An internship is an experience; it’s nothing permanent. So if you’re considering a career in a field, give it a try with an internship and see if you feel like it’s a good fit.”

—Ana-Elena Karlova ’21 (ART & ART HISTORY, ECONOMICS), Department of Europe intern, Ministry of Economy of The Republic of Bulgaria

Carl Socolow ’77

Doug Pauls ’80 signs off on the internship challenge with President Margee Ensign.

Building inspiration “Being a part of such important efforts and assisting in the conservation of such a unique species gives me hope that my education and career will have a positive impact on the world.”

—Josie Verter ’19 (BIOLOGY), sloth technician, The Sloth Institute

“I have learned to push beyond my boundaries, try new things and explore options I never would have thought possible.”

—Alden Mohacsi ’19 (HISTORY), museum education intern, Art Institute of Chicago

“I have the opportunity to make a real impact.”

—Eryn Nelson ’19 (CHEMISTRY), analytical research & development intern, Merck

Take the INTERNSHIP CHALLENGE

Doug Pauls ’80 didn’t serve an internship when he was an undergrad, but as an alumnus and board member, he’s seen the difference a fruitful internship can make for today’s budding professionals. In partnership with his wife, Terri, he’s issued a challenge to alumni, parents and friends of the college to help Dickinson in its quest to make an internship available to every student who wants one.

The couple have pledged to match all internship gifts made in support of the Doug and Terri Pauls ’80 Internship Fund this year, up to $100,000, as part of a larger gift the couple have made. The funding helps qualified students who want to serve a promising unpaid or low-pay internship but cannot afford to, because of expenses such as food, housing and travel to internship sites.

“My firm belief is that, if I have a chance to change the world, my best chance is by giving to Dickinson,” Pauls said during a recent visit to campus. “So I would ask alumni and parents to please consider supporting this program.”

To join the matching-gift challenge, visit dickinson.edu/gift and choose “Student Internship Fund” in the “Designation” drop-down menu.

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Photos by Carl Socolow ’77 unless otherwise noted

[ college & west high ]

635 members

In August, of Dickinson’s class of 2022 arrived on campus from 29 states and 24 countries.

In between Pre-Orientation Adventure Programs, campus tours, info sessions, visits to downtown Carlisle and icebreaker get-togethers, these new students learned about three key aspects of the college’s culture—service, inclusivity and ethics—and how these principles can help them participate more meaningfully in the campus community they now call home.

Participants in the Black Student Union Pre-Orientation Program explored the college archives.

“Since the founding of this nation, Dickinson College has been educating leaders dedicated to creating a more just and equitable society—a more perfect union,” said President Margee Ensign in her 2018 Convocation address.

“Such leadership calls for rigor of thought, ethical grounding, tolerance, and certainly—most certainly—it calls for a love of truth. That’s who we are. That’s what we do. Welcome, new students.”

Additional coverage of move-in, Pre-Orientation, Orientation and Convocation is available at dson.co/fynews.

The Red Devil Sports Network Pre-Orientation program took a trip to Philadelphia for some firsthand sports marketing and management discussions with the Philadelphia Phillies front-office staff, including President and CEO Andy MacPhail ’76. Photo by Brooke Donovan.

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BOOKSTORE FINDS

GLOBAL NECKWARE RED TIE $31.99 NANTUCKET BOW TIE $31.99

LEAGUE WOMEN’S TEE (white or oxford)

U-TRAU WOMEN’S PERFECT V TEE

$22.99

(graphite) $26.99

BOXERCRAFT SUBLIMATED JERSEY PANT $31.99

LEGACY MERMAID HAT (lake blue, white, red, green or violet) $21.99

VINEYARD VINES TOTE BAG $99.99

CERAMIC COASTER SET (4 pack) $21.99

CHARLES RIVER WOMEN’S RAIN JACKET $59.99

IT’S NO SECRET that Dickinsonians believe in

mermaids.

We proved that during the record-breaking 2018 Day of Giving! And so we wear, carry and display our mermaid merchandise with pride, and the Dickinson College Bookstore has a fin-tastic selection! Use promo code dsonmag1118 from Nov. 1 through Nov. 16 for 20% off items shown above. Additional mermaid items available in store and online at dickinson.edu/store.

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[ college & west high ] BRAGGING RIGHTS

Dickinson’s chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (PBK) earned a national “outstanding” award.

Dickinson is one of only six PBK chapters across the United States— out of a pool of nearly 300—to earn PBK’s highest honor.

Following a lengthy review, THE FORUM ON EDUCATION ABROAD noted that Dickinson’s Center for Global Study & Engagement is to be congratulated on its ongoing efforts to not only implement current best practices but also to look ahead and maintain its valuable model in light of future trends.

The Dickinson in New York program, which partners with Baruch College’s Zicklin School of Business, celebrated its 10th anniversary.

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Funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research is supporting STUDENT-FACULTY RESEARCH focused on the dwindling bee population.

The Washington Post highlighted Dickinson’s food studies program in a roundup of new majors.

Joe O'Neill

Sean Simmers

This fall, Dickinson launched the Center for Advising, Internships & Lifelong Career Development, uniting two already collaborative entities to provide a seamless and integrated approach to advising, internships and graduate and career development for students and alumni.

Photos by Carl Socolow ’77 unless otherwise noted

SEEING

GREEN A few new additions and upgrades to our campus this year alone will help move Dickinson closer to its goal of carbon neutrality by 2020.

WE’RE #1!

Dickinson was ranked the No. 1 Overall Top Performer among baccalaureate institutions in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s (AASHE) “Sustainable Campus Index 2018.”

COOL AGAIN

Sierra magazine, the official publication of the Sierra Club, has once again named Dickinson one of its “Coolest Schools” for environmental sustainability, this year at No. 6.

NEW DIGS

Nearly 130 students moved into the new High Street Residence Hall in September. The building is anticipated to receive LEED Platinum for Homes certification and features a design that connects our commitments to sustainability and innovation, including 46 bike-storage spaces, four rain gardens and a variety of energyefficient features.

SOLAR POWER Late this summer, construction was completed at the Dickinson Park solar array. Spanning 12 acres, more than 12,400 panels will generate approximately 5.2 million kwh of power per year, eradicating more than 25 percent of Dickinson’s carbon emissions associated with electricity consumption.

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Throughout the summer, Dickinson maintained a strong presence in national and international media, including a New York Times cover story and mentions in The Washington Post, National Geographic, Forbes, The Guardian, Science and The Hechinger Report.

Dickinson.edu/inthenews

Featured Faculty Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies Nina Barzachka’s essay “Austria Now Holds the E.U. Presidency. Expect a Tougher Stance on Immigration” was published in The Washington Post (Monkey Cage).

Associate Professor of East Asian Studies Shawn Bender was interviewed

by OZY for a story on the growing numbers of Japanese youth moving from urban to rural areas.

