USC College Magazine Spring/Summer 2009

P U B L I S H E D B Y U S C C O L L E G E O F L E T T E R S , A R T S & S C I E N C E S

ALSO INSIDE:ALSO INSIDE: Pomp & Unusual Circumstance • Elegant Elocution • Can We Save Los Angeles? • Bright Minds

USC College economists SimonWilkie, Caroline Betts andRobert Dekle share their insights.

PLUSPLUS:: Alumni offer their tipsand tricks for navigating today’seconomic terrain.

USC College economists SimonWilkie, Caroline Betts and

12 43

2 | From the Editors

3 | From the Dean

4 | CommencementPomp & UnusualCircumstanceA few exceptional graduatesshare their journeys.BY PAMELA J. JOHNSON & LAUREN WALSER

6 | Campus News &Events

10 | The CollegeCommons

A series of provocative conversationsthat began this spring, The CollegeCommons brings faculty and studentstogether to explore the world of ideas.

11 | In the News

12 | In the CommunityAuthor, Author!Can you imagine waking up as apiece of chalk? One child did in a newcourse cultivating young writers inLos Angeles schools. Aimee Benderand Cecilia Woloch of English —and undergrads — help them findtheir voices. BY PAMELA J. JOHNSON

14 | In the SpotlightElegant ElocutionInspired by her mother’s recitation ofpoetry since she was a young child,Carol Muske-Dukes, California’sPoet Laureate, knows that words canchange a life. BY SUSAN ANDREWS

16 | In the ClassroomCan We Save Los Angeles?With many experts warning thattime is running out, students areat a critical crossroads as they pre-pare to guide the Earth and itsinhabitants toward a better future.Leading the way are Jim Hawand the redesigned environmentalstudies program in USC College.BY SUSAN ANDREWS

18 | In the FieldBeauty & Good TasteAdmired in our homes and responsiblefor vanilla ice cream — the secrets ofthese mystical and useful plants arerevealed by one of the world’s toporchid experts, Dr. Joseph Arditti ’65.BY SUSAN ANDREWS

20 | In the WorldBright MindsUSC College and Viterbi Schoolfaculty team up to establish aEnergy Frontier Research Centerwith a $12.5 million grant fromthe U.S. Department of Energy.

Departments

Explore USC College’s Newly Redesigned Web Site.

college.usc.edu

The Chatter of NeuronsNeurobiologist Tansu Celikel andhis fellow researchers examine howthe brain processes sensory data.BY EMILY CAVALCANTI

22 | In the CourtroomThe Power of AttorneyThe USC Mock Trial Team ranksamong the nation’s best. Civil rightsattorney Olu Orange founded and runsthe program. In the Rancho Cuca-monga Courthouse, student Lisa Cuiargues passionately as plaintiff attorney:“Drew Walton’s hands were covered inblood! Lane Hamilton’s blood!”BY PAMELA J. JOHNSON

38 | Faculty Bookplate

40 | Faculty Notes

43 | Student Notes

45 | TrojanalitiesTrue Colors in theAutumn YearsCelebrating their 60th anniversary, theHalf Century Trojans have held thetorch of USC history and tradition forgenerations. Each has traveled a uniquepath in life, but all have remaineddevoted to the cardinal and gold.BY EMILY CAVALCANTI & PAMELA J. JOHNSON

50 | Class Notes

54 | In Memoriam

56 | In My Own WordsCouch SurfingTurn breaking points into tippingpoints. BY NATALIE PACE ’94

Special Focus: THE ECONOMY24 | 50 Jobs, 50 States,

50 WeeksFacing a dismal jobmarket unmatchedsince the Great De-pression? Such dis-couragement put thisalumnus on his met-tle to think big. He’sgiving career mobil-

ity a whole new meaning — landing jobs fromCalifornia to the New York Island, from theredwood forest to the gulf stream waters.BY PAMELA J. JOHNSON

28 | For Sale: Toxic AssetsGoing once, goingtwice, sold!Economist SimonWilkie uses hisexpertise in gametheory to devise amethod for elimi-nating the country’s

stockpile of toxic assets. This is one auctionwe can’t afford to miss.BY LAURIE HARTZELL

31 | Our Experts Weigh InEconomistsCaroline Bettsand Robert Dekleshare their insightsinto the nuancesof the economy.

32 | Candid on CreditPayments, fees,interest, statements— what does it allstack up to? KellyMcNamara Corley’82 provides a peekinto the credit indus-try’s legal landscape.

Q&A PROFILE BY EMILY CAVALCANTI

34 | The Heart (and Soul)of Gold

For geologist JeffreyWilson ’76, it takesmore than just a pickand shovel to strikeit rich. These days,gold exploration is asmuch about satelliteimaging, computers,

graduate degrees and oddly enough a gooddose of international diplomacy.BY DAVID DORION ’94

37 | Keep the Dream AliveJason Thomas ’94,’00 offers his fellowTrojans a few simplebut important tips tore-examine theirfinancial goals andtactics.BY REBECCA DORMAN ’10

2 | USC College Magazine

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On the CoverSimon Wilkie, professor and chair of economicsin USC College, has a plan to eliminate toxicassets and help set our country back on track.Using his expertise in game theory, he has deviseda toxic asset auction proposal that he will presentto the U.S. Treasury Department and the NationalEconomic Council. Read more on page 28.

PHOTO BY CARLOS PUMA

EDITOR

Susan Andrews

MANAGING EDITOR & DESIGNER

Emily Cavalcanti

SENIOR WRITER

Pamela J. Johnson

WEB EDITOR & WRITER

Laurie Hartzell

NEW MEDIA PRODUCER

Mira Zimet

COORDINATOR

Letitia Franklin

USC COLLEGE ADMINISTRATION

Howard Gillman, Dean

Susan Andrews, Senior Associate Deanfor Communication

Dani Byrd, Vice Dean for Faculty & Research

Steven Lamy, Vice Dean forAcademic Programs

Michael Quick, Executive Vice Deanfor Academic Affairs

George Sanchez, Director of College Diversity

Roger D. Stewart, Senior Associate Deanfor Administration & Planning

Richard Vargas, Senior Associate Deanfor Advancement

USC COLLEGE BOARD OF COUNCILORS

Jana Waring Greer, Chair •Joan Abrahamson • Jay V. Berger •

Robert D. Beyer • Gregory Brakovich •Robin Broidy • Susan Casden •

Richard Cook • James Corfman •Robert R. Dockson • Allen Gilbert •Patrick C. Haden • Gary Hooper •

Janice Bryant Howroyd • George “Chip”Hughes • Suzanne Nora Johnson •

Stephen G. Johnson • David Y. Lee •Liam McGee • Philip Morais •

Robert Osher • Gerald Papazian •Lawrence Piro • Alicia Smotherman •

Glenn A. Sonnenberg • Rosemary Tomich

USC College Magazine is published twice a yearby USC College of Letters, Arts & Sciences

Office of Communication at the University ofSouthern California. © 2009 USC College. Thediverse opinions expressed in USC College Mag-azine do not necessarily represent the views ofthe editors, the College administration or USC.

USC College Magazine welcomes commentsfrom its readers. Send letters to

[email protected] or USC CollegeMagazine, c/o Letitia Franklin, 1050 Childs

Way, RRI 308, Los Angeles,California 90089-2910.

A New Face forUSC College Magazine

With this issue we launch the newly redesigned USCCollege Magazine. The aim of the publication’s newdesign is to better capture the breadth and depth of the

College through words and colorful images. We seek to continuethe fascinating intellectual exchange you experienced both in andout of the classroom as a student at USC.

With this redesign, we continue to promote pride in the College and the TrojanFamily; engage our readers in campus life; connect alumni with each other and theCollege; and position the College as a leading arts and sciences entity within agreat research university.

This issue focuses on the dynamic nature of today’s economy as examinedthrough the eyes of our expert faculty and alumni. You will also learn more aboutchattering neurons, take pride in our community of writers, gain an appreciation oforchids beyond their undeniable beauty, and meet one of the most gifted poets ofour time.

Be sure to read about the recent College graduate who is taking on 50 jobs, in 50states, in 50 weeks — a quintessential triple threat that turns into a fun-filledadventure replete with challenges, experiential learning and widespread mediaattention.

We are the storytellers who share the countless extraordinary endeavors of ourlarge and diverse alumni along with those of our faculty and students who researchand collaborate across the natural sciences, social sciences and humanities. So, takea few minutes and explore all this issue has to offer.

This is USC College and these are our wondrous stories.

—Susan Andrews and Emily Cavalcanti

Spring/Summer 2009 | 3

PHOTOBYPHILCHANNING

FROM

THEDEAN

One panel discussion last fall, sponsoredby our Department of Economics,attracted more than 300 students andfaculty.

In this issue of USC College Magazine,you will hear more from our economicsprofessors and also from members ofour broader College alumni commu-nity who have offered to share theirspecial expertise with all of us. Youwill also learn that other notable Col-lege alumni have been asked to sharetheir expertise in another way: by join-ing the Obama administration.

The global economic crisis was notthe only event this year that mobilizedour faculty and students on campus. Inthe aftermath of our historic presiden-tial election, and in the early monthsof President Obama’s administration,College faculty organized conferencesand workshops to discuss and analyzethe meaning of the election and theagenda of the new administration.Among the events was a two-day,election post-mortem at the DavidsonConference Center, sponsored by ourJesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics,that attracted national mediaattention and top strategists fromthe Obama and McCain campaigns.

On other fronts, students and facultycontinue to address vital socialchallenges relating to energy, the envi-ronment and human health. For morethan 15 years, the Wrigley Institute forEnvironmental Studies has encouragedresponsible and creative solutions toenvironmental challenges, and this pastyear faculty from across the disciplinesworked to expand and enrich theCollege’s path-breaking academicprograms in environmental studies.

Overall, it has been a year of remark-able accomplishments for the College.When an anonymous donor chal-lenged College faculty and staff toreach unprecedented levels of partici-pation in the university’s Good Neigh-bors Campaign, we worked together tomeet that challenge, and the resultwas a $1 million gift to our JointEducational Project.

In other news: This past year saw theelection of Nobel Laureate GeorgeOlah to the prestigious National Acad-emy of Engineering, and Professor ofChemistry and Biochemistry AriehWarshel to the National Academy ofSciences. Distinguished Professor ofEnglish T.C. Boyle was recently in-ducted into the American Academy of

Arts and Letters. Karen Halttunen,professor of history, received aGuggenheim Fellowship to supporther book about 19th-century NewEnglanders. Our Korean Studies Insti-tute, directed by Professor of Interna-tional Relations and Business DavidKang, received a five-year $600,000grant from the Strategic Initiative forKorean Studies at the Academy ofKorean Studies. USC College’s ShoahFoundation Institute was featured inan HBO documentary following thenetwork’s showing of Schindler’s List…

…And my problem is that, becauseof the size of the College, and thebreadth of our expertise I have muchmore good news to share with youthan I have space in this column.

The magazine will elaborate, buteven then, there is more to say.

And so: Have I got news for you!The College has just completed a re-

design of its Web site — and I encour-age you to explore it at college.usc.edu. Youwill find many engaging stories andcompelling videos. I hope you agree thatthe site captures the dynamic nature ofthe College and the amazing work beingdone by our faculty, students and alumni.

Remember: college.usc.edu. Find outeven more about what’s going on inUSC College. I think you will bepleased and proud with what you see.We hope you will come back often.

Because of the size of USC College of Letters,Arts & Sciences and the breadth of ourexpertise, our faculty and students are alwaysin a position to shed light on important

questions as they arise in society. It is no surprise that,as the global economic crisis deepened, our communityturned to members of our faculty for reliable analyses.

news for youHave I got

HOWARD GILLMAN

DEAN OF USC COLLEGEANNA H. BING DEAN’S CHAIR

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USC College issued more than 2,200 degrees duringcommencement 2009: 1,800 undergraduate; 245master’s and 170 Ph.D. Here, a few exceptionalgraduates share their journeys.

Medal for Mettle

Stationed in Tikrit, Iraq, Saddam Hussein’sbirthplace 87 miles northwest of Bagh-

dad, Apollo Emeka served as an intelligenceanalyst for the Army National Guard.

During his deployment, Emeka’s base wasbombed several times. Once, a rocket missedhim by a few feet. A fellow soldier in the

same spot lost hislegs in a sub-sequentexplosion.

Four years later andhalfway around theworld, Emeka gradu-ated with a bachelor’sin sociology fromUSC College.

“Being in Iraq made me realize how muchI don’t ever want to be powerless again,”said Emeka, 25, who earned an Army Com-mendation Medal for successfully trackingthose responsible for the base bombings.“Because in Iraq, I felt powerless.

“I never want to be in a position where 30people above me have complete control ofmy life.”

