Around the Table Engineering Challenge The piled snow in photo (B) of your lat-
1950s Science
Ray M. “Nibs” Lauerman Jr. is our classmate leaning over the lab desk (A). The fellow in the light-colored sport coat is handsome enough to be another class-
PEA ARCHIVES
est “Do You Remember?” and the dumping of snow you all received last night and today, got me to thinking not just of the Blizzard of ’78 (for which we all were enlisted to shovel walks), but of a longlasting memory of an introduction to engineer ing type of class. The challenge: build a marble-maze Rube Goldberg. The winner would be [whosever] marble took the longest to complete its course. The winner in our class was Bill Furber ’78, whose marble ran a predictable course—until plunking into a snow-filled Coke can. The snow had to melt before the marble landed at its endpoint. Even if not a response to your question, thanks for the musing! Eleanor Nimick Hay ’78 Oakton,VA
Answers to the fall 2012 Exoniana’s lab photos:
A mate, Jim Alley; or another possibility, Deke Smith. The photo would be vintage 1953–54, taken in one of the science labs. Dr. George R. Roth Jr. ’54; P’87 Woolwich, ME
Snowdrift
From Winter to Spring Picture (C) is from winter ’06–’07 (I
think). It looks like Annie Pope ’08 (left), Rachel Granetz ’08 (center), and Joey Derosa ’07 (right). I can’t identify the other two in the picture. Hoping to see at least the two from the class of 2008’s Exonians at our five-year reunion in May! Sarah A. Fenn ’08 Cherry Hill, CO “Langdellian”
The tall girl with the scarf in the middle of picture (C) is Rachel Granetz ’08. She was a year ahead of me and a fellow “Langdellian” at Exeter! Ariella Park ’09 Washington, D.C.
That’s Me!
Imagine my surprise to open up the fall 2012 Bulletin and see myself pictured there on the page that I thought was reserved for, shall we say, the older set of alumni? I
PEA ARCHIVES
For photo (B): It looks like the photo was taken right in front of the door to Merrill Hall, which was a boys’ dorm when I was a student there from ’82 to ’85. Merrill is connected to Wentworth Dining Hall there. The snow often piled up so high that it was sometimes difficult to open the door in the morning after a big storm. We would often prop the door open so we wouldn’t be trapped in by the snowdrift. If it was still snowing, we would come back later in the day to see a huge snowdrift in the foyer of Merrill. As punishment, our resident teachers would make us shovel it out. Michael I. Song ’85 Santa Monica, CA
B am pictured in the white top in photo (B). I wish I could recall my physics lab partners’ names, but the memory fails on that. I do recall fond (?) memories of Mr. Brinckerhoff assuring me, when the physics labs got me down: “Ah, but physics is frustration!” It was with equal shock that I read the caption below the picture of the phone booth on the same page about it being a “relic”! Wow—to all in the class of ’79—I guess we are now officially part of the “older set”! Thanks for the trip back in time! Suzanne M. (Brubaker) Yale ’79 Ambler, PA
Letter to the Editor On the proper usage of ‘transgender’
In Mary Rindfleisch’s review of In One Person by John Irving ’61 (winter 2013 Bulletin), she refers to the way the novel presents “gender identity and preference...as human rights protected by law and custom...” In this spirit, I must educate you regarding your language so that you can improve your editorial practices. I can assure you that it is neither customary nor respectful to use the term as Ms. Rindfleisch ’73 does in the following sentence: “He is also resented by gay men for his affairs with women and by transgenders for not giving up his maleness.” (p. 16) Just as you would not refer to an older person as “an old,” you should remember that “transgender” is an adjective, not a noun. Should the Bulletin have occasion to discuss transgender issues again (and I certainly hope you do), please acknowledge your subjects’ humanity by discussing transgender men, women and people, not “transgenders.” GLAAD’s excellent style manual (www.glaad.org/ reference) has up-to-date information on standards for writing about the GLBTQ community. On a side note, I have not yet read Mr. Irving’s book (and Ms. Rindfleisch’s review makes me want to); I do hope, however, that the author does not depict transgender characters as resenting the protagonist for “not giving up his maleness.” In my experience, transgender people (including my beloved partner) understand, better than most, the sacred right of individuals to express their gender as they see fit. Abigail G. “Abby” Henderson ’99 Minneapolis, MN
SPRING 2013
The Exeter Bulletin
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