Associate Professor of Biology Scott Boback—science writers’ go-to expert for all stories related to snakes—was interviewed by National Geographic for a story on a rare python attack in Indonesia and by Live Science for a report on a decapitated snake that bit a man in Texas.

Professor of Asian Law and Society Neil Diamant discussed skepticism among Chinese Army veterans of a new Ministry of Veterans Affairs for a story in The New York Times and authored an op-ed on People’s Liberation Army (PLA) veterans for East Asia Forum.

Volcanologist and Professor of Earth Sciences Ben Edwards continued to be a go-to source for information related to the Kilauea volcano eruption. In addition to the mentions in the summer issue, his expert analysis appeared in articles in Forbes, USA Today and Gizmodo, and he was interviewed by NPR member station WITF (Harrisburg, Pa.).

Professor of Mathematics Dick Forrester published “An Integer Programming Approach to Crop Rotation Planning at an Organic Farm,” which appeared in the UMAP Journal. The paper was coauthored with Miguel Rodriguez ’13 and is based on a studentfaculty research project. The duo developed a mathematical model that determined a crop rotation schedule for the Dickinson College Farm that takes into account crop-yield requirements, 18

[ college & west high ] irrigation type, weed control, feeding habits and other considerations.

Professor of Psychology Marie Helweg-Larsen was interviewed by The Guardian’s science editor for a video titled “After You: The Psychology of Queues and How to Beat Them.”

Associate Professor of Biology Dave Kushner published “SELEX and SHAPE reveal that sequence motifs and an extended hairpin in the 5’ portion of Turnip crinkle virus satellite RNA C mediate fitness in plants” in Virology (Vol. 520, 2018). Charlie Bayne ’15, Max Widawski ’14, Mohammed Masab ’13, Allison Murawski ’12, Robert Sansevere ’14, Bryan Lerner ’14, Rinaldys Castillo ’17, Trevor Griesman ’15, Jiantao Fu ’15, Jennifer Hibben ’14 and Alma Garcia-Perez ’17 were co-authors on the paper. The article is a follow-up to a 2015 Virology paper (Vol. 483) titled “Rapid evolution of in vivo-selected sequences and structures replacing 20% of a viral RNA” co-authored by Murawski, Johnathan Nieves ’11, Holleh Tajalli ’12, Tareq Azad ’12 and Nina Jean-Jacques ’11.

Students who took RNA Biology (BIOL 419) in spring 2010, 2012 and 2014 were acknowledged for their efforts in initiating the experiments reported in these papers.

Associate Professor of Computer Science John MacCormick published What Can Be

Computed? A Practical Guide to the Theory of Computation through Princeton University Press. It is a uniquely accessible yet rigorous introduction to the most profound ideas at the heart of computer science, crafted specifically for undergraduates who are studying the subject for the first time.

Professor of Creative Writing Susan Perabo’s “When Mothers Bully Back,” was the featured essay for the Modern Love podcast, which is based on The New York Times’ weekly column of the same name. Perabo’s essay was originally published in the Times’ Modern Love column in March 2017. Each week, a celebrity reads a beloved essay from the archives. The piece was voiced by Emmynominated actress Ellie Kemper.

Professor of Political Science Harry Pohlman published U.S. National Security Law: An International Perspective through Rowman & Littlefield. The book explores how international law relates to U.S. constitutional and statutory law in terms of the right to wage war, the law of armed conflict, combatant status, interrogation of detainees, military commissions, covert action, targeted killing, electronic surveillance and cyberwar.

Associate Professor of Psychology Tony Rauhut and Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology Meredith Curran-Rauhut published “17 β-Estradiol exacerbates methamphetamine-induced anxiety-like behavior in female mice” in Neuroscience Letters. Their research, which suggests women may have more difficulty than men in withdrawing from and staying off methamphetamine, was cited by WGN-TV Chicago, Science and MedicalXpress.com.

Jorge R. G. Sagastume, associate professor of Spanish, recently published “René Marqués: sobre la formación de una identidad autónoma en La víspera del hombre” in Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, Liverpool University Press, Vol. 95, 6: (2018), 673-693.

Additionally, a selection of his short stories, translated into German by Utz Rachowski and Michael Ritterson, has been aired on German radio and later published in audio format with Kulturradio, a division of rbb24 radio, in Berlin, under the title “Im Schatten der Sehnsucht nach Freiheit.”

PRESIDENT ENSIGN IN THE NEWS •

Two op-eds by President Margee Ensign were published in national outlets. “We Say We Seek Diversity—but Where Are the Truly Inclusive Campuses?” was published in The Hechinger Report. “We Must Do More for International Students” was published in Inside Higher Ed.

•

Ensign’s editorial “No Time for Army to Retreat on Peacekeeping,” in response to Secretary of Defense James Mattis considering a proposal to shut down the U.S. Army War College’s Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI), was published in the Army Times as well as The Sentinel.

Administrator Accolades

Professor of Chemistry Cindy Samet published “Fruit and Vegetable Peels as Efficient Renewable Adsorbents for Removal of Pollutants From Water: A Research Experience for General Chemistry Students” along with Suresh Valiyaveettil in the Journal of Chemical Education, 2018, 95, 1354-1358.

Phys.org and Inverse reported on the research. Watch a video of Samet discussing the research at dson.co/sametvideo.

Interim Vice President for Enrollment Management and Dean of Admissions Catherine McDonald Davenport ’87 discussed college admissions trends, issues and initiatives on WITF’s Smart Talk.

Associate Professor of Philosophy Crispin Sartwell writes about the pursuit of factchecking President Trump and the “truth sandwich” in an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal.

The appointment of Vice President and Dean of Student Life George Stroud was announced in The Chronicle of Higher Education and in The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education.

Associate Professor of American Studies Cotten Seiler authored an op-ed about Green Books, motoring guidebooks published from the 1930s to the 1960s for African-American travelers, for The Conversation.

Tara Vasold Fischer ’02, associate dean of academic advising,

contributed to “Using Career Competencies to Help the Undecided Decide,” published by NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising’s e-publication, Academic Advising Today.

(Kudos as of Sept. 6, 2018)

Groundbreaking research by Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences Alyson Thibodeau—who used geochemical analysis to overturn more than a century of thought about the source of turquoise used by ancient civilizations in Mesoamerica—was featured in The New York Times’ science section and on The New York Times website. Thibodeau’s work also was featured in Smithsonian Magazine, Archaeology Magazine, Ars Technica, Medium and more than a dozen international news outlets.

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DAYS of

Dickinson Monday, Nov. 26 Show Your Pride

Tuesday, Nov. 27

Make a Gift for Giving Tuesday*

Wednesday, Nov. 28

Recruit Tomorrow’s Dickinsonians

Thursday, Nov. 29 Be a Lifelong Learner

Friday, Nov. 30 Volunteer

The week after Thanksgiving, we’re inviting alumni and parents to celebrate all the ways you can engage with Dickinson from anywhere in the world. Whether it’s catching a livestream lecture, getting career advice, recommending a student, making a gift or just showing your pride, there are countless ways you can benefit from, celebrate and honor your lifelong connection to Dickinson.