Raised in Seattle, Emeka joined the militaryafter his mother died. Too distraught to study,he thought the guard’s disciplined structureone weekend per month would be uplifting.He joined in 2001, after Sept. 11, but neveranticipated going to war.

When he returned, he attended Los AngelesCity College and later his oldest brother,Amon Emeka, a professor of sociology in theCollege, suggested he apply to USC. Duringhis tenure, he has been a Mellon Mays Under-graduate Fellow, USC Renaissance Scholar,Ronald E. McNair Scholar, and valedictorianduring the USC Annual Black GraduationCeremony, to name a few achievements.

“USC has been an incredible experience,”he said. “If you have an idea or a passion atUSC, you can see that idea come to fruition.

Whether research, dance, acting, comedy,poetry, I’ve had the chance to do it all.”

—PJJ

A New FrontierA political science major, Natasha Khan

closely monitored and analyzed her home-land Pakistan’s growing struggle against theTaliban and the resulting refugee crisis.

As the Muslim representative in USC’sInterfaith Council, she enjoyed lengthydebates about beliefs from atheism toZoroastrianism.

She considers herself lucky. Although

BY PAMELA J. JOHNSON AND LAUREN WALSER

Natasha Khan

Apollo Emeka


G.ANDG.LICÓNPHOTOBYPAMELAJ.JOHNSON;D.ANDM.GIBSONPHOTOBYDIETMARQUISTROF

Yes They DidGerardo “Lalo” Licón was a freshman at

Inglewood High School when riots broke outbetween black and Latino students during aCinco de Mayo celebration in 1990.

By his sophomore year, he belonged to aposse affiliated with an infamous local streetgang in the southwest L.A. city during the ’90s.

“I thought by the time I was 18, I would ei-ther be dead or in jail,” said Gerardo, whograduated this May with a doctorate in history.

His decision to hit the books not only drasti-cally changed his own life path, but that of hisbrother, Gustavo Licón. Four years younger,Gustavo mimicked his older brother. WhenGerardo considered gangs, so did Gustavo.

When Gerardo instead enrolled in Santa Mon-ica College and began studying Mexican-Ameri-can history, Gustavo began reading his olderbrother’s textbooks. In May, Gustavo donnedhis cap and gown, earning his Ph.D. in history.

The brothers’ parents emigrated from Mex-ico. Their father quit school in the first grade towork in the fields. Both brothers credit theMovimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán foreducating them about their Mexican heritageand giving them the drive to succeed.

Gustavo was in high school working as a bus-boy when he was accepted into an Ivy Leagueuniversity for his undergraduate studies.

Regular customers who had never beforeacknowledged him slapped him on the back,saying, “Your father must be proud.”

“You can ask him yourself,” Gustavo remem-bers telling them. “He’s pouring your water.”

Gustavo’s father was a busboy at the samerestaurant, and still clears and sets tables for aliving. The brothers are deeply proud of theirparents and humbled by their sacrifices.

“They always went without so they couldgive to us,” Gerardo, 32, said of Antonio andAna Maria Licón.“They did it all for thebenefit of their sons.” —PJJ

the educational status of Pakistani women isamong the lowest in the world, her parentswere educated and wanted their children toattend college regardless of gender.

Khan is the first female in her family to travelto the United States for an education. For her fa-ther’s generation, it had been a Khan family tra-dition for sons to do so. At 18, she moved to LosAngeles not knowing exactly what to expect.

“I’m very attached to my own culture,” saidKhan, 21, wearing a colorful, dupatta head-scarf. “So it took me longer to get acclimated.”

She attended her Friday prayers at MasjidOmar ibn Al-Khattab, the mosque near USCon Exposition Boulevard, and excused herselffrom class for salah, the formal Islam prayerperformed five times daily.

She spent each winter and summer break athome in Lahore. She was there when BenazirBhutto, Pakistan’s former prime minister, wasassassinated and riots broke out.

During that time, residents were cautionedthat the water pipes may have been poisoned.

“It was that feeling you get when you feelyou’re being closed in from all sides,” Kahnrecalled with a shudder. “What can you do ifyou can’t use the water?”

After graduation, she plans to spend time withfamily in Lahore before attending law school inLondon. While home, she’s considering volun-teer teaching in an all-girls school in Chitral,where the Taliban, enforcing a ban on femaleeducation, has been bombing such schools.

“Pakistan is in a bad spot right now, but weare resilient people,” she said. “These [Tal-iban] people are terrorists. Their goal is to getyou to be afraid. If you are afraid, they haveaccomplished that. To fight against them, wehave to keep our hope alive.” —PJJ

Like Father, Like SonMichael Gibson and son David received

their USC diplomas after nine collective years

of hard work and long nights of studying.David earned his bachelor’s from USC Col-

lege, where he majored in psychology and mi-nored in neuroscience. Michael, a lawyer byday and student by night, received his mas-ter’s in historic preservation from the USCSchool of Architecture.

But with two simultaneous ceremonies onopposite ends of campus, the Gibson familywas in a bind: Who cheers for whom?

The plan was to divide and conquer: ShawnGibson, the Gibson family matriarch, headedto Alumni Park to cheer for David, whileMichael’s aunt and other relatives camped outon Trousdale for the elder Gibson’s ceremony.

Graduating together wasn’t planned. Oneyear after Michael began classes at USC, his

son joined him — but no pressure from dad.“I told him that I was really impressed by

the school,” Michael said. “He had a numberof options, but USC was his top pick.”

As it turned out, USC was a perfect fit forDavid, who arrived at the College an unde-clared freshman. With his many interests, hefound that the interdisciplinary neuroscienceprogram was a perfect way to let him explore amix of subjects, all while learning about thebrain and behavior.

Both Gibsons are following their dreams,with Michael expanding his practice to in-clude preservation issues and the youngerGibson pursuing maritime law.

As the adage goes, like father like son. —LW

Gerardo and Gustavo Licón

David and Michael Gibson


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Steven Spielberg, Billy Crys-tal and Bette Midler took cen-ter stage in honoring KirkDouglas with the USC ShoahFoundation Institute’s Ambas-sadors for Humanity Award onOct. 22. Throughout theevening, hosted by Crystal, apervasive message resonated:Holocaust survivors’ memoriesmust be preserved and studiedso such atrocities are never re-peated.

“Kirk is a man who stands upfor what he believes in and whoexpects the rest of us to standup right beside him,” said Spiel-berg, founder of the Shoah

Foundation and honorary chairof the institute.

Wallis Annenberg, vice chairof the gala’s dinner committeeand last year’s award recipient,said Douglas is a true ambassa-dor of humanity — writ large —with a lifetime of good works.

“USC College is proud to beassociated with the ShoahFoundation Institute, one of thecrown jewels of the university,”Howard Gillman, dean of theCollege, said. “Kirk Douglas isan outstanding humanitarianand an inspiration to all of us.”

Douglas delivered a heartfeltspeech in which he recalled how

deeply affected he was when heviewed the institute’s first as-semblage of survivor testi-monies. “When I left, I had theurge to do something good forthe world,” he said. “I think thatthe Shoah Foundation Institutehas inspired all of us to becomeambassadors for humanity.”

Above: USC College Dean HowardGillman, Janice Crystal, host BillyCrystal, Anne Buydens with herhusband and the evening’s hon-oree Kirk Douglas, USC TrusteeSteven Spielberg, USC TrusteeWallis Annenberg, USC PresidentSteven B. Sample, Kathryn Sample,and the institute’s interimexecutive director Kim Simon

USC Shoah Foundation Institute Honors Kirk DouglasCELEBRITIES ATTEND A GALA DINNER HONORING THE ACCLAIMED ACTOR AND HUMANITARIAN.

“It’s incumbent upon the Southern California EarthquakeCenter, as one of the major research institutions in SouthernCalifornia and one of the leading centers for earthquakescience in the world, to really be at the forefront of thiskind of exercise.”

PROFESSOR OF EARTH SCIENCES JAMES DOLAN ON USC’S MAJOR ROLE IN THE GREAT CALIFORNIA SHAKEOUT, THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKEPREPAREDNESS DRILL IN U.S. HISTORY. A TEAM OF MORE THAN 300 SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS, INCLUDING EXPERTS FROM THE SOUTHERN

CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKE CENTER HEADQUARTERED AT USC, DEVELOPED THE SCENARIO FOR THE NOV. 13 DRILL.

VIEW THE NLINE VIDEO at college.usc.edu/shakeout

Pentecostalism’sL.A. RootsGo GlobalCENTER FOR RELIGION AND

CIVIC CULTURE LAUNCHES

$6.9 MILLION RESEARCH

INITIATIVE.

What began as a dinner con-versation in Manila led DonMiller and Tetsunao Yamamori(of Food for the Hungry) to 20countries in the global South.The duo traveled to these coun-tries to research global Pente-costalism and found, to theirsurprise, that evangelism and so-cial ministry co-exist and flour-ish within this exponentiallygrowing religion.

And now, Miller, executive di-rector of the Center for Religionand Civic Culture within USCCollege, has established thePentecostal and Charismatic Re-search Initiative (PCRI) fundedby a $6.9 million grant from theJohn Templeton Foundation.

The initiative is two-fold andwill foster innovative social sci-ence research in Africa, Asia, LatinAmerica, and the former SovietUnion, by providing up to $3.5million in grants to regional cen-ters and individual scholars. ThePCRI will allow for the creation ofscholarly resources, including adigital archive, and research onPentecostal and charismaticChristianity in Los Angeles.


For 37 years, the Joint Educational Project (JEP) has placed more than 60,000 USC students in commu-nity assignments. Through these meaningful experiences, they have learned firsthand about real lifeissues of poverty, immigration, educational inequalities and other concerns.

“I can honestly say thatteaching, or maybe I should saylearning, at Manual Arts [HighSchool] was one of my mostfulfilling experiences,” one stu-dent told Tammara Anderson,executive director of JEP.

An extraordinary expressionof generosity surfaced thisyear when one of USC College’s alumni was so moved by the JEP experience that an offer was made todonate $1 million to the service organization if at least 50 percent of the College’s faculty and staffcontributed to the Good Neighbors Campaign.

“I am proud of the faculty and staff of the College who came together in the spirit of community tomeet the gift challenge of our generous alum,” said Howard Gillman, dean of the College. “It is extremelygratifying that this effort has not only helped the Good Neighbors Campaign, but also our nationally rec-ognized Joint Educational Project, which has had a profound impact on the lives of neighborhood childrenand on the service-learning culture of USC College.”

“Our College family really came through for us and the JEP staff is so thankful! Not only did we reach thegoal of 50 percent participation in the Good Neighbors Campaign, we exceeded it by reaching 56 percent!”Anderson said. “During these difficult economic times, this gift will assist staff in developing community-based research projects as well as maintaining existing programs that assist local schools and service agencies.”

Good Neighbors Campaign Reaches New HeightFACULTY & STAFF CONTRIBUTIONS HELP SECURE $1 MILLION GIFT TO SUPPORT SERVICE LEARNING.

“During these difficult economic times, thisgift will assist staff in developing community-based research projects as well as maintainingexisting programs that assist local schools andservice agencies.”

Tammara Anderson,executive director of theJoint Educational Project(far left), celebrates duringthe October Good Neigh-bors Campaign picnic with(left to right) JEP’s BrendaPesante, Jameson Yu, DavidAnderson, Stefanie Gopaul,Tina Koneazny, andJackie Whitley.

Beginning in fall 2009, USCCollege will offer admission totwo innovative bachelor’s degreeprograms in narrative studies andhuman performance.

The Bachelor of Arts in narra-tive studies is for students inter-

ested in developingand evaluating orig-inal content from

novels, films, theatre and othernarrative platforms. Students willbe prepared for professional op-portunities that extend beyondthe roles of author, screenwriteror playwright and include loca-tion managers, production de-signers, sound editors and evenproducers who need an under-standing of narrative to succeedin their careers.

The Bachelor of Arts in human

performance is designed for stu-dents with an interest in appliedkinesiology. An ideal program forstudents interested in becomingsports agents, this degree option isalso intended for those planningto pursue careers in teaching,coaching, sports management,sports law, athletic training,sports communication, sportsjournalism and other sports-related professions.

JEPPHOTOBYPAMELAJ.JOHNSON;STUDENTPHOTOBYTHEOJEMISON

New B.A. Degrees Launched

“Oneof thethings

that Sen.Obama was relent-lessly insistentupon was notengaging in anypersonal attackson John McCainand to hit hard onthe issues. It’simportant to saythat this wascompletely hisdecision.”USC COLLEGE ALUMNA, TELEVISIONJOURNALIST AND SENIOR STRATEGIST

FOR THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN LINDA

DOUGLASS ’71 ON PRESIDENT

OBAMA’S REFUSAL TO RUN A

NEGATIVE CAMPAIGN DURING THE

GENERAL ELECTION. IN NOVEMBER,DOUGLASS JOINED OTHER TOP

STRATEGISTS FROM THE OBAMA

AND MCCAIN CAMPAIGNS DURING A

TWO-DAY, POST-ELECTION ANALYSIS

SPONSORED BY THE JESSE M.UNRUH INSTITUTE OF POLITICS, INASSOCIATION WITH POLITICO.COM.