Saturday, Dec. 1

But since we only have a week, we’ll stop at seven … for now.

Sunday, Dec. 2

Stay Tuned! We’ll be providing more information on

Cheer on the Red Devils Get Social

*Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Giving Tuesday is an international initiative that kicks off the charitable season, when people around the world begin to focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.

this weeklong celebration as we get closer to the week.

So keep an eye on your email inbox and social media for more details on 7 Days of Dickinson.

[ college & west high ]

Maintaining the Flame The Dickinson chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD) was chartered in 1989, more than half a century after the original chapter of the national honor society was founded in 1924 in Illinois to recognize exceptional academic achievement during students’ first year of college. Since then, Dickinson’s chapter has expanded to become one of the most distinguished in the country. In 2013, it was one of six chapters, out of almost 300 nationwide, to receive the Order of the Torch Award. Every subsequent year, Dickinson has received a Maintaining the Flame Award. In 2017, it brought home another Order of the Torch. Alpha Lambda Delta Executive Director Eileen Merberg presented the award alongside President Margee Ensign and Dean Damon Yarnell, saying that Dickinson had “clearly fulfilled the mission of Alpha Lambda Delta.”

ALD at Dickinson strives to foster and sustain a community of inquiry that can empower high-achieving students willing and able to push themselves and the institution forward. As an honor society, it inducts a select number of first-year students at the conclusion of their first semester at Dickinson. The induction ceremony celebrates students’ membership in the society and asks them to pledge to make the best possible use of their Dickinson education.

Throughout the year, the chapter’s executive board works through various campus organizations and departments, such as the Clarke Forum and Office of Academic Advising, to organize or sponsor receptions with campus speakers, mixers across class years and service opportunities in the greater Carlisle community. Recent programming includes a breakfast with Harvard scholar of international relations Stephen Walt, a morning spent gleaning with Project SHARE and a student lunch series aimed at fostering ties between seniors and underclass students. In addition, advisors from the Office of Academic Advising meet weekly with ALD’s leadership to align common initiatives with campuswide academic strategies.

First-year honor society excels at leadership preparation and campus & community engagement

“What makes me most proud about our Dickinson chapter is how it grows and develops every year,” says Rachael Franchini ’19, 2017-18 ALD president. “So far, every exec board has made something more out of the accomplishments of the previous group.”

Each year, a National Leadership Conference brings together chapter officers from all over the country. In 2017, Tara Vasold Fischer ’02, associate dean of academic advising and advisor to the Dickinson chapter, and two ALD exec board members attended the conference in Phoenix, Ariz., where the Dickinson chapter was recognized with several awards for excellence and high membership yield. Fischer was also recognized with the Outstanding Advisor of the Year award.

“Tara is incredibly passionate about recognizing and nurturing the talents of students with academic excellence,” said Phuong Uyen “Winnie” Le ’19, 2016-17 vice president of the Dickinson chapter.

“Her enthusiasm and energy really close the gap between a school administrator and students, and she is, without a doubt, the best advisor one could ask for.”

The national office of ALD offers scholarships to eligible members for undergraduate assistance, study abroad and postgraduate fellowships. Over the past few years, members of the Dickinson chapter have received several of these scholarships, further honoring members of the Dickinson chapter among the more than 1 million members across the country.

“Alpha Lambda Delta reaffirmed all the benefits associated with lifelong learning and helped me to discover my passion for working in higher education administration,” said Michael Pennington ’07. “The core values of Alpha Lambda Delta stem from working hard at work worth doing by applying useful knowledge for the betterment of the communities in which members live.” —Alexander Bossakov ’20

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A distinctively Dickinsonian SERIES OF TIPS, TRICKS AND LIFE LESSONS Dickinsonians do incredible things. They are innovative, creative, passionate and proud.

So we asked them to break it down for us and share the steps that led to some of their successes. What follows is an eclectic mix—how very Dickinsonian—of literal processes that can be precisely emulated, as well as human-interest stories that offer figurative pathways from inspiration to accomplishment.

[ feature ] Illustration by Talia Amorosano ’17

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In the following pages, you’ll learn everything from how to make fermented beets to how to tie a Van Wijk tie knot. You’ll also discover the meaning behind a wood-carving project that took 17 years and the inspiration for a hobbyist-turnedcareer-crafter. And we’ll take you beneath the wrapper at an international chocolate company and into the psychology of memory. We hope you learn a thing or two—we sure did!—Lauren Davidson, Editor

How to Make Revolutionary Chocolate (From Bean to Bar)

by Priscilla Addison ’09 and Kimberly Addison

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TOTAL TIME: Lifetime SERVES: Ghana, and very soon the world

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Effort: So much time and effort go into making the smallest piece of chocolate.

Since we are a small-scale artisanal chocolate company, all of our delicious products are handmade with love.

For the first step of making bean-to-bar chocolate, all of our cocoa beans are sorted by hand.

Creativity: Once sorted, the beans are roasted. What we love most about roasting is that it makes our entire production center smell like brownies! While larger companies use an industrial cocoa bean roaster, we use an oven to roast our cocoa beans.

Roast temperature and time are unique to each chocolate manufacturer, and they can influence the aroma and taste of chocolate. For example, two chocolate makers can process the same bean and roast them at different temperatures and get two different-tasting chocolates. We have creatively identified a specific time and temperature to roast that is distinctive to our brand.

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Strength: We crack the

roasted cocoa beans open using a manual cocoa crusher.

Next, we remove the shell of the cracked cocoa beans. This process is called winnowing.

We use a traditional Ghanaian winnowing method, which involves a sieving technique typically used for sorting maize. This takes a lot of strength and endurance. The edible pieces inside the shell are the cocoa “nibs,” which have a unique crunchy and bitter taste. The nibs are poured into a cocoa grinder and crushed to make a thick paste called chocolate liquor.

Novelty: We pour the chocolate liquor into a melangeur (chocolate machine), adding other ingredients (cocoa butter, milk powder, sugar) and unique flavors (e.g., hibiscus).

Grinding the chocolate in this machine can range from several hours to a few days, depending on the flavor of the chocolate. We want the cocoa to shine, so cocoa is always the main and first ingredient in our products. We do not use any artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. Our milk chocolate contains 55 percent cocoa, while some milk chocolate bars on grocery store shelves can have as little as 10 percent cocoa.

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Skill & Patience: After the

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Art & Value: After tempering,

liquid chocolate is created, it needs to be tempered.

Tempering involves heating and cooling the chocolate to specific temperatures. We have a love-hate relationship with tempering chocolate.

Each flavor of chocolate has its own temperature specifics that need to be met to properly mold it. Even heating to a few degrees higher or lower than required could result in poorly tempered chocolate. Tempering undoubtedly takes skill and patience, particularly when it’s done by hand. Proper tempering will give chocolate a shiny finish.

we pour the chocolate into decorative molds. We use Ghanaian Adinkra symbols for our chocolates, and each symbol has a unique meaning.

We also have local artists design our packaging. We love creating products and packaging that are a reflection and celebration of Ghanaian art and culture. ’57 Chocolate is not just about the chocolate or cocoa products; it’s about adding value to an underutilized resource (the cocoa bean) in Ghana.

’57 Chocolate is the pioneer bean-to-bar chocolate company in Ghana, West Africa, founded in 2016 by Priscilla Addison ’09 (international studies and French & francophone studies) and her sister Kimberly.

They take dried cocoa beans and process them into luxurious chocolate and confections.

Interested in learning more? You can stay connected with ’57 Chocolate through Facebook/Instagram (@57chocolate) or Twitter (@57chocolategh). Read more about Addison at dson.co/addison09.

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How to Discover Your Voice as a Student Activist

by Espoir DelMain ’21

“As I started to get more involved on campus, I had conversations with fellow students about shared passions. Starting a group on campus is hard, but it has definitely led to moments of satisfaction when members have made people stop their daily routines to be confronted with truths.”

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Participate. During the first week of classes in 2017, as DACA was radically changed by the Trump administration, there was a powerful sit-in organized by students in the Black Student Union to bring light to these issues and how they affect students on campus. After participating in this event, I began searching for other ways to be a part of movements on campus.

Create connections. As I started to get more involved on campus, I had conversations with fellow students about shared passions. When you meet someone and create a genuine connection, especially in the context of classes or Clarke Forum lectures that cover issues across the globe, you might discover something that makes you feel connected to something bigger than yourself.

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Join a group (or start a new one). There are many student groups on college campuses, like the national group Next Gen, or groups focused on voter registration or student empowerment.

Alternatively, there are groups on campus that focus on social action, like Feminist Collective, Student Liberation Movement and Tree Club. After coming on campus, Frances Staples ’21 and I began working with the Pennsylvania Student Power Network. On campus, we have been able to engage other students on issues like hate groups and making college accessible for all young people in the commonwealth. Starting a group on campus is hard, but it has definitely led to moments of satisfaction when members have made people stop their daily routines to be confronted with truths.

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Work together. We have successfully gotten three

out of five congressional candidates for the 10th district to sign off on the College for All pledge, helped host and mediate a debate on campus with these candidates and brought more than 100 student signatures to the administration to prevent hate groups from coming onto our campus. This was only possible because of teamwork, growing friendships and support from PA Student Power Network members off campus and the connections we created with each other and other students on campus.

Espoir DelMain ’21 is an environmental-studies major from Saint Paul, Minnesota.

She is a campus sustainability EcoRep, attended the Conference of the Parties (COP) 23 summit in Bonn, Germany, and has worked to bring student voices to the forefront in her first year at Dickinson.

d ic k i n s o n ma g a z i n e Fall 2018

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How to Create a Comic Book

by Gregory Lockard ’03

For the purposes of this how-to, I’m dividing the steps amongst different artists. This is the commonly used production style of Marvel and DC Comics for their monthly superhero titles. Many comics are created by a single person completing every stage of development, though! The sample is from a script I wrote for my friend and collaborator Tim Fish to draw for the Where We Live anthology published by Image Comics this past May. STEP 2:

There are many ways to make a comic—this is just one example. I encourage everyone to try! It’s my dream job, and I’m very happy to share it with others.

STEP 1: Story Concept to Script

STEP 2: Line Artwork

The concept behind this story is my first-person narration as an English teacher in Spain attempting to explain the current events and laws of the United States to my students.

Artist Tim Fish translated the script into line art—inked on a traditional art board and then scanned to send digitally to the next contributor.

STEP 3: Color Artwork

A comic book script looks similar to scripts used for stage, film and TV, but instead of scenes and camera angles, the writer gives the artist ideas for the best visuals.

Next, artist Michael J. DiMotta applied color. (Fun fact: I’ve known Mike since my DC Comics summer internship in 2002, when my faculty advisor was Professor of Creative Writing Susan Perabo!)

STEP 4: Lettering and Design

STEP 1:

Designer Sal Cipriano then added the dialogue, captions and title design.

STEP 5: Publishing

The two-page story was released in the Where We Live anthology created to benefit the victims and families of the October 2017 shooting in Las Vegas. I’m very proud of our story, and I hope it helps people in some small way.

Greg Lockard ’03 is a writer and editor of comic books. He began his career at DC Comics in New York as a summer editorial intern and continued with the company for eight years, eventually joining the editorial staff at DC’s Vertigo imprint. He now works in a freelance capacity, and his clients include 3 Floyds (for the Alpha King series published by Image Comics), Joe Books (for adaptations of animated features as Disney Cinestory books) and Einhorn’s Epic Productions (for animation and comic book development).

STEP 3:

STEP 4: 25

How to Build the Perfect Playlist

by Manny Ocampo ’18

The party you are hosting is coming up. DJ Manny Fresco can’t DJ your event, so the next best option is to make a playlist.

Music-streaming services have made it easy for anyone to make their own music playlists, but creating a good playlist requires some rules. These are the steps to create the perfect party playlist.

Manny Ocampo ’18 (aka DJ Manny Fresco) started getting into music and learning about different musical genres as a toddler. His grandfather and dad were both DJs. Manny launched his own DJ business in 2009 and has performed extensively at parties and weddings and on the radio, and he opened for Steve Aoki at Dickinson’s 2016 student concert. He also played in a traveling band for four years, playing at Disneyland, House of Blues and other public venues. He earned a B.A. in Africana studies from Dickinson and is based in California.

Learn more at deejaymannyfresco.com and on Instagram @deejaymannyfresco.

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their main source for new music. Radio stations are infamous for being late with new music—unless it’s new Drake music.

Audience: Good playlist creators think

about their audience and never themselves. Most importantly, consider the average age of your audience.

That will dictate the genre of songs in the party playlist.

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Genre: For this purpose, let’s say

undergraduate college students are the audience. They would be born in the late ’90s/early 2000s. The safest genre of music would then range from ’90s to today. Hip-hop has become the most popular party genre amongst this age demographic. Even the Top 40 chart contains mostly hip-hop. So the playlist will mostly consist of hip-hop.

Tempo: There are songs that I enjoy

but the beat is slow or mellow. I avoid including slow songs at all cost. I leave these songs in my cruising road trip playlist. I stick with songs around 70-130 BPM. New Music: I’m cautious about adding songs that just released the day before.

It might disturb the vibe because people are less receptive to unknown songs. Most people still use radio as

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Hits Only: If a song is not a hit, don’t

add it. I don’t recommend including “filler” songs. They aren’t needed and only negatively affect the dancing. The playlist should be at least four hours long but no more than six hours.