ZEPHYRUSPHOTOBYGERRYSMITH;V.JONESPHOTOCOURTESYOFGREENFORALL;KELLERMANFAMILYPHOTOSBYMIRAZIMET

Travel to the USC campus onCatalina Island became mucheasier in early April when theU.S. Coast Guard approved pas-senger travel on a boat owned byUSC and operated by the USCWrigley Institute for Environ-mental Studies.

The Zephyrus is 45 feet longand is approved for up to 20passengers and two crew mem-bers. Its primary service will bedaily roundtrips between itshomeport in San Pedro and theWrigley Marine Science Centeron Catalina Island near TwoHarbors.

The Zephyrus will make the20-mile trip across the San PedroChannel year round. Since its

maiden voyage in April, the ves-sel has offered the institutemore flexibility in transportingUSC passengers to and from theCatalina campus.

“We need regular access tothe USC campus on CatalinaIsland the same way we need

access to every USC campusaround Los Angeles,” saidDonal T. Manahan, director ofthe institute. “Now we canoffer a daily commuter shuttleto our island campus. This is an

exciting new development — itwill dramatically improve theenvironmental research and ed-ucation programs we can offeron Catalina Island.”

Travel on the Zephyrus isopen to the Trojan Family —faculty, students, staff and

official guests — and there isno charge for the service.

All Aboard the ZephyrusU.S. COAST GUARD APPROVES CONNECTION TO USC CATALINA CAMPUS.

SustainabilityChampionVAN JONES IS HONORED FOR

TRANSFORMING KNOWLEDGE

INTO ACTION.

The USC Center for Sustain-able Cities honored Van Joneswith its Sustainability Cham-pion Award as part of its Aprilconference titled “Cities andClimate Change: A SolutionsOriented Conference.”

The award is presented to anindividual or organization whoseefforts illuminate the path to-ward greater sustainability.

Jones is founding president ofGreen For All, a U.S. organizationthat aims to build an inclusive,green economy and promotesgreen-collar jobs and opportuni-ties for the disadvantaged. Heserves as special adviser for greenjobs, enterprise and innovationon the White House Council onEnvironmental Quality.

Jones, who was one of Time’s2008 Heroes of the Environ-ment, is the New York Times best-selling author of The Green CollarEconomy (HarperOne, 2008).

“Now we can offer a daily commutershuttle to our island campus. This is anexciting new development.”

It’s a Family AffairTHE KELLERMANS DISCUSS THE SECRETS OF MYSTERY WRITING.

Suspense novelist Jonathan Kellerman ’74 and his wife, novelist Faye Kellerman joined their son,novelist and playwright Jesse Kellerman and their daughter, budding novelist Aliza Kellerman in afascinating conversation on the art of writing mysteries during a March 26 Visions and Voices event.

Organized by USC College and moderated by College Dean Howard Gillman, the Kellermansshed light on having so many writers in one family and the remarkable staying power of crime writing.

Faye and Aliza, the youngest Kellerman child, have recently co-written the young adult novel Prism.Jonathan Kellerman, clinical professor of psychology in the College, wrote his first novel in 1985 andhas written at least one best-selling novel each year since. Faye Kellerman is also a best-selling authorwith more than 20 million copies of her novels in print. Jesse Kellerman has written three novels andhis award-winning plays have been produced throughout the U.S. and in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Jonathan

Jesse Aliza

Faye

VIEW THE NLINEVIDEO atcollege.usc.edu/catalina

VIEW THE NLINE VIDEO at college.usc.edu/kellermans


SYMPOSIUMANDIMRCPHOTOSBYTAYLORFOUST;B.ROSEPHOTOCOURTESYOFUSCSHOAHFOUNDATIONINSTITUTE

“They are just regular human beings who were thrust intothe worst of circumstances. Even if I only wanted to viewa five-minute video, more often than not, I would end upwatching their entire three-hour story. I needed to hearthe rest of their story.”

BRANDON ROSE ’09 ON THE EXPERIENCE OF VIEWING HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR AND WITNESS TESTIMONIES CONTAINED IN THE USC SHOAH

FOUNDATION INSTITUTE’S ARCHIVE. HIS STATEMENT IS PART OF A 10-MINUTE VIDEO, IN PERPETUITY: THE STORY OF THE USC SHOAH FOUNDATION

INSTITUTE, WHICH FOLLOWED SELECT HBO AIRINGS OF STEVEN SPIELBERG’S SCHINDLER’S LIST IN APRIL AND MAY.

From RussiaWith LoveTHE INSTITUTE OF MODERN

RUSSIAN CULTURE CELEBRATES

OPENING AT THE SHRINE.

Opening in 1926, the historicShrine Auditorium with its Moroc-can architecture and golden domecupolas has been mostly synony-mous with the Oscars.

Now it’s synonymous with schol-arly research. The Institute of Mod-ern Russian Culture (IMRC)formally opened in the Shrine nearUniversity Park Campus on April 10.

Part of USC College, the researchfacility is home to extensive collec-tions of rare books, catalogs, periodi-cals, photographs, phonographrecords and memorabilia from Russia.

“This new space is an opportunityto make this collection available toeverybody at USC and in thebroader community,” College Dean

Howard Gillman said during theopening ceremony. “This institutebuilds bridges across cultures.”

An institute highlight is the FerrisCollection of Sovietica of more than8,000 items.

“Mr. Ferris’ primary mission wasthat the collection be researched inan accessible manner,” said ThomasSeifrid, chair of the closely affiliatedDepartment of Slavic Languagesand Literatures.

John Bowlt (left), IMRC director,launched the nonprofit organization30 years ago at the University ofTexas. The professor of Slavic lan-guages and literatures brought theinstitute with him when he joinedthe College in 1988.

Remarkable at Any RateUNDERGRADS FACE OFF IN ANNUAL USC FESTIVAL

OF SCHOLARLY AND CREATIVE WORK.

A former high school cheer-leader interested in studyingtheater, Marie Anne Cuevas ’09may seem an unlikely student toexcel in nanoscience.

But Cuevas is a quintessentialTrojan skillful in both sciences andhumanities. She yearns to conductresearch that will change the world.

The USC College senior gradu-ated in May, a seasoned, award-winning science researcher. Cuevastook two top prizes in the 11th an-nual Undergraduate Symposiumfor Scholarly and Creative Work.

The chemistry and religion

major was among nearly 600 un-dergraduates who competed inthis year’s USC Festival of Schol-arly and Creative Work, which in-cluded an Undergraduate Writers’Conference and Webfest.

Cuevas’ project placed first in thePhysical Sciences and Engineering,and the Most Innovative categories.

“Marie’s work is an excitingdemonstration of what talentedundergraduates can accomplish,”said Gene Bickers, vice provost forundergraduate programs, and pro-fessor of physics and astronomy.

The April festival was spon-

sored by the Office of the Provostand coordinated by the Office ofUndergraduate Programs. Topwinners in each category received$1,000 and second place winnerseach received $500.

“The festival gives students a

great opportunity to showcase theirwork,” said David Glasgow, direc-tor of undergraduate programs.

For the full story and winnersnames, visit:college.usc.edu/remarkable.

Chemistry senior Marie Anne Cuevas took two top prizes in theUndergraduate Symposium for Creative and Scholarly Work for her researchon nanocrystals and their applications to nanocomposite dielectrics.


S.HAWKINGPHOTOBYSTEVECOHN;A.RICHPHOTOBYLAURIEHARTZELL;L.HYDEANDW.DÄPPENPHOTOSBYTAYLORFOUST

Emphasizing the importance of USC Col-lege faculty coming together as a com-munity, College Dean Howard Gillman

announced the creation of The College Com-mons, a series of interrelated workshops, lectures,debates and colloquia that began in January.

Driven by faculty, The College Commonsprovides opportunities for more communicationand collaboration across the College’s many de-partments, disciplines, centers, institutes andprograms. The series is designed to engage fac-ulty members and students in the developmentof a special set of signature programs, events,and activities that unite the community aroundcompelling conversations with broad appeal.

During the spring semester, its programs were

clustered around three themes. “The Dream ofthe Commons” included guest speakersStephen Hawking, Adrienne Rich, Lewis Hydeand other eminent intellectuals; “The DarwinRevolution, 1859–2159” focused on the incredi-ble advances in science, art and philosophy as-sociated with the year 1859 (including thepublication of On the Origin of Species) and ex-plored what place our ideas may have in theworld 150 years from now; and “Uncommon

Conversations” was led by distinguished Col-lege faculty. The Darwin celebration will con-tinue through next year as part of the series’over-arching theme, “Maps and Measures: Onthe Boundaries of What We Know.”

“The College Commons will weave its wayinto the fabric of our community, build newrelationships, spark new ideas, enrich theclassroom experience, drive learning commu-nities, inspire new programs, and attract newpeople to our community — students, faculty,supporters,” Gillman said.

Hilary Schor, professor of English, compara-tive literature and law, oversees The CollegeCommons and chairs a steering committee com-prising faculty members from the humanities,

social sciences and life/physical sciences.“Our hope was to encourage faculty

throughout the College to collaborate withtheir colleagues and think of ways to engagetheir graduate and undergraduate students,”Schor said. “But the program has been suc-cessful beyond our expectations — facultyhave responded with excitement and passion,and I can’t wait to see what we do next year!”

ADRIENNE RICH signs copies of her booksfollowing her poetry reading on March 24.Rich, one of contemporary literature’s mostacclaimed poets, is the author of 16 volumesof poetry including The Dream of the CommonLanguage.

LEWIS HYDE, author of The Gift, professor ofcreative writing at Kenyon College andMacArthur Fellow, delivers his lecture titled“In Defense of the Culture Commons.”

Celebrated physicist Stephen Hawking explains that black holes aren’t as black as they are painted.

WERNER DÄPPEN, professor and chair ofphysics and astronomy, discusses the rangeand limits of scientific debate.

“The College Commons willweave its way into the fabricof our community, build newrelationships, spark new ideas....”

VIEW AN NLINE VIDEO of Stephen Hawking’s lecture at college.usc.edu/black-holesand read more about the exciting events planned for 2009–10 at college.usc.edu/tcc.


M.PASTORPHOTOBYDONMILICI;D.SCHNURANDA.LOWENTHALPHOTOSBYALEXANDRABISSONNETTE;TEAPOTPHOTOBYDENISGLADKIY;CHIMPPHOTOBYMARTINABERG;EMOTIONALFACESPHOTOSBYIZABELAHABUR;D.LENNEYPHOTOCOURTESYOFD.LENNEY

“If people have a substance that they needto use as part of their religion, then theyshould be allowed to do that; that is whatthe Supreme Court has held.”

ALISON DUNDES RENTELN of political science in an ABC News Good Morning America interviewabout a Brazil-based U.S. church group whose members want to be able to drink hoasca, ahallucinogenic tea, during religious services.

“His whole life is spent in a smallenclosure with very few outlets forhis creativity.”CRAIG STANFORD of anthropology and biological sciences in a March 14 Los Angeles Timesarticle about a chimp named Santino who throws stones at visitors in a Swedish zoo. Stanford,who is co-director of USC’s Jane Goodall Research Center, noted that Santino’s behavior may beas much a sign of boredom as intelligence.

“The gardeners look like exploited workerswho lug heavy equipment to do hard, manuallabor. But gardening has put many of theirfamilies on the path to upward mobility.”

Doctoral student HERNAN RAMIREZ in a March 3 Wall Street Journal article about upwardmobility among Latino immigrant gardeners. The piece also highlighted research on the subjectby Ramirez and PIERRETTE HONDAGNEU-SOTELO of sociology.

“It’s not that I’m saying the emotionsdecide things for you. It’s that theemotions help you concentrate on the right decision.”ANTONIO DAMASIO, holder of the David Dornsife Chair in Neuroscience and professor ofpsychology and neurology, in an article titled “Speed Freaks” in Discover Magazine’s specialWinter 2009 publication, The Brain. The article addresses Damasio’s role in expanding the fieldof neuroscience to include the connection between the brain and the body. Damasio is alsodirector of the USC Brain and Creativity Institute.

“ ‘There have been more than 200 serious-mindedcalls for the division of the state’.... These efforts at

division point to California’s ‘cultural disjunctions,’‘red-blue divide’ and ‘sectional anxiety’.”