No Ads: Many streaming services offer free subscriptions, but ads will play after a couple of songs. Absolutely no ads at the party.

Crossfade: I use the crossfade feature on my iPhone. The goal is to keep the music going and avoid the silent transition between songs.

DJs: Alternatively, you can head over to my website and stream my mixtapes at the party. It would be like I’m DJing—kind of.

Hopefully your next party is a hit!

Richard “Dick” Hepner ’60’s love of horses began in 1939 when, at 2 years old, he was photographed perched atop one of his dad’s draft horses in the days before tractors were acquired for the family farm. He enjoyed a rich and full life, including service in the U.S. Army and a 37-year career with Exxon. The completion of Bandit, a full-size, hand-carved carousel horse, brings to reality a longstanding retirement dream. Dick’s son Scott captured the process in a collage-style video that features 100+ still photos taken over the course of the 17-year project, also documenting an art form that has nearly become lost to history.

How to Fulfill a Lifelong Dream (and Hand-Carve a Customized Wooden Carousel Horse in Just 17 Years)

by Richard Hepner ’60

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Conduct extensive research on how wooden carousel horses were created by 19th-century master carvers.

Collect a pile of basswood lumber in the back of the family SUV and begin by constructing a hollow, rectangular box for the torso (referred to as “the coffin method” of construction).

Create full-size anatomical pattern parts, copy them onto two-dimensional planks and cut them out on a band saw.

Use five dozen clamps to laminate about 65 separate pieces of wood to create the material necessary to carve the third dimension.

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Take frequent pauses to learn new woodworking skills and techniques along the way.

Partially carve the legs, head, neck and tail the oldfashioned way—using gouges and a mallet—and attach to the torso, blending each before perfecting the details.

Apply four coats of acrylic gesso primer, then customize the animal’s features with three vibrant coats of acrylic color paints, faux jewels and gold-trimmed accessories for glitz.

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Keep track of all 637 production hours in a carving journal as provenance for posterity.

Sit back and admire the 55” long, 58.75” high and 11.5” wide completed sculpture (which weighs about 225 lbs.). Name him Bandit and place him in the foyer.

satisfaction in the 10. Take knowledge that a piece of “yesteryear know-how” has been resurrected and passed on to the next generation.

View the video of Bandit's construction at Dickinson.edu/magazine.

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How to Get Creative in the Kitchen (Sustainably!)

by David Durstewitz ’10

Did you know that 40 to 50 percent of food grown goes to waste, mostly due to aesthetic imperfections and inefficiencies in global distribution?

Lactofermentation is the 8,000-year-old process of preserving food by culturing bacteria and their yeast friends in all kinds of foods to produce lactic acid, which inhibits putrefying bacteria and aids in digestion. It is an essential part of food cultures worldwide, from cassava in West Africa to fish sauce in East Asia and sauerkraut in Europe. Live ferments are more nutritious than heat- and pressuretreated preserves and enable us to store local food year-round.

Recipe for Fermented Beets

It all started at the Treehouse one spring morning, with a jar of milk sitting in a window, soaking in sunlight. Kalyn Campbell ’10 decided to teach David Durstewitz ’10 how to make yogurt, thus introducing him to a world in which her goal of only eating food grown within 30 miles stopped seeming ridiculous and became much more real. Campbell spent several years running a creamery in rural Vermont and is now homesteading, and Durstewitz is a vegetable farmer in Chicago. He still makes yogurt the way he learned that spring, though now with a nearby farm’s non-homogenized grass-fed milk rather than bulk-ordered from the caf.

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TIPS & TRICKS: The same procedure works for carrots, turnips and others. I tend to leave firmer vegetables like beets and celeriac out of the fridge and eat them as they soften, but I like to keep cucumbers and carrots in the fridge once they’re to my liking. I prefer to eat ferments raw for the probiotics, but by early spring I often make fermented borscht if I haven’t run out of the ingredients—pickled beets, jalapenos, sauerkraut, dried farm tomatoes and storage crops from our pantry (potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic). I use whey strained from yogurt as a cooking liquid, and I mix in a healthy dose of yogurt to make it cool and creamy.

For Durstewitz’s steps on how to make yogurt, head to Dickinson.edu/magazine.

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than the jar of the fermentation vessel. I add a splash of raw cider vinegar to ensure that a good culture is present—maybe more ritual than utilitarian.

Fill a wide-mouth jar or ceramic crock with baby beets or large beets cut into 1” cubes.

Trim the leaf and root ends and scrub the beets well, but don’t peel!

Cover the beets with filtered water, then pour the water out. Make brine by mixing pure salt (sea or other mineral salt is fine— no iodine, no anti-caking agents!) with the water and bring to a boil. Use 2 to 3 tbsp. salt per quart of water, or “as salty as the sea”—I do it to taste. The saltier the water, the crisper the veggies will be, the less attention you have to give and the longer they’ll last. But I like to keep them palatable without needing a rinse.

While the water is cooling, season your beets. I like garlic, onion, bay leaf, peppercorns and celery seed, but you can add dill seed, hot pepper, the classic Southern clove/cinnamon/allspice/anise or whatever you like. I prefer seeds for seasoning; delicate leaves like fresh dill tend to get soft and slimy.

Clean the jar and weight well—sterilize in a dishwasher or in the oven, or a lazy sterilization (rinse the jar with boiling water) has always worked for me. It doesn’t need to be as sterile as in canning, since the lactobacteria will be active and you’ll be able to monitor the ferment.

Pour room-temperature brine over the beets and weigh them down to keep them below the surface of the water. My preferred weight is a jar full of water that’s just smaller

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Cover the opening with cloth and rubber bands to keep flies out but allow the ferment to breathe. Place it somewhere you can watch it, out of sunlight and at a stable room temperature. You’ll see it start to bubble, and if it’s overfull it may bubble over.

Once it’s settled down, leave them alone for a week to two months. I consider them done when a fork can be stuck in with some resistance, usually three weeks to a month, but it’s a personal preference of taste and texture.

When satisfied, seal the jar and put it in the fridge. It will continue to ferment but much more slowly.

If a thin, white film begins to form, stir it and make sure all solids are kept submerged.

This is called fleur de vin and is harmless, but a strong, healthy ferment should keep it from forming, and it can affect the flavor if left too long. Stirring and adding more salt and a little raw vinegar will help. If it doesn’t stop forming, I’ll cook the ferment and eat it before the fleur de vin can take over; you might choose to compost it and start over with more salt next time.

Your ferment should smell good, have some firmness and be free of mold, even after years!

How to Prep Your Pack Like a Pro

by Alexandra Mier y Terán ’19

As Dickinsonians, we pride ourselves in learning both in and out of the classroom. We are lucky enough to be near the halfway point of the Appalachian Trail at Pine Grove Furnace National Park, a great place for hiking and camping. And the on-campus Gear Box offers free gear rentals to students, faculty and staff! Following are some tips from members of the Office of Campus Recreation on how to best prep your pack for hiking or camping success.

STEP 1: Start with your sleeping bag.

The first thing that you want to pack is your sleeping bag. Backpacks should be balanced, so you want something small and dense to lay horizontally at the bottom of your pack. To prevent a wet sleeping bag, it’s helpful to pack it inside of a plastic trash bag before compressing it into its sack. Tie the garbage bag in a loose knot, because you will be retying it every day and night.

STEP 2: Fill in the gaps.

You want to fill in the nooks and crannies around the sleeping bag with other gear. When packing your personal items, use plastic garbage bags again so they don’t get wet. Load in the plastic bag first, then tuck items like clothes, toiletries and assorted tools into the gaps on both ends of the sleeping bag to maximize space. Before tying a loose knot on this plastic bag, push all of the air out to compress it as much as possible.

STEP 3: Divvy up the heavy lifting.

Now that your pack is about halfway full, it’s time to load in the heaviest items. This would usually include parts of a tent or bulkier food items. If you’re traveling with friends, you can disperse different parts of the tent into separate backpacks so that one person isn’t

carrying an entire tent. Tent poles and stakes are best packed vertically in the side pockets of the pack, and items such as a rain fly and the tent body can fill in any empty holes around the other items in the backpack. Heavier food items and cookware should also be placed in the middle of the pack, as you typically won’t need them until you set up camp.

STEP 4: Keep hydration top of mind (and pack).

Dromedary bags help hikers carry their water. These bags can be placed toward the top of the backpack, also known as the brain, for easy access. We recommend keeping a personal water bottle clipped to the outside of the pack and using the dromedary only to refill when necessary. Hydration is key on the trail!

STEP 5: Top it all off.

Additional items that require easy access could include a rain layer, a map, a compass, snacks or a headlamp, and these can fill the space above the dromedary bags. Be sure to include a first-aid kit, because you never know what to expect in the great outdoors. It’s also smart to pack any technology such as cellphones in protective bags/cases to prevent water damage.

STEP 6: Use the outer loops and straps wisely.

We recommend keeping liquids like bear spray or stove fuel in the outer pockets along with the tent poles and stakes and away from your water bottle to avoid any contamination. The outer straps can maximize carrying capacity, so use them to attach tools such as an ax. There might also be straps on the bottom of the pack for a sleeping pad, which can add a little more stability to the backpack.

STEP 7: Get out there and start exploring.

Now that your gear is ready to roll, get out onto the trail! But be mindful of your impact on the wilderness.

Students in the Outing Club live by the Leave No Trace (LNT) principles. Some important LNT takeaways include traveling and camping on established campgrounds and trails, remembering to pack out whatever you packed in, leaving what you find and respecting wildlife and other visitors in the great outdoors.

Check out a video produced by the Office of Campus Recreation that walks you through these steps at Dickinson.edu/magazine.

Alexandra Mier y Terán ’19 is an international business & management and Spanish major from San Diego. She is a member of the Outing Club and president of the Panhellenic Council and works as the social media and marketing coordinator for the Office of Campus Recreation. Her favorite trail to hike is Pole Steeple, and the most important thing in her pack is peanut butter.

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How to Turn a Knitting Hobby Into a Crafting Career

by Joy Fishburne Macdonell ’89

“Small circles and guilds of knitters have become online tribes of fiber enthusiasts frequently led by bloggers who report and document the happenings of the knitting industry.”

1.

2.

3.

Follow your passion: I have always had a passion

for making things, especially my own clothes, and sewing and knitting have been a part of my life since childhood. There are many benefits to the knitting hobby beyond fashion and creativity. New research published by a U.K.-based knitting initiative, Knit for Peace, has confirmed that knitting has physical and mental health benefits that slow the onset of dementia, combat depression and distract from chronic pain.

Be a good student: When I learned to knit, it was common to be a student of a grandmother, aunt or neighbor. Sitting side-by-side with a knitter or book was the only way to learn how to knit. Since the introduction of YouTube and Ravelry.com (an online resource for knitters), the secrets of the fiber arts have been unlocked for the curious.

Knitters now have online access to knitting knowledge 24/7.

Find inspiration everywhere: Attending the Maryland Sheep & Wool Show in May seems to always kick off my year of knitting. Inspiration can be found in the classroom by learning a new technique; with sheep breeders, spinners or dyers; or with an exciting new knitting pattern.

4.

5.

Get with a group: I find a great deal of encouragement to keep knitting and finish projects though online friendships. By photographing the knitting progress and sharing it with friends, I receive positive reinforcement to knit late into the night or wake up early to get a few rows done before the workday begins.

Checking in with online friends also allows me to see what others are doing with a pattern: From color combinations to pattern modifications, I can gather quite a bit of group-think that helps me make the project I envision.

Go social: Social media has become a knitting game-changer. With the introduction of Pinterest and Instagram, small circles and guilds of knitters have become online tribes of fiber enthusiasts frequently led by bloggers who report and document the happenings of the knitting industry.

Showing your process is key to taking part in a knitting community. Creating a piece from cast-on to finish is a journey that can take months to achieve, and showing the progress allows for curious followers to be part of the project.

Joy Fishburne Macdonell ’89 graduated from Dickinson with a B.S. in psychology. She was a social worker and earned her master’s degree four years later. After she developed her career for 10 years in the fields of addiction and child protection, a desire to share her creativity inspired her to open a scrapbook store in 1997 with her sister where she started teaching scrapbooking.

Her platform grew into an online learning mecca that serviced small, independent retailers and big box craft stores. She has also taken her knitting to the streets, developing how-to videos for the 2017 Women’s March on Washington and the 2018 March for Our Lives. After 20 years in the creative industry working with licenses like American Girl, Disney and Martha Stewart Crafts, she now offers her own brand of knitting classes at knitwithjoy.com. You can also follow her on Instagram (@joymacdonell) and YouTube (youtube.com/joymacdonell).

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Photos courtesy of @holden8758 Carl Socolow ’77

How to Tie Unusual Tie Knots

by Mike Holden, professor of chemistry The Van Wijk Knot

1.

Start with the wide end of the tie on the right and the narrow end on the left.

HINT: The tip of the narrow end should be half the length of the wide end.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Bring the wide end over the narrow end to the left and wrap it around once.

Place your index finger on the area where the wide end and narrow end of the tie overlap.

Wrap the wide end once around the finger to create an opening, then go up higher and wrap a second time, and finally, go up a little higher and wrap around the finger a third time.

Take the wide end of the tie up through the middle.

Pull the wide end of the tie through the three loops that you have created.

Tighten the knot by pulling down on the wide end, sliding the knot up and adjusting accordingly.

Enjoy the beauty of what I call “the greatest tie knot ever invented.”