KEVIN STARR of history as quoted in a March 16 New York Times article about the history ofmovements to split California into two or more states since its statehood was granted in 1850.

in the NEWSFaculty Opinion• • • • LEADERS“It might seem an inopportunetime to steer banks in the direc-tion of social justice. But mak-ing the financial system fairercould be part of the stimulusthe economy needs.”MANUEL PASTOR of geography and Americanstudies and ethnicity in his February 25 LosAngeles Times op-ed about payday lendersand check cashers used by the urban poor.

“Shirley pushed the plot (andthe gurneys) at worst; at best,she was comic relief, and eitherway, I took her seriously.”DINAH LENNEY of the Master of ProfessionalWriting program in her April 2 Los AngelesTimes op-ed about her experience playing“Nurse Shirley” on the TV series ER, whichended in April.

“The question isn’t whetherBarack Obama’s decision to getout of Washington was the rightor wrong decision. For the newpresident, it was the onlydecision.”DAN SCHNUR, director of the Jesse M. UnruhInstitute of Politics, in his February 13 NewYork Times op-ed about President Obamaback on the stump to drum up support for hiseconomic recovery plan.

“Latin American leaders areeager to meet and be associatedwith Obama, whose remarkablepopular appeal is evident in theregion.”ABRAHAM LOWENTHAL, Robert F. ErburuProfessor of Ethics, Globalization andDevelopment, and professor of internationalrelations, in his April 6 Boston Globe op-edabout the United States’ Latin Americastrategy.

Fourth grader Alex Flores clampsdown hard on his pencil to finish hisstory that begins, “One day I came

to school and no one was there.”In his tale, Alex turns invisible and hears

Mario singing the SpongeBob SquarePantstheme song in the shower. Mario shrinks tothe size of a “puny egg,” then becomes agiant. Kirby appears and inhales Mario,morphing into Mario-Kirby. The story ends

when a sumo wrestler enters the scene andinhales Mario-Kirby.

Only one writer could have shepherdedyoung Alex into a world so curious that peo-ple morph to the size of puny eggs and caninhale each other through their nostrils.

“Shake your hands out; you got it,” writerAimee Bender instructs Alex, who mimicshis teacher by rigorously flapping his tiredlittle hands.

“That, my friend, is called writer’s cramp,”Bender tells Alex inside his classroom at32nd Street Elementary School near USC.

Bender, associate professor of English inUSC College whose waggish, fantasticalnovels once compelled the Los Angeles Timesto dub her “Hemingway on acid,” wascoaching school children in a new coursecalled, The Writer in the Community.

The children were treated to one-on-onementoring from Bender, whose novel, An In-visible Sign of My Own (Doubleday, 2000), isbeing made into a film starring Jessica Alba.

In the course, College undergraduateslearn to teach fiction and poetry to elemen-tary and middle school students. Benderand acclaimed poet Cecilia Woloch — bothof whom have worked in elementaryschools — invented and teach the course,funded and administered by the College’sJoint Educational Project (JEP) and theUSC Center for Excellence in Teaching.

“The results have been nothing short ofamazing,” said Woloch, who has taught poetryin hospitals, homeless shelters and prisons.

The 32nd Street School students alwaysgreeted the USC poet-teachers with enthu-siasm. “It was both humbling and thrillingto see the torch of poetry being passedalong,” Woloch said.

The course begins with classroom instruc-tion at USC before undergrads developtheir own curricula, then venture out tolocal schools and observe Bender andWoloch instructing the children. Then theundergrads try their hand at teaching.

Students enrolling in the course are major-ing in subjects from East Asian languagesand cultures to philosophy to biology. Butmost like Lorna Alkana are creative writingmajors in English. Alkana said breakingdown fiction writing into lesson planshelped her become a more organized writer.One lesson plan asked youngsters to createtheir own monsters, listing the contents oftheir creatures’ refrigerators.

“It helped students focus on the details oftheir unique characters and their writing ascreation,” said Alkana, a senior recentlyhired by Teach For America. “The lessonplans reminded me to hone in, and slowdown with my own creative writing.”

The program also benefits the elementaryand middle school students, who first learnthe craft by writing rather than studyingtechnical aspects like theories and plot.


INTHECO

MMUNITY

PHOTOBYEMILYCAVALCANTI

{

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Can you imagine waking up as a piece of chalk? One child did in a newcourse cultivating young writers in Los Angeles schools. Aimee Bender andCecilia Woloch of English — and undergrads — help them find their voices.

author,author!BY PAMELA J. JOHNSON

In her story, “Supergirl,” third grader Rachel Roundtree begins, “Supergirl was at home on anormal day eating breakfast. Supergirl was born in the land of superheroes.”


C.WOLOCHPHOTOBYPAMELAJ.JOHNSON;A.BENDERANDC.SCHOLL-SPENCERPHOTOSBYEMILYCAVALCANTI

“The kids got to take a step back and lookat poetry through a purely creative lens, ratherthan from an academic angle,” said seventhgrade teacher Sarah Bruno, whose studentswere taught by Woloch and the undergrads.“Later, when we did eventually have to talkstanzas, hyperboles, personification, etc., thekids had a context.”

Back at 32nd Street School, Bender’s stu-dent, Cory Scholl-Spencer, stands at the black-board teaching children the dreaded chore ofstory revision. In orange chalk, he writes inlarge letters and underlines: REVISION.

“Revision is when you add certain thingsand subtract what doesn’t fit,” he tells thefourth graders, before jotting another word onthe board. He backs up and studies the word.Shaking his head, the sophomore Englishmajor grabs an eraser, quickly realizing he hasmisspelled “grammar.”

“See everyone?” Bender tells the class.“Cory is demonstrating how to revise the word,‘grammar’.”

In spring 2008 and again this spring, Woloch,a lecturer in the College’s Department of Eng-lish, and her students taught poetry. The se-mesters culminated in an event at USC, wherethe schoolchildren read their poetry to an au-dience of teachers, parents and Collegestudents.

Woloch’s spring 2008 students compiled ananthology of the children’s poems titled, TheSmallest Shadow Ever Heard, after a verse in apoem by fourth grader Naomi Oregel:

The FallThe fall comes on flamingo-colored leaves,Calling the fog to arise again,Leaping into the dark cloudy night.Swinging around the furious fire,The last time again tonight.

The fall, dancing, wills leaves,Turning the flowers into trees.The river running fastLike the nature in the past.Enter the willow tree, dancing in the meadow,Singing with Ara Lee, the robin bird,The smallest shadow ever heard.

In the fall semester, Bender and her stu-dents taught fiction writing. The course endedwith children reading their work at USC andcreating an anthology of their short fiction sto-ries, aptly titled, The Imagination Machine.

“What was one of Albert Einstein’s most fa-mous quotes?” Bender asks audience mem-bers at the culminating event, before students

step up to the microphone to read their fiction.“Imagination is more important thanknowledge.

“That doesn’t mean you don’t pursueknowledge; knowledge is extremely impor-tant. But imagination is an important muscleto develop. And sometimes when you’re in thethird or fourth grade, you have a little more ac-cess to this muscle than some of us who are alittle bit older.”

Fourth grader Deztenie Toscano flexed thatmuscle with her story, “Chalk.” The story be-gins when she awakes one morning to find sheis a piece of white chalk:I was very mad I had to wake up at seven o’clockjust to write 10 math problems. What got me evenmadder is that the teacher dropped me and broke mein half. Now, chalk doesn’t, I repeat, chalk doesn’tdie, so I was still alive. I was just a little sore.

The yarn ends with her cheering up when astudent throws away her archenemy, theeraser.

“I’ll never look at chalk the same again,”Bender tells Deztenie, who had read her storyaloud.

A semester earlier, inside a seventh gradeclassroom at 32nd Street Middle School,Woloch and her undergraduates instruct stu-dents to name something they would want toexalt in an “ode to” poem a la John Keats.

“Mac and cheese!” one student yells.“Forever 21!” hollers another.“Soft shell tacos!” another shouts.Then students elaborated: “Oh, soft shell

taco, you’re as soft as a pillow, as big as my size13 shoes . . .”

But in the end, many students’ poems werethought provoking and deeply felt. In a heart-breaking poem titled “Iraq,” fourth graderGabrielle Jenkins wrote:

Rest in peace, Papa.It’s really nice that you wanted to devote yourheart to our country.You’re a hero.He gave his life for us.The family misses you, Papa.

Inside Bender’s office in Taper Hall of Hu-manities, a quote by André Breton, the mainfounder of surrealism, hangs on a wall aboveher computer. It describes the beauty of ex-pressing oneself through writing:

“Keep reminding yourself that literature is oneof the saddest roads that leads to everything.” �

Clockwise from left: Poet Cecilia Woloch ofEnglish asks fourth graders at 32nd StreetElementary School to name what they see atDisneyland. Aimee Bender helps third graderJonathan Armstrong with his story, “My Brush!”.Cory Scholl-Spencer teaches children the manda-tory but sometimes tedious task of story revision.

VIEW THE NLINE VIDEOat college.usc.edu/writer

PHOTOBYCARLOSPUMA


INTHESPOTLIGHT

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Iwrite poetry because I have no choice.I’ve always been haunted by words, bythe music of words,” said Carol Muske-

Dukes, professor of English and CaliforniaPoet Laureate.

A prominent and influential contemporarypoet, Muske-Dukes’ creative genius playswell to the many definitions of poetry. WilliamWordsworth defined poetry as “the sponta-neous overflow of powerful feelings: it takesits origin from emotion recollected in tran-quillity.” Emily Dickinson believed, “If I feelphysically as if the top of my head were taken

off, I know that is poetry.”So what is it that inspires and influences

those who enthrall us with their words? ForMuske-Dukes this is an easy question.

“My mother had an enormous effect on me,on my sense of words, when I was a child,” shesaid. “My mother comes from that last genera-tion of Americans who memorized poetry withgreat interest and industry in a class calledElocution, which provided students way backthen with the chance to commit poems ororations to heart and to recite them.”

At 92, her mother, Elsie Muske, can still

recite works by the greats — Milton,Wordsworth, Dickinson, Longfellow,Whitman, and Shakespeare — verbatim.

“My mother grew up on the Dakota prairieduring the Great Depression and she foundthat poetry kept her alive and connected,even in the face of enormous deprivation andsadness (she lost her own mother when shewas 16),” Muske-Dukes said.

Sometimes the mother’s dream becomesthe daughter’s reality. Even though Elsiewas awarded a scholarship to a college inMinnesota, where she hoped to study po-etry, there was not enough money for her togo. Her dream to attend college evaporated,but her love of poetry did not.

Muske-Dukes can also recite poems andasks students to memorize them as well. Allof these efforts add up to the “poetic voicein the mind” — poems that beat with theheart and run in the bloodstream, and, shenotes, are “part of the ongoing conscious-ness of language.” Her fond recollections ofher mother and poetry began when she wasjust four or five.

“If I refused to eat some over-cooked veg-etable, she would purse her lips, and recite‘How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is / Tohave a thankless child!’ from King Lear,” shesaid. “Or she would appear in my bedroomdoorway on a freezing Minnesota morning.As I burrowed deeper under the quilts shewould cry these lines from Longfellow, ‘Letus, then, be up and doing, / With a heart forany fate’! But perhaps my sweetest memoryis of her pushing me on a backyard swingwhile reciting Stevenson’s ‘The Swing.’ Iwas swinging, line by line, within the soundof her voice, within the poem itself.”

Muske-Dukes composes in a seemingstream of consciousness with spontaneousfeelings and thoughts: “How could I nothave become a poet growing up swimmingin that wild sea of words? In my head sincechildhood, there’s a ‘collage poem’ of linesfrom great poems running all the time.Something like ‘In the room the womencome and go’; ‘The world is too much withus’; ‘Sunset and evening star, / And one clearcall for me!’; ‘That is known as theChildren’s Hour’; ‘Downward to darkness,on extended wings’; ‘We real cool. / We leftschool.’ And it sustains me.”

As a young poet in New York City duringthe ’70s, Muske-Dukes felt fortunate to behired to teach at The New School and inthe graduate writing program at Columbia

“

Inspired by her mother’s recitation of poetry since she was a youngchild, Carol Muske-Dukes, California’s Poet Laureate, knows thatwords can change a life.

elocutionBY SUSAN ANDREWS

elegant


PHOTOCOURTESYOFC.MUSKE-DUKES

University. Yet, she points out that her mostunforgettable experience was teaching po-etry at the Women’s House of Detention onRikers Island. There she established a writ-ing program called Free Space, which ex-panded to many New York prisons andbecame known as Art Without Walls.

“Teaching poetry to women in extremity— who wrote to keep alive, to keep sane —taught me how to be a teacher and to letpoetry flow through me so that the messagewasn’t about me. It was about the words, andhow words could change a life,” she said.

Muske-Dukes generally does not considerher work autobiographical, although she wroteabout her experiences at Rikers in her novelChanneling Mark Twain (Random House, 2007).