Professor of Chemistry Mike Holden has been teaching at Dickinson since 1989, and for years he was notorious for never wearing a tie. They just weren’t his style. But when he realized that a number of occasions surrounding his son’s wedding would require more formal attire, he decided to get creative. Like a true academic, he did some research, discovering knot theorists from Cambridge University who posited that there were 87 different ways to tie a tie. It got more interesting when he dug a little deeper and found game theorists from Scandinavia who claimed there were actually 175,000. So he started teaching himself how to do them, and during the spring 2018 semester, he sported 37 different tie knots in class.

He also tweets pictures of the occasional #tieknotoftheday to @holden8758.

We were pleased when Holden accepted our invitation to swing by the Dickinson Magazine offices to show us his skills in person. Check out Dickinson.edu/magazine for the resulting videos.

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How to Understand Urban Blight in America’s Neighborhoods and Work to Eliminate It

by Jeri Stumpf ’66

Jeri Stumpf ’66 (political science) was executive director of the House Local Government & Urban Affairs Committees for the Pennsylvania Legislature when statewide public hearings were held on House Resolution 91 and a report—Urban Opportunities: Eradicating Blight and Expediting Economic Development in Pennsylvania in the 21st Century—was released. The American Planning Association used the report in the development of its new national policy on blight and underutilized property in America. Stumpf drafted 30 bills to enact the committee report recommendations.

He is currently consulting on a project that may develop a municipal blight prevention ordinance that could be a model for all municipalities in Pennsylvania and nationally. More information is available at jstumpfassoc-zeroblight.com.

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1.

What is blight? Urban blight is marked by deteriorating and abandoned homes and buildings, as well as vacant lots with trash, high weeds and grass and/or abandoned and vandalized cars.

2.

Where does it exist?

3.

Why does it exist? There are

4.

create? Blight is an

economic crime that causes municipalities to lose considerable property tax revenue as a result of lower assessed property values throughout blighted neighborhoods, costing American taxpayers billions of dollars per year. Property taxes therefore have to be increased on owners who maintain their properties to make up for the lost revenue. Property owners near blighted buildings also have to pay higher fire insurance premiums, as well as higher municipal taxes to cover the increased costs for police and fire protection, as blighted buildings are a frequent target for arsonists and criminal activity.

Everywhere. You find it in urban, suburban and rural communities, large and small, older and newer, with expensive, moderately priced and lower-priced homes. It’s in small downtowns with vacant storefronts or in vacant, empty, deteriorating large box stores, shopping centers or malls.

a variety of reasons for blight, including a lack of maintenance by absentee landlords; banks and mortgage companies foreclosing on a property but never taking ownership; greed on the part of unscrupulous landlords who milk all the equity out of a property and then abandon it right before it’s condemned; or the lack of a stringently enforced municipal property maintenance code with harsh penalties to deter the aforementioned actions by property owners.

What problems does it

5.

What can you do to prevent blight? Find out if your municipality has enacted and stringently enforces a tough property maintenance code with significant penalties. If not, ask officials to do so.

Google your state’s legislative website and research blight statutes. If they don’t contain what your state’s statutes do, speak to your state representative about introducing proper measures.

6.

What can you do to encourage revitalization of blighted areas? See what

economic development incentive programs exist in your state to redevelop brownfields and blighted areas. I authored the Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) legislation to do this in Pennsylvania. Business Facilities Magazine, a national publication for business executives looking for new site locations, awarded this program the Gold Level 1st Place Award as part of its Economic Development Achievement Awards. If your state has no similar program, speak to your state representative about creating one.

STEP 1: Pay attention.

How to Improve Your Memory

by Teresa Barber, professor of psychology When I tell people that I study memory, I’m often asked the same question: “How can I improve my memory?” People aren’t looking for a lecture on the biochemistry and pharmacology of memory but really just want a couple of hints to help remember simple things, like the names of people they’ve just met or their shopping lists.

Improving memory isn’t that hard. The important thing to remember is that memory is influenced by active work. That is, you need to actively work on it. Things stay in memory if they are attended to, are actively rehearsed, are organized in meaningful ways and are important to you.

Following are a few tips for improving your memory.

How to Repurpose Your Copies of Dickinson Magazine

We often forget people’s names because we never really heard them when we were introduced. Repeat the person’s name, and repeat it often. You’ll be surprised to realize how much you didn’t pay attention to names.

We also often forget people’s names because there is nothing that associates the name with the person. Our own names are so significant to us, but the names of other individuals are really just another “thing” about them (tall, brown hair, glasses, Sue). If you want to remember the name, associate the name with some aspect of the person. For example, I met a person named Reed, so I associated her name with the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and imagined this person in uniform holding a stethoscope.

STEP 2: Make it meaningful.

Remembering lists for longer periods of time is a difficult task. That’s why we have technology devoted to replacing our imperfect memories, such as stored phone numbers on our phones and refrigerators that send us our shopping lists while we’re at the store. Memories stay with us if they are important as they’re being made and if they are meaningful in some way. Memories made at times of heightened stimulation are remembered well. This is because activation of our nervous system increases the chemicals used in memory formation. Meaningful memories are often associated with this increased arousal. So, to enhance memory of an event, we can increase the activation of our nervous systems during the time we are encoding the information by increasing attention to detail and being stimulated by the information. It might be as simple as just increasing our metabolism when we are trying to learn and retain information.

STEP 3: Sleep on it!

Important research on memory has shown that sleep has a big influence on memory retention. Sleep is actually an active time for our brains, a time in which we make lots of new physical connections in brain cells.

Those connections are probably the new memories we’ve made that day. Thinking about sleep as an active period of time for the brain might allow us to allocate that important time to the task of improving memory.

Professor of Psychology Teresa Barber is a behavioral neuroscientist whose primary scholarship is in the study of memory. She studies memory formation in a variety of ways, such as measuring changes in the biochemistry and electrical activity of the brain, determining where in the brain memory forms and looking at the ways that drugs influence memory. She has been teaching at Dickinson for nearly 20 years.

We often hear that alumni hang on to favorites issues of the magazine, but for those of you who would like to get creative with yours, check out dickinson.edu/magazine for a video walkthrough of how to create an easy origami paper star, and be sure to send pictures of the creative ways you repurpose your magazines to dsonmag@dickinson.edu!

Share your own “how to” at dsonmag@dickinson.edu, and we just might make this a Dickinson Magazine regular!

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DAVID CARLSON ’99, ALUMNI COUNCIL PRESIDENT

T

here is something so special about Dickinson in the fall.

I still remember the first time I found my way back one autumn many years after graduation. The air was wonderfully crisp, and the entire campus seemingly transformed into a painting of red, orange and gold, just as I remembered it.

That was a good day. It was one of many days where I’ve found myself getting far more in return for a volunteer activity than I gave. As a good friend has said on a number of occasions, “I give because it makes me feel good.” Sophisticatedly simple.

In my experience, engagement leads to enrichment. Nowhere is this truer than the friendships that have been born from small volunteer communities both at Dickinson and beyond. Within these communities you tend to meet exceptionally kind people who are genuinely looking to make the world just a little bit better. Those happen to be the exact type of people with whom I want to surround myself. This was recently underscored with the loss of a dear friend, Craig Tucker ’92 (see obituary on Page 55).

I had met Craig after joining the Alumni Council at Dickinson, and he became a true friend. To know Craig was to like Craig, in part because he had a kindness that was easily felt. In fact, he would do so many small acts of kindness for those around him that his colleagues at work had a phrase for it: Random Acts of Craig. I, like many, am better for having known him.

As the Alumni Council begins a new year with new challenges ahead of us, we will certainly miss Craig’s presence. That said, your Alumni Council will invest much time and treasure to leave our own community just a little bit better through our own Random Acts of Craig, and we encourage all of you with a connection to the college to engage. You never know how that decision might enrich your own lives.

As you continue to see the colors change this fall, please consider taking a trip back to campus. There is something uniquely wonderful about the flood of memories that happens when returning to Dickinson. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at davidcarlson2026@gmail.com. Hopefully I’ll see you on campus or at an event near you soon.

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Carl Socolow ’77

Find Your Way Back

Thank you!

As we begin the academic year, we salute the

more than 900 John Dickinson Society members.

For nearly three decades, members of the John Dickinson Society have helped to establish and advance new academic programs, fund vital research, retain and attract top faculty, enhance campus facilities and empower students to pursue their dreams.

Stay tuned for exclusive regional John Dickinson Society events near you, or join us on campus during Alumni Weekend (June 7-9, 2019)!

Join us and learn more: Dickinson.edu/JDS

[ beyond the limestone walls ]

Alumni Global ADVENTURES Hiking & Culinary Adventure to Southern Italy’s Volcanoes May 23 - June 3, 2019 (12 days)

• Led by Ben Edwards, professor of earth sciences and noted volcanologist, who received rave reviews from the trip he led to Iceland in 2017.

• On each of the seven hikes during the trip, an extra guide will enable participants to choose either a longer or shorter excursion. Plus, an art historian will bring additional perspective to a few of the cultural excursions.

• Southern Italy has active and dormant volcanoes, picturesque landscapes and seascapes, charming coastal cities and towns, fascinating archaeological sites and, of course, renowned cuisine.

Learn more and register at dickinson.edu/alumnitravel.

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[ closing thoughts ]

A Rehabilitated Perspective

BY ERIC JOHNS ’09

F

ive years into a career is a good time to pause and reflect. During my first few years working as a physical therapist in a rehabilitation hospital, I didn’t yet see the full value of my Dickinson education. Clinical settings are driven in part by highly specific protocols and procedures and hyperspecialization. While I love treating patients, there have been times I asked my jack-of-all-trades self if I would be a better fit for a different facet of health care. Or, if this has always been my calling, why didn’t I do one of those fasttrack programs at a big university that gets you to graduate school more efficiently?

While considering my career path, in fall 2017 I took on a new challenge. I spent a month teaching physical therapy students in Malawi. I traveled there alone and had the first week to orient myself to Malawian rehabilitation practice standards and create teaching experiences for the students. Resources and support were available—if I asked the right questions.

Nothing else I’ve done in my life so far required such minute-to-minute diversity of thought: learning new methods of communication on the fly, making decisions with incomplete information and recalling facts learned long ago. (Yes, memorization is still essential today, when the internet isn’t available!) And of course I had to constantly reevaluate familiar patterns of teaching knowledge and skills within the context of a totally different culture. An American is unlikely to have even modest success teaching students and collaborating

with faculty at a Malawian university without a basic understanding of how British postcolonial dynamics coupled with the country’s recent governmental changes shape its educational system. Recognizing and adapting a project to these factors is not something you learn in a clinical graduate program, but it is something you learn at Dickinson. Sitting in on a faculty meeting— sipping tea in a warm boardroom with Malawian, German and Australian rehabilitation educators—crosscultural communication was equally as vital as skills with wheelchair training or the ability to lecture on kinesiology.

It was after my time in Malawi that I better understood just how well Dickinson had prepared me to apply my work to complex international settings.

As I think about goals for a hopeful 2019 return to Malawi and continue my usual physical therapy work in Philadelphia, I also consider my student loan repayment status five years postgraduation. A Dickinson education is a significant investment, especially for the son of an electrician. Many necessary conversations are taking place today around the country and, I’m sure, on college campuses, about escalating costs and the value of a liberal-arts education. I will be paying off my student loans for years to come, and I do it without regret. In life, the amount of sacrifice is often proportional to the value of the accomplishment; such is a Dickinson education.

I look forward to seeing how the value of this education further reveals itself in the years to come.

Eric Johns ’09 earned a degree in biology before attending Drexel University for a doctor of physical therapy. While at Dickinson, He was on the Jive Turkeys Ultimate Frisbee team and studied abroad in Australia. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, Rachael, and his son, Christopher. He works as a physical therapist for Good Shepherd Penn Partners and Moss Rehab and as a teaching assistant at Drexel.

He traveled to Malawi in October 2017 to guest lecture at the University of Malawi’s physiotherapy program, via a project organized by Health Volunteers Overseas.

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How would you color the cover? What elements would you add? Share with #dsonphotos or email to dsonmag@dickinson.edu.

P. O . B O X 1 7 7 3 C A R L I S L E , P A 1 7 0 1 3 - 2 8 9 6 W W W. D I C K I N S O N . E D U / M A G A Z I N E

[

well-stated

]

Bringing the world to our campuses—and sending our students out into that world— is a necessity. Failing to provide international perspectives for students does them a disservice.

P R E S I DE N T M A R G E E E N S IG N

in “We Must Do More for International Students,”

Inside Higher Ed (August 2018).

I have learned to push beyond my boundaries, try new things and explore options I never would have thought possible.

A L DE N MOH A C S I ’ 19 , on his experience as a museum education intern at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Read more on Page 12-13, and watch a video at dson.co/mohacsi19.

INSIDE: THE HOW-TO ISSUE

I worked hard on and off the court, and the suffering was more than worth the rewards.

M IC H A E L F L OR E C K ’ 9 5 ,

agriculture and science supervisor for Cumberland Valley School District in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Read more at dson.co/floreck95.

I wasn’t born to be a chemist. The fact that Dickinson encouraged me to get involved with many different things, to sample many different topics, was important, because I didn’t know what I wanted to do.

C H A D M I R K I N ’ 8 6 , director of Northwestern University’s International Institute for Nanotechnology, winner of the prestigious Dan David Prize in the Future Time Dimension and one of the world’s foremost experts in nanotechnology. Video at dson.co/mirkin86.

It was the best thing I could have ever done for my career.

B E N R A F E T T O ’ 0 9 , former assistant vice president at Mizuho Americas who is now pursuing a master’s degree in computational science & engineering at Harvard University, on the Dickinson in New York study-abroad program. Read more at dson.co/dsonnyc18.