She also wrote about being married to anactor, the late David C. Dukes who died of aheart attack in 2000. Even though she thoughtshe would never write again, she recalls how afew months after his death, she got up in themiddle of the night and began writing a bookof poems titled Sparrow (Random House,2003), a National Book Award Finalist in 2003.

“The poems are elegies for David, but theyare also, if they work at all, meditations onour twin arts of acting and poetry,” she said.“David’s death changed my life, obviously,but also changed the way I wrote not just po-etry, but my novels and essays.” Just as hermother’s Elocution class affected her love forand dedication to words, so did David.

In early 2001, a benefit reception was or-ganized at USC’s Bing Theatre to raise fundsfor a scholarship in David’s name. Among theactors who donated time and effort in one-act play readings were Annette Bening, StacyKeach, George Wendt and René Auber-jonois. Muske-Dukes and dear friend JohnLithgow then established the David DukesMemorial Scholarship, which is awarded an-nually by the USC School of Theatre to ajunior in its program and also includes an in-ternship with L.A.’s Center Theatre Group.

Last spring Muske-Dukes again teamed upwith Lithgow to present a fascinating poetryreading as part of Visions and Voices, the USCarts and humanities initiative.

A decorated poet, author, teacher andscholar, Muske-Dukes won a GuggenheimFellowship, a National Endowment for theArts grant and the Dylan Thomas PoetryAward. She has also been honored by theLibrary of Congress and the Ingram-MerrillFoundation. A frequent writer for the NewYork Times, The New Yorker and The Atlantic, she

is a regular guest on National Public Radio.Several of her works have been named NewYork Times Notable Books and San FranciscoChronicle Best Books of the Year. At USC shehas been recognized for her outstandingteaching, scholarship and service with theAlbert S. Raubenheimer Award.

Having found great success with sevenworks of poetry and four novels along with thewidespread admiration of her peers, it is nosurprise that Muske-Dukes was named Cali-fornia’s Poet Laureate for 2009–12. She isworking with the California Arts Council tohelp spread the art of poetry throughout thestate with the aim of “inspiring an emerging

generation of literary artists.”The Magic Poetry Bus, the statewide poetry

project she is developing, will bring poets, ac-tors and playwrights to California’s publicschools as well as juvenile halls. Often with afilm crew, these creative artists will teachworkshops, writing exercises, and have funwith games and riddles. The project will havea virtual presence with a Web site at www.magicpoetrybus.org that will serve as a resourceguide for teachers and students of poetry.

“The goal is to make poetry unintimidatingand accessible and fun, especially ‘creativereading’ to intensify creative writing,” she said.

The Magic Poetry Bus has also joined forceswith Get Lit: Words Ignite (www.getlit.org), aliteracy project in which inner city teens learnand recite traditional poetry by heart as well asperform spoken-word poems.

California and other places where Muske-Dukes has lived have both informed andimpacted her writing.

“Where one lives and loves always somehowenters one’s work,” Muske-Dukes said.“I’ve written about California, especially in acollection of essays called Married to the Icepick

Killer: A Poet in Hollywood (Random House,2002). California — desert by the sea, freeway-crazy, culturally complicated California — con-tinues to obsess me and challenge me as apoet. My daughter, Annie, was born in L.A. andwatching her grow up in this astonishing citytaught me about re-imagining the imagination.”

Annie, a molecular biologist and researchchemist in Bend, Ore., graduated from theCollege with a double major in biology andjournalism, and went on to earn her advanceddegree from the University of Colorado atBoulder. Annie’s fiancé, Johnny, will graduatethis December with a major in East Asian

languages and cultures. But it does not stopthere, Muske-Dukes’ nephew John gradu-ated from the College in 2006 with a majorin English and her niece Kelsey, also an Eng-lish major, is a student in the College.

USC has also inspired and sustainedMuske-Dukes. In 1999, she founded the Col-lege’s literature and creative writing Ph.D.program, which is ranked in the top five na-tionally. “I love teaching at this university,”she said. “I’ve had the most extraordinarystudents in creative writing, both in our im-mensely popular undergraduate program inthe English department and in the literatureand creative writing Ph.D. program.”

Sustained by the hard work and friendshipof her fellow writers in the creative writingprogram, she values the ongoing support ofthe College’s deans, the provost and Presi-dent Steven B. Sample, who Muske-Dukesrecalls once recited a poem of hers from thepodium — with perfect pitch. “USC meanscreative possibility, always,” she said. �

For more information on Carol Muske-Dukes visitwww.carolmuskedukes.com. Donations to theDavid Dukes Memorial Scholarship may be madeat www.usc.edu/giving.

“How could I not havebecome a poet growing up swimming inthat wild sea of words?”

Carol M

uske-Dukes

with

hermother

Elsie

USC students will face an enormouschallenge during the next fewyears: help Los Angeles and other

cities survive or risk losing them.This is an urgent — and local — call to

action.According to U.S. Secretary of Energy

Steven Chu, 21st-century climate changesindicate that agricultural production in

California will eventually be near zero dueto changing rainfall patterns. Therefore, thepossibility exists that L.A. may be uninhab-itable by 2100.

“How do I prepare my students for thesechallenges and communicate the immediacyof the daunting problem?” Jim Haw, theRay R. Irani, Chairman of Occidental Petro-leum, Chair in Chemistry and professor of

chemistry, asked before firing off a passion-ate response. “They will be 60 years old withchildren and grandchildren of their own by2050. By the time 2100 arrives, the ball will bein the court of their grandchildren,” he said.

The world’s population today stands atroughly 6.7 billion — close to the Earth’s fullcarrying capacity. By 2050, its population isforecasted to grow from 9 billion to 12 billion,which, combined with increases in affluenceworldwide, will create a need for severaltimes the ecosystem services of today.

Beyond 2050 the future of human popula-tion is filled with uncertainty. It is possiblethat the numbers in 2100 could be fewerthan in 2050, with the world’s populationpredicted to drop back to 6.7 billion by2100. Why will this happen? Haw cites manyreasons: lack of food, water, sustainableenergy and oil, as well as the depletion ofother natural resources.

To educate students about these environ-mental challenges, the College has redesigned


INTHECLASSROOM

PHOTOBYMASSIMOCATARINELLA

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CAN WE SAVE

los angeles?BY SUSAN ANDREWS

With many experts warning that time is running out, students areat a critical crossroads as they prepare to guide the Earth and itsinhabitants toward a better future. Leading the way are Jim Hawand the redesigned environmental studies program in USC College.


PHOTOBYALEXANDRABISSONNETTE

its environmental studies program underHaw’s leadership.

“USC is a great research university with theCollege at its core. Located in L.A., USC isideally positioned with the desire, brainpowerand resources to bring forth workable solu-tions,” he said.

Haw recognizes it is rare in the life of a uni-versity professor to have the opportunity to re-design a single core course because in matureareas such as chemistry, physics, economicsand English, there is a national paradigm forhow these courses should be formulated.

“My colleagues and I were able to sit downand do what was right. We developed an entirecurriculum — a truly interdisciplinary curricu-lum — that respects the roles of both the natu-ral and social sciences. It was a tremendous andrare event. Even so, we are not done. Whateverwe do this year is not going to be perfect fiveyears from now. It is a moving target,” Hawcontinued.

Haw notes that thefield of environmen-tal studies is a fairlynew and rapidlyevolving discipline.Enrollment has dou-bled in the past 10years alone and issure to grow at aneven faster pace inthe next decade.

In the redesigned environmental studiesprogram, for example, economics is necessarybecause of cap and trade, taxation, and incen-tive-based systems for regulating emissions.

“If our majors need more biology, we can addthis by teaching the essential elements of biol-ogy,” Haw said. “The curriculum is designed toallow for adjustments in coursework that makeour students successful advocates of environ-mental change. We just began teaching a casestudy course in green business, with the en-dorsement of the USC Marshall School of Busi-ness. We think this will be very important.”

What type of student gravitates toward aninterdisciplinary environmental studies de-gree? The short answer is really good students.They have an interest in the social sciencesand environmental studies.

“These students have to be good at every-thing. They don’t have the luxury of saying theyare putting all their efforts into chemistry andbiology so that they can get the highest gradesin medical school; they have to be good at eco-nomics, international relations, earth science,

chemistry, and biology,” Haw explained.Environmental studies students need to know

the essentials of the social sciences and the nat-ural sciences, as well as policy. Haw adds thatmany of these students have double majors,such as political science and environmentalstudies. A progressive degree in environmentalstudies will be implemented this fall.

An environmental studies major can chooseone of two options: a Bachelor of Arts or aBachelor of Science. Each degree has threeconcentrations. The Bachelor of Arts includessustainable energy and society; climate, earthand environment; and policy and scienceskills. The Bachelor of Science includes envi-ronmental economics, psychology and envi-ronmental law.

Students will graduate from this programand transform their energy-saving ideas andknowledge of policy development into real-world solutions.

Haw would not be surprised if one day it willbe not only virtuous, but fashionable for Ange-lenos to wear secondhand clothes. “If it canhappen anywhere, it can happen in L.A.,” he

said. “Our youth has inherited the Earth’s prob-lems and we will look to them for scientific andpolicy expertise to ensure a better future.”

Haw, an expert deep-sea diver, has seenfirsthand the ravages humans have fraught inthe ocean. He has come across plastic grocerybags and other garbage at depths of more than100 feet.

“All of us can contribute to reducing our con-sumption levels and respecting the environ-ment in myriad ways whether by recyclingclothes, using eco-friendly reusable grocerybags, using less water, driving less, among otherlifestyle changes,” he said. “For impactful solu-tions that cast a deep and wide net, we look toour students who will be serving us, our childrenand future generations in Washington, Sacra-mento and corporate boards in 20 and 30 years.”

And it is with the promise of bright, dedicatedand passionate USC students that L.A. — andthe world — are poised for a better future. �

“My colleagues and I were able to sit down and dowhat was right. We developed an entire curriculum —a truly interdisciplinary curriculum — that respects theroles of both the natural and social sciences.”

“Located in L.A.,USC is ideallypositioned with thedesire, brainpowerand resources tobring forth workablesolutions,” saidJim Haw of chem-istry. Under his lead-ership, the Collegehas redesigned itsenvironmentalstudies program.

The origin of Joseph Arditti’s orchidfascination is a simple one. It allbegan when he was an undergradu-

ate and found a job helping a wealthy Bel Airresident cultivate his orchids. He repotted anddid other tasks at first, but then somethingelse took over — his work became inspiring.

Today, two of the world’s top five orchidscientists hail from USC College. Arditti, a1965 graduate, completed his dissertation onorchid seed germination back when botanywas in full bloom at the university. Throughhis dedication and lifetime achievements, heis now the world’s leading orchid physiologistand development biologist.

Arditti’s friend and colleague, Dr. RobertDressler, is a 1951 College graduate who con-tinued his studies at Harvard University,where he earned his Ph.D. Today, Dressler isthe world’s leading orchid taxonomist.

Retired since 2001 from the University ofCalifornia, Irvine, where he was professor ofbiology, Arditti has never lost his strong Trojan

spirit. His USC banner hung in his lab-oratory for 35 years. He is also the proud fa-ther of USC College graduate JonathanArditti ’08, who is currently pursuing graduatestudies in forensic psychology.

Arditti lives with his son in Irvine, Calif.,and spends his time, when not traveling orgiving talks to orchid societies, in his sanctu-ary — a space he sequestered in their newlyreconfigured home for his personal library.

“I have always wanted a space for myextensive botany book collection. Some of thebooks are very old, dating back to the 1880s.Some are rare — most I bought and a fewwere given by people I don’t know but whoheard of my research. In totality they tell theconsummate story of orchid science,” he said.

What has kept Arditti enthralled with or-chids through the years, when early on in hiscareer there was little known about orchidphysiology? “As soon as I answered one ques-tion another one came up. Even after beingretired, I can think of enough questions forseveral lifetime careers,” he explained.

Arditti also finds orchids fascinating becauseof their shapes, varieties, diversity and way oflife. In addition to their importance as themajor ingredient in vanilla ice cream, orchidsare a major cut flower and more recently pop-ular as house plants in several countries. Ac-cording to Arditti, breeding and selling orchidsto hobby growers and as cut flowers may yieldhigher profits than vanilla production.

Dusting off a number of his beloved or-chid tomes, Arditti introduces each book asif an old friend. “There are 600 to 800 gen-era of orchids depending on who you aretalking with, 30,000 to 40,000 species andhundreds of thousands of hybrids,” he said.

Arditti prizes the British watercolor-platedvolumes above all others in his orchid book

collection. “They are simply beautiful. Notjust the colors, but the details are notequaled,” he said.

He notes that 10 to 12 percent of all flower-ing plants are orchids. “Just like in fashion,there are hybrids being created as we speak,”he added. “They last several years and thennew ones emerge on the scene, make somepeople a lot of money and fade away.”

Even though orchids have been studiedsince ancient times, their popularity emergedin the late 1700s and early 1800s when Britishgentry began growing them. Approximately15 to 20 years ago, their popularity as pottedhouse plants sold in supermarkets and hard-ware stores exploded. They are propagated —germinated and cloned — in bottles by themillions. By contrast, in nature orchid seedsdo not germinate unless infected by a fungus.

Arditti has authored and edited voluminousand scholarly books on orchids. “I employed acookbook approach in one book about cloningorchids that got out of hand. I am admittedlyincapable of writing a simple book. Of courseit was the cookbook style that sold morecopies. It is my Ravel’s Boléro,” he sighed. �


INTHEFIELD

PHOTOBYEMILYCAVALCANTI

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BY SUSAN ANDREWS

beauty&good taste

Orchid biologist Dr. Joseph Arditti ’65 with hisson, Jonathan Arditti ’08. Dr. Arditti has assem-bled a world-class 2,000+ orchid book andjournal collection in his Irvine, Calif., home,where he continues his research.

The Dendrobiumnobile orchid asillustrated by JohnNugent Fitch inThe OrchidAlbum (1886)

Admired in our homes and responsible for vanilla ice cream —the secrets of these mystical and useful plants are revealed byone of the world’s top orchid experts, Dr. Joseph Arditti ’65.

8Spring/Summer 2009 | 19

VANILLAPHOTOBYDANIELHURST;BIBLEWITHORCHIDSPHOTOBYPATTIECALFY;DARWIN

BOOKPHOTOCOURTESYOFTHEAMERICANPHILOSOPHICALSOCIETYMUSEUM;OTHERPHOTOSBYDR.TIM-WINGYAM,SINGAPOREBOTANIC

GARDENS

1. Vanilla is an orchid that produces long capsules called beans. Without vanilla, we would not have one of our most delicious desserts of all time —vanilla ice cream! 2. Orchid shows spring up everywhere and some of the best are in Singapore (above), Taiwan, Seoul, Tokyo, New York, Miami,and Chicago. 3. Singapore, like a second home to Joseph and Jonathan Arditti, is also home to one of Joseph’s favorite orchids: Vanda MissJoaquim, a natural hybrid and the national flower of Singapore. 4. In nature, orchid are of all imaginable and some hard-to-imagine colors. Undercultivation, orchids are bred in every color including black, like Coelogyne pandurata. 5. It has been debated whether orchids are mentioned in theBible. According to Arditti, they are not. 6. As one of his detailed demonstrations of the power of natural selection, Charles Darwin wrote Fertilisa-tion of Orchids. 7. Orchids such as Arachnis Maggie Oei can grow to 6 feet in height. 8. Dendrobium crumenatum flowers eight days after a rain andsmells similar to a rose, attracting bees that are eaten by spiders, which spin webs in front of some flowers. NOTE: The “8 Fascinating Facts” title abovefeatures a Singapore jewelry specialty: an orchid encased in hard material and gold plated.

FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT

orchids

1

2

34 5

6

7 8

INTHEWORLD

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The U.S. Department of Energy hasselected the University of South-ern California as the site of an En-

ergy Frontier Research Center (EFRC), andplans a five-year grant totaling $12.5 million.

Researchers of the EFRC will explorenew phenomena possible in organic materi-als, thin-layer semiconductor nanostruc-tures, and hybrid structures utilizing bothtypes of materials to improve the efficiencyof solar cells and light sources.

P. Daniel Dapkus of the USC ViterbiSchool of Engineering, an established pioneerin novel designs for light-emitting devices,will direct the EFRC for Emerging Materialsfor Solar Energy Conversion and Solid StateLighting. Mark Thompson, professor ofchemistry in USC College, will serve as theassociate director of the newly created Centerfor Energy Nanoscience and Technology.

“USC is an excellent choice for such acenter and Viterbi and College faculty willmake an extraordinary collaborative team onthis important energy initiative,” said Col-lege Dean Howard Gillman. “Mark Thomp-son’s leadership within the College wascentral to our joint success in winning thisgrant to establish an Energy Frontier Re-search Center at USC.”

Both Thompson and Dapkus have ap-pointments in the Viterbi School’s MorkFamily Department of Chemical Engineer-ing and Materials Science. “Mark was in-strumental in attaining this award,” saidDapkus, noting the range of expertise theproject will require.

“I am very excited about the team we

have put together in this EFRC. It repre-sents some of the strongest researchers inalternate energies in both the College andViterbi,” Thompson said.

To accomplish this, the EFRC programbrings together materials scientists,chemists, electrical engineers and physiciststo design and synthesize new materials andto design new device structures in configu-rations that will dramatically reduce the costof high efficiency solar cells and LEDs.

“Energy generation from advanced solarcells and energy savings from solid statelight sources (LEDs) are both being devel-oped in our EFRC,” Thompson said. “Theywill have a tremendous impact on our en-ergy balance in the U.S., helping to shift usaway from our reliance on fossil fuels.”

Other USC researchers in the center’s teaminclude: Richard Brutchey, Barry Thompsonand Stephen Bradforth of the College De-partment of Chemistry; John O’Brien of theViterbi School Ming Hsieh Department ofElectrical Engineering; Stephen Cronin andChongwu Zhou, with joint appointments inchemistry and in the Ming Hsieh Depart-ment; Jia Grace Lu, with joint appointmentsin the College Department of Physics and As-tronomy and the Ming Hsieh Department;and Priya Vashishta, Rajiv Kalia and AiichiroNakano, with appointments in astronomy andphysics and in the Viterbi School Departmentof Computer Science.

Researchers from the University of Illi-nois, the University of Virginia and the Uni-versity of Michigan will also join the team.

The Emerging Materials EFRC is one of46 nationwide selected from a pool of some260 applications, based on a rigorous meritreview process utilizing outside panels com-posed of scientific experts. It is one of 16 thatwill be funded by President Barack Obama’sAmerican Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The EFRC represents a projected totalnational investment of $777 million.

“As global energy demand grows over thiscentury, there is an urgent need to reduceour dependence on fossil fuels and importedoil and curtail greenhouse gas emissions,”said Secretary of Energy Steven Chu.

“Meeting this challenge will require signifi-cant scientific advances. These centers willmobilize the enormous talents and skills ofour nation’s scientific workforce in pursuit ofthe breakthroughs that are essential to makealternative and renewable energy truly viableas large-scale replacements for fossil fuels.” �

USC College and Viterbi School faculty team up to establish anEnergy Frontier Research Center with a $12.5 million grant fromthe U.S. Department of Energy.

bright minds

Mark Thompson,professor ofchemistry, willserve as theassociate direc-tor of the newlycreated Centerfor Energy Nano-science andTechnology.


M.THOMPSONPHOTOBYPHILCHANNING

Close your eyes. Extend your arms andlet your fingertips explore your sur-roundings. What textures and shapes

do you feel? What can you infer about yourimmediate environment simply throughtouch?

Just as your hands glide over surfaces, ani-mals’ whiskers collect sensory informationfrom the world around them. When an animaltwitches its whiskers, it not only gathers inputbut also adjusts its whiskers as a function ofthat data.

Humans like other animals behave in a dy-namic way to survive. We are constantly mod-ulating our behavior based on changingstimuli so we can act appropriately.

Fascinated by how animals construct inter-nal pictures of their environments, TansuCelikel, assistant professor of biologicalsciences, and his fellow researchers in USCCollege are investigating how sensory interac-tions occur and are encoded in the brain.

Celikel’s lab focuses on the sensory cortex orthe region of the brain that receives informa-tion from touch receptors. By mapping theneural activity induced by rodent whisker be-havior, they hope to understand how the braincollects and organizes sensory input.

While others in the field of neurobiologyhave studied how neurons function individu-ally, Celikel is elevating the research to a newlevel by examining how groups of neurons inthe sensory cortex talk to each other and ulti-mately adapt. Using an electrode array, Celikelis able to simultaneously record many neuronsand better capture what an entire population isdoing rather than going from one neuron to thenext and making inferences about behavior.

“Studying a single neuron’s activity to under-stand how the brain functions is similar to look-ing at a single shopper in a grocery store andtrying to understand the state of the U.S. econ-omy based on how much a single person spendson a given shopping trip,” Celikel explained.“Although we can study the plasticity or adapt-ability of individual neurons, studying neural ac-tivity one neuron at a time results in lostinformation about how the brain functions.”

By identifying which cellular processes andregions are affected when neurons reorganize inthe face of a changing environment, Celikel’sresearch has many practical applications. Forexample, the nervous systems of amputees un-dergo dramatic changes such as phantom limbpain and the inability to integrate artificiallimbs with the rest of the body. Celikel be-lieves scientists could control these reactions

and thereby allow for artificial limb integration,among other benefits, by finding which regionsand mechanisms are involved in the brain’sreorganization.

The opportunity to have such an impact isexactly what attracted second-year neuro-science doctoral student David Herman toUSC College.

“Working in Tansu’s lab is cool because weare trying to answer a very important question:‘How does a brain change?’” Herman said.

“This complex question requires a variety ofapproaches, so we develop skills in a numberof fields, including cellular biology, roboticsand computational modeling,” he continued.“By combining knowledge from multiplefields we hope to understand how sensory in-formation is represented in the cortex and howthis information changes as the environmentand/or the body changes such as with amputa-tion. Ultimately, we hope to understand theneurobiology behind disease states and injuryso that we can better treat these conditions.”

Many USC College undergraduates areequally intrigued by the intricacies of the

brain. Since its inception as a major four yearsago, neuroscience has become the College’sfastest growing major.

According to Celikel, understanding thehuman brain is one of science’s last frontiers, soit’s no surprise students are drawn to the field.

“We are living in the neuroscience era,”Celikel said. “Without an understanding of thehuman brain, we will never understand how weexist as people and as social animals. With somany unknowns, neuroscience is a very excit-ing field because whatever you do, whatevernovel approach you take, every novel questionyou ask will contribute to the overall knowl-edge about how humanity exists.”

Celikel and his group find they thrive in thefield because it integrates so many differentbranches of the sciences. With neurobiologists,molecular biologists, experimental psychologistsand physicists among their ranks, they all striveto understand how the brain processes sensoryinput — how humans become human. �


THE CHATTER OF

neurons BY EMILY CAVALCANTI

Neurobiologist Tansu Celikel and his fellow researchers examine howthe brain processes sensory data.

VIEW THE NLINE VIDEOat college.usc.edu/neuronsP

HOTOBYMONIKAWISNIEWSKA


INTHECO

URTROOM

PHOTOBYCARLOSPUMA

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Ahushed gallery watches as thedefense attorney, dapper in a navypants suit and rectangular glasses,

gestures dramatically with her hands.“Events will show that the two exchanged

heated words,” says Lisa Cui, pacing thecourtroom.

“Two shots were heard,” she whispersbefore raising her voice. “Lane Hamiltonfell to the ground.”

Behind Cui, the California State Sealhangs on a wall. A stern-looking bailiff witha loaded gun stands at the door.

The only giveaway inside the Rancho Cu-camonga Courthouse that the defamationtrial taking place is not real is a student sit-ting silently in the jury box, holding up acue card indicating that Cui has two min-utes to wrap up her opening statement.

The USC College freshman calmly quick-ens her pace.

She explains that a witness had rushed tothe scene and observed a man, Drew Wal-ton, crouched over Hamilton’s body.

“Drew Walton jumped up,” Cui says, be-fore finally shouting: “Drew Walton’s handswere covered in blood! Lane Hamilton’sblood!”

Cui’s dramatic performance as a memberof the USC Mock Trial Team helped thegroup win a top place in the American MockTrial Association’s California regional tour-nament Feb. 20-21. Of 26 teams, USCplaced fourth and sixth. The win advancedthe team to the first round of the nationalchampionship tournament. USC tied forsixth place.

The USC Mock Trial Team ranks amongthe nation’s best. In 2001, the year the pro-gram was launched, the team placed first inthe American Mock Trial Association inter-collegiate tournament’s western region divi-sion. For the next five years, membersplaced in the top five of the nation’s 564teams. Last year, many seniors and thegroup’s most seasoned members graduated,yet the team remained in the top 20.

Olu Orange, an adjunct assistant professorof political science in the College, foundedand runs the program, which began as a one-credit course, but beginning in the fall willbe increased to four credits.

Orange was a founding member and coachof an award-winning mock trial team atHoward University, where he earned his lawdegree. After arriving in Los Angeles, heopened Orange Law Offices, a criminal

defense and civil rights firm.Students who participate in the Mock

Trial team gain a tremendous head start inlaw school, Orange said.

Graduating team members attend majorlaw schools such as Harvard, NYU, George-town, Cornell, and Howard, he said. Since2006, every law school-bound team memberhas been offered a scholarship. Membersnumber about 30 a year.

But there is more to the program than thetrial competitions. Students also work withpublic interest law firms on actual cases.

For example, students may work for theGeneral Relief Advocacy Project (GRAP),part of the Public Counsel Law Center, theworld’s largest pro bono law firm fighting for

the rights of the underprivileged. Participa-tion in GRAP is usually reserved for lawstudents, but the agency was impressedwith USC undergrads, who helped its attor-neys on cases involving terminations ofpublic assistance.

“I believe students come to college as ba-sically open books,” Orange said. “Andthey’re willing to fill those pages with what-ever experiences they have. So my objectiveis to simply offer them an opportunity to ex-perience doing good things for people. Ihave yet to have a student who did notenjoy doing this.”

Orange observes a distinct transformationin students after they have argued on behalfof a homeless person.

The USC Mock Trial Team — composed of mostly USC Collegeundergrads — ranks among the nation’s best. Civil rights attorney OluOrange founded and runs the program. In the Rancho CucamongaCourthouse, student Lisa Cui argues passionately as plaintiff attorney:“Drew Walton’s hands were covered in blood! Lane Hamilton’s blood!”

THE POWER OF

attorneyBY PAMELA J. JOHNSON

Instructor Olu Orange is aCollege adjunct professor ofpolitical science: “My objectiveis to simply offer [students] anopportunity to experience doinggood things for people.”

PHOTOSBYEMILYCAVALCANTI

“They can take in the theory, do the re-search and get good grades, and at the sametime provide the underserved access to jus-tice,” Orange said. “They realize, ‘I can dosomething today to help a family put a roofover their heads and food in their stomachs. Ican do that right now.’

“They come out of the experience with atrue feeling for helping people, with anappreciation of advocacy.”

For some, the experience is so powerful itchanges their life paths. Hooman Kazemi, a2004 College graduate with a bachelor’s ininternational relations, joined the mock trialteam as a junior to hone his public speakingskills.

But after one year, he decided to become anadvocacy lawyer, something he previously hadnot considered.

“I can say with 100 percent absolute cer-tainty that the only reason I went to law schooland the only reason I decided to argue on be-half of the underprivileged is Olu Orange andthe USC Mock Trial Team,” Kazemi said.“Through them I found my calling.”

Now an L.A. County deputy public de-fender, Kazemi is a senior assistant coach forthe USC Mock Trial Team.

“I can only hope that the students get asmuch out of it as I did,” Kazemi said.

Many students agree that their participationhas been life-altering.

Robson Hauser, a sophomore in the USCMarshall School of Business, had sought to be-come a sports attorney, but decided to studycriminal law after his experiences on the team.

“I realized that criminal law does a lot moregood in the world than working to sign a pro-fessional baseball player’s contract,” Hausersaid.

MiRi Song, a College senior with a triplemajor in philosophy, sociology and East Asianstudies, plans to practice international humanrights law.

She is among several team members whoaided attorneys in a highly publicized lawsuitalleging L.A. Police Department misconductduring a peaceful May Day immigrationdemonstration at MacArthur Park in 2007.Orange was a plaintiff attorney on the casethat ended with a nearly $13 million settle-ment to demonstrators and bystanders.

Song and other students interviewed thevictims to determine what kind of case couldbe made.

“It was an honor to be able to help them;they were so distraught,” Song said, adding

that one of her clients was a 6-year-old whosuffered a broken arm. “That kind of firsthand experience is invaluable.”

She attributes her scholarship plus stipendfrom University of California, Berkeley’s Schoolof Law to her involvement with the team.

“When you can convey to a school that youhave this kind of deep understanding of clients’

rights, it makes you standout,” she said.

Back at the Ran-cho CucamongaCourthouse, Cui

looks like a

naturalarguing incourt. It is hardto believe she hadbeen so nervous.

“The mock trial teamhas taught me to remain calmno matter what,” Cui said. “And to let mynerves go and do what I have to do.”

After competing and working with homeless-ness advocates, she is certain she will go to lawschool and study international law.

“My goal is to help people globally,” shesaid. “There are other ways I can do that, butdespite my nerves, nothing is as comfortableto me than standing up in that courtroom.” �

Undergrads Robson Hauser, Lori Arakaki and Casey Wong jot down notes while the defense speaksduring a USC Mock Trial competition at the Rancho Cucamonga Courthouse.

USC Mock Trial Teammember Casey Wongargues for the plaintiffin a defamation caseduring a competitionat the Rancho Cuca-monga Courthouse.

VIEW THE NLINE VIDEOat college.usc.edu/mock-trial


ILLUSTRATION BYMOLLY SULLIVAN


5050STATES,50WEEKS

JOBS,Facing a dismal job market unmatchedsince the Great Depression? Such dis-couragement put this alumnus on hismettle to think big. He’s giving careermobility a whole new meaning —landing jobs from California to theNew York Island, from the redwoodforest to the gulf stream waters.

DID YOU KNOW that the moment a raindrop

hits surface water, the chemistry of the surface

water changes?

Or that hosting a rodeo is so pricey, just the dirt can

set you back $8,000?

When farmers converse, did you know they’re more

than likely leaning on something, anything — a tractor

tire, the hood of a truck, a gatepost?

Daniel Seddiqui ’05 is privy to these insights. The

26-year-old USC College alumnus has been a hydrolo-

gist, a rodeo announcer and a corn farmer — and that’s

just in three weeks.

BY

PAM

ELA

J.JOH

NSO

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THE ECONOMY

In fall 2008, Seddiqui embarked on an unusual career path —working 50 jobs, each for one week, in 50 states. He’s experiencing 50first days on the job. And he’s doing this on purpose.

Seddiqui graduated in 2005, a few years before the job market beganto collapse. With a bachelor’s in economics, he monitored the loomingrecession with expert eyes and didn’t like what he saw. He decided toput to the test the Trojan slogan “Fight On.”

He would not find one job, by Tommy, he’d find 50 — and he did.Seddiqui is seeking that castle in the sky — the perfect job that will

motivate him to spring out of bed each morning. He also wants to travelthe country and experience different lifestyles. Blogging about his one-week careers, he believes, will teach others about the diversity ofAmerica’s people and environments.

“Instead of blindly and selfishly traveling around the country, I’mbringing everyone along with me,” he said. “I’m educating peopleabout different careers.”

From his parent’s home in Los Altos, Calif., he lined up the 50 one-week positions and took off in his white Jeep with nothing save a fewcases of bottled water.

“Today, I started my first day — again,” Seddiqui blogged on Sept.29, while a medical device manufacturer in Elk River, Minn.

Working on your feet all day, assembling surgery drills and spinalcord braces, he admitted, could get monotonous. But it’s not only thejob that motivates Seddiqui. He’s exploring the uniqueness of eachstate and learning what makes America tick.

In seven short days, he learned why Minnesota is called the “Landof 10,000 Lakes” and the true meaning of “Minnesota nice.”

Wanting to emulate the locals, he obtained a fishing license during alunch break.

“I’d never been fishing before because I thought it would be bor-ing,” he blogged. “I was so wrong.”

He caught nine northern pike in one hour, 40 minutes.“Maybe I’ll try hunting this weekend,” he enthused.He was left speechless when his temporary co-workers threw him a

surprise farewell party, dug into their own pockets and presented himwith a one-week paycheck.

“That’s ‘Minnesota nice,’ ” he blogged.Most employers paid him and/or provided lodging for a week, but a

few did not.In Iowa, for example, where he worked as an agronomist, he slept in his

Jeep, rain pounding on the roof, before someone responded to his co-worker’s e-mail request to take him in. Then in North Dakota, working asa cartographer, he stayed in a mansion owned by one of his bosses.

Fresh off his stint as a border patrol agent in Arizona and en route toNew Mexico for a new albeit brief career as a landscape architect,Seddiqui spoke by phone about the origins of his enterprise. Perhapsmore salient during an economic crisis unmatched since the Great De-pression, he dished about how in the world he persuaded so manybusinesses to buy into his plan.

After graduation hecouldn’t find office work, buthis experience as a track andfield athlete at USC helpedhim secure an assistant foot-ball coach internship at theUniversity of Virginia.

“It was not easy when theyplayed against USC,” he said.“I didn’t want these [UV]guys to win.”

After that internship, he landed a similar one at the University of Geor-gia. In Atlanta, he sold kitchens at Home Depot to make ends meet.

“How did I end up at Home Depot?” he asked himself. “I knownothing about kitchens.”

The idea came to him in the middle of the night.“I woke up and typed up a mock résumé showing work in each state

and duties for each job,” he recounted. “Some came to me right away.A park ranger in Wyoming. A logger in Oregon. In Florida, work in anamusement park. Then I got to North Dakota and I had no idea whatpeople did. So I did some research.”

He sent his mock résumé to his parents and told them, “This is whatI’m going to do.” They weren’t amused.

“Yeah, whatever,” came the frosty response.He confided his dream to a friend in Georgia. As they say, it takes

just one person to believe in you.“She inspired me to make it happen,” he said.The friend helped him create his Web site, livingthemap.com. The do-

main name and logo — a silhouette of Seddiqui running across a mapof the U.S. barefooted in a suit and tie, swinging a suitcase — came tohim that same epiphanic night.

“Nothing was going to stop me,” he said.Except one not-so-minor detail.“I had no money at all; not one cent,” he said, adding, “I was going to


PHOTOSCOURTESYOFDANIELSEDDIQUI

HYD

ROLOGIST,CO

RODEO

ANNOUNCER,SD

MEDICALDEVICE

MANUFACTURER

,MN

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COORDINATOR,NV

LANDSCAPE

ARCH

ITECT,NM

PETROLEUM

“I woke up and typed up a mock résumé showingwork in each state and duties for each job. Somecame to me right away. A park ranger in Wyoming.A logger in Oregon....”


PHOTOSCOURTESYOFDANIELSEDDIQUI

save that story for Oprah.”Seddiqui wasn’t being flippant about the possibility of appearing on

The Oprah Winfrey Show. Since the first story about him appeared in thePalo Alto Daily News in July 2008, he’s become a media darling, withsegments on NBC’s Today Show, CNN, The Bonnie Hunt Show, and Na-tional Public Radio, and stories in the Detroit Free Press, The Des MoinesRegister and Daily Trojan, to name a few news outlets. Foreign press can’tget enough of him. He’s been featured in stories throughout Europeand parts of Asia.

A documentary-programming channel offered to chronicle his jour-ney, but producers wanted to script his every move and he preferredletting life unfold organically. He turned them down.

“I’m grateful I’m keeping my own path and sticking to my project,”he said.

But in the beginning things were very different.Even his parents thought “Living the Map” was a cockamamie scheme

and begged him to set up at least 10 jobs before he left. A dutiful son, hemade inquiries again and again. And he was rejected again and again.

When his plan finally hit the front page of his local newspaper, hehopped on his scooter (he didn’t have a car) and visited the businesszone of Los Altos, a Bay Area town, with a population of 27,693.

“Will you sponsor me?” he implored business owners, waving thenewspaper. The answer was always the same: no.

A second article in a bigger newspaper impressed prospective week-long employers enough to hire him. He set up 10 jobs. His parentswere still dubious.

“I’m someone who does not give up,” he said. “No matter what it takes.”He turned to his banker brother, who advised him to set up a $5,000 line

of credit and purchase a vehicle to put the plan into motion. He found aJeep for $5,000. His parents kicked in two cases of water and he was off.

His first stop was Salt Lake City, where he worked for The Churchof Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints’ humanitarian services division.

“Even though Utah is known for skiing and Arches National Park, Iam not alone when I say that Utah and Mormons go hand in hand,” heblogged, explaining the job choice. “Mormons make up 58 percent ofUtah’s population. That is a staggering number.”

The 150 employees in the church’s humanitarian division were pack-aging hygiene kits for Hurricane Gustav victims in Louisiana. Mostemployees were refugees from throughout the world, part of a two-year “developing self-reliance” program, which teaches English andessential job skills, and eventually provides job placement.

“Not only did I learn about the life of Mormons, but also about thelife of refugees,” he blogged.

In Denver, three days into his newest gig, he figured he had thehydrologist thing all figured out.

“I’ve discovered what a hydrologist does all day: They hike with bot-tles of water to keep hydrated and by the time they’ve reached the peak

of the mountain, their water bottles are empty and ready to be filledwith surface water and tested in the laboratory,” he blogged, adding:

“OK, I’m just joking, but they do hike a lot.”Outdoor exercise is huge in Denver, he noted, with people biking,

walking and running in large groups at parks after work.“No wonder so many Olympians train here,” he mused.Then more hiking as a park ranger in Wyoming, where his jaw-drop-

ping “office window” view was a 1,267-foot-high volcanic neck calledDevil’s Tower rising above the forest.

On his first day, he awoke at 7 a.m. and didn’t eat breakfast because “Iwasn’t sure what the park rangers were going to have me do.” Big mistake.

“I ended up going on a six-hour hike around the perimeter of Devil’sTower National Park,” he blogged.

The ranger and he scaled the boundary fence, checking forabnormalities.

“Sometimes Ranger Joe spots deer caught in the fence that are dan-gling to their death,” he blogged, adding that Ranger Joe will freethem. “We also were checking for any unlawful break-ins and whetherany animals had torn the fence.”

He claims driving in Wyoming — as well as other states such asMontana — is as perilous as driving in Los Angeles. But it has nothingto do with cars.

“It felt like driving in a parade with deer spectators,” he bloggedabout Wyoming roads. “A line of deer would be roaming on the shoul-der of the road. You never know if one will jump into your parade.”

Scarier still was performing weddings in Las Vegas. He said it tookhim a few minutes over the Internet to become an ordained minister, arole he took seriously.

“I didn’t want to mess up the bride’s big day,” he said of his jitters.But in each case, he was more nervous than the brides. Some were so

nonchalant they asked him, “What day is it again?”So far, his border patrol agent stint was among his most dangerous

jobs. During his last day, he witnessed the detention of two possible ille-gal immigrants from Guatemala, a 1,775-mile distance from Tucson, Ariz.Agents found them hitchhiking near the border, dubbed “the line.”

“It was eye-opening to see,” Seddiqui said. “It’s crazy that they comeso far just to be arrested at the border.”

In the agency’s “dope room,” where confiscated drugs are stored,Seddiqui tried on a 40-pound pack filled with marijuana.

“I can’t even imagine people carrying those backpacks during thesummer for miles,” he said. “It’s not surprising that border patrolagents also act as rescue team members.”

The adventure provides more than observation and teaching. Onlyweeks in, Seddiqui had made at least one notable personality shift.

At the start, the moment he hit states where radio stations fluctuatedbetween hillbilly boogie and the Nashville sound, he would shut offthe radio in disgust. By week 10, his tastes had changed.

“Now that I’m in Idaho, I blast it,” he blogged. “Funny how thatworked.”

He’ll end his odyssey in September in the Golden State, where it allbegan. His final job will be in L.A. as a — what else? — movie director.He won’t be directing just any film; he’ll be working on his own. Studioshave already approached him about a possible movie deal. But he may re-main independent. Although many businesses along his trek are offeringhim full-time work, he’s refusing to commit to any one at this time.

He’s come a long way from that graduate anxious about finding work ina dismal economy. “Right now,” he said, “I’m keeping my options open.” �

ENGINEER,TX

DIETITIAN,M

S

METEOROLOGIST ,OH

HORSEMAN,KY

Going once, going twice, sold! Economist Simon Wilkie uses his expertisein game theory to devise a method for eliminating the country’s stockpile of

toxic assets. This is one auction we can’t afford to miss.

BY LAURIE HARTZELL

FROM ECONOMISTS AND POLITICIANS to our next-door

neighbors, everyone seems to have a theory about what has driven

our soaring economy into the ground. Solutions to the problem, how-

ever, seem harder to find than a loan on a three-bedroom condo. Simon

Wilkie, professor and chair of economics in USC College, has a threefold

explanation for how we got ourselves into this quandary — but most im-

portantly he offers a way to help the country out of this mess (more on

that later).

“One contributing factor is that we had a long period with very littleeconomic growth in the ’70s and ’80s,” he said. “So what started to hap-pen in the ’90s was that, all of a sudden, the gains from investment in in-formation technology appeared and this growth came along.” Accordingto Wilkie, who joined the College’s Department of Economics in 2008,people mistakenly thought this growth was sustainable and wouldcontinue unaided.

The second factor he believes led to the downturn is what popularmedia has dubbed the “moral hazard problem,” which resulted when thefinancial sector in the United States went through a period of reform andcreated new financial instruments such as mortgage-backed securities.

“Essentially, the bundling of loans into tradable assets meant that in-terest rates fell as loans became more liquid. But as a result, those writ-ing the loans could pass the default risk on to someone else,” Wilkiesaid. “So we had an increase in the demand for housing because morepeople could afford it, but a decline in underwriting standards.”

And the third factor, Wilkie asserts, was the rapid growth of China. “Inorder to fuel their growth, China kept their currency low, and by doingthis, they accumulated more than 1 trillion U.S. dollars,” he said. Thismoney was then reinvested in U.S. Treasury Bills. The massive supply offunds kept American interest rates low but, in the long term, it was anunsustainable source of income.

“This is the general consensus,” he noted, regarding his version ofevents. “The disagreement is what to do about it.”

For his part, Wilkie has chosen tofocus on toxic assets as one way tobegin repairing the U.S. economy.

Given this nasty name for a reason,toxic assets are a collection of loansand securities for which borrowershave stopped making payments, andwhose value has fallen to unknownamounts. Because their value is unclear, there is no market for these assets.

Until such a market is created, toxic assets will remain with thebanks and continue to tie up funds and prevent other loans from beingmade. Although these assets are only one cause of the recession, theirsale would allow banks to start lending again.

So how do you create value in an item such as a loan?Pulling from his expertise in game theory as it applies to business

strategy, Wilkie has formulated a toxic asset auction proposal that hewill submit to Washington, D.C.’s economics experts. Game theory, aninterdisciplinary type of applied mathematics, focuses on how the in-teraction of individuals influences the choices each person makes.

Auction design is just one example of game theory, and the most rel-evant to Wilkie’s plan. In an auction, the ultimate price paid for anitem is a result of ascending bids, each of which is determined by pre-vious bids. Bidders, therefore, create their own market and value for an

item based on what other bidders are willing to pay. Wilkie’s plan uti-lizes applied game theory to create a market for toxic assets and toauction them off successfully.

Wilkie’s experience as chief economist at the Federal Communica-tions Commission (FCC) proved to be essential in devising this pro-posal. In 1994, the FCC consulted game theorists such as Wilkie todesign an auction for electromagnetic spectrum licenses — permits forthe use of radio airwaves.

In this type of auction, the bidding is conducted online, and all avail-able licenses are auctioned off in rounds to anonymous bidders. Aftereach round is completed, the results are opened so that all bidders cansee the prices, and therefore have a better idea of the value that otherbidders place on the licenses. The bidders can then use this informa-tion to determine their future auction decisions and purchases.

“That was before eBay,” Wilkie said. “It was the first electronic,

ascending-bids simultaneous auction, where lots of things were auc-tioned off at once. The idea of auction theory is that if each of us has alittle piece of information, together we actually know quite a lot. So ifwe did all of the auctions at once, and they were open, then therewould be a good deal of information about the prices in every market.”

Governments have since used this revolutionary auction design tosell over $100 billion in spectrum licenses worldwide.

In the case of toxic assets, their value is unknown because the initialtrades were not observed by the public or by a third party. “Part of thereason that the market for these assets has fallen apart is that it was alldone with bilateral trades. It was not an open market,” Wilkie said.

Value can be defined as the price someone is willing to pay for anitem. But if one person bidding on an item doesn’t know the priceother buyers have paid for similar items, it becomes difficult to deter-mine worth. Since the assets changed hands between sellers and buyers


PHOTOBYCARLOSPUMA

“The idea of auction theory is that if each of ushas a little piece of information, together weactually know quite a bit.”


PHOTOBYCARLOSPUMA

with no observers, there is less information available to future buyers,and less information means a questionable value and more risk.

Wilkie’s toxic asset proposal utilizes a model similar to the FCC auc-tion. His idea is to open the market and involve a third party — in thiscase, the government — so that the rate and price at which all assetsare bought and sold can be seen by everyone involved.

Before the start of the recession, “there were trillions of dollars of thesetrades being done privately,” Wilkie said. “If we made this an open, trans-parent market, we would get better price discovery and then the marketmight start working again. The financial system would recover.”

What separates Wilkie’s plan from the FCC auction is his goal to en-sure that the buyer can purchase assets at an informed price, and thatboth the seller and the government will make money from the sale.

To do this, he proposes to set the market so that buyers pay a com-petitive price in the way they would at a standard auction. With the in-formation open to all buyers, they will find it easier to assign a value tothe assets. This method also ensures that the assets are purchased bythe buyers who value them the most.

In addition to buyer competition, the price the sellers receive wouldalso be set by competition among the sellers.

“Then we run a double auction, raising the price for sellers from alow start and lowering the price for buyers from a high start,” he said.“When demand just falls short of supply, we stop.” This way, the pricebuyers pay is slightly higher than the price the sellers receive. Themarket maker, in this case the government, will be paid the difference.

In spring 2009, the U.S. Treasury Department unveiled their own pro-posed market design — the Public-Private Investment Program. Wilkiesees snags in this proposal. In particular, he considers, it is reminiscent ofthe FCC’s failed 1996 C-Block spectrum auction in which the governmentgave bidders credit so that they could pay for their purchases over time.

“These auctions are plagued by the winner’s curse,” Wilkie said. “Awinning bidder needs to account for the fact that he or she has bid themost and so may have an overly optimistic estimate of the value.”

Suppose, Wilkie theorizes, a person can purchase an item on creditand default later. If it turns out the buyer bid too much, and cannot pay,he or she can declare bankruptcy and walk away. This diminishes anyincentive to account for the winner’s curse and results in overbidding.

In the case of the ’96 FCC C-Block auction, Wilkie notes that hecautioned the FCC about this problem two years prior, but unfortu-nately the advice went unheeded. As a result, auction participantsoverbid by 100 percent, and most went bankrupt. “It was a $10 billion

debacle then — unfortunately this time, there are a few morezeros at stake,” he said.

Even if the government adopts various economic solutions suchas Wilkie’s toxic asset relief proposal, he concurs with many econo-mists’ views on a timeline for recovery. “It’s probably going to betwo to three years,” he said.

An improved housing market will be one benefit of resolvingthe toxic asset predicament. Once housing prices stabilize,

Wilkie notes, it will be a good sign that we’re digging our way out.He adds that the relationship between median income and the me-

dian price of a home is an indication of the state of the economy. “Ifthe average person can’t afford the average mortgage, then the housingmarket is in trouble, and the prices are going to come down. It turnsout this is a really good rule of thumb,” he said.

Although no one will admit it, Wilkie stated, a large portion of thestimulus package will be inflationary. “One way to get people out frombeing under water on their houses is to inflate the value of houses backup.” A massive program of inflation would solve the foreclosureproblem, but the fix would only be temporary.

“Ultimately, we just have to realize the losses and move on,” he said.In his field, at least, there could be some long-term benefits to the

current economic crisis and the steps that are being taken to fix it.“We’re starting to see an increase in the importance of behavioraleconomics research,” Wilkie said.

He expects that the government will shift from using traditional econom-ics to using types of behavioral economics, like behavioral game theory, toform policies and anti-trust rules. While standard economics assumes ra-tionally functioning markets, behavioral economics takes into considerationpersonal biases and “small departures from perfect rationality”.

Wilkie also expects to see more doctoral students doing research inthe field, and more openings in the academic job market.

His proposed toxic asset auction is not the only practical applicationof game theory — it is already being used outside academic spheres.Public school districts and hospitals use game theory to account forparents’ strategies for placing their children in specific schools and in-terns’ strategies for being accepted at the hospitals of their choosing.Game theory has also been applied to designing arbitration mecha-nisms in company mergers.

When he’s finished with his toxic asset relief proposal, Wilkie willpresent it to the Treasury Department and the National EconomicCouncil with the hope that his ideas will help balance the economy.

Wilkie is not the only one pitching a proposal to Washington, so hewill encounter quite a bit of friendly competition along the way. Hecould use game theory to create a formula that would ensure that hisproposal landed on the right desk and was read by the right person.After all, it could be argued that game theory could be applied to anoverworked group of politicians desperate for a solution. But there’s noneed to play games. His work will speak for itself. �

“If we made this an open, transparent market,we would get better price discovery and thenthe market might start working again.”

Are there some basic economic principles thatboth individual savers and corporations share?

CAROLINE BETTS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS

Economic theory suggests that individual savers and corporationshave rather different objectives. Individuals allocate their income

across current consumption spending vs. savings for future consumptionspending to maximize their lifetime wellbeing. Corporations allocate labor and

machinery, and spending to build new machinery, to maximize lifetime profits. Nonetheless,savers and corporations — not to mention governments and the American economy as a whole —all share a common restriction in pursuing their diverse objectives: they must respect their lifetimebudget constraints. Respecting one’s lifetime budget constraint — being “fiscally responsible” —involves some simple, if harsh, realities:

1. If you spend more than you earn, you will incur debt, which has to be repaid with interest.2. If you incur debt, repayment is facilitated if you invest the borrowed funds in a project or

asset that has a positive real return; further, your ability to repay is guaranteed only if thatreal return is a sure thing.

3. If you are relying on “capital gains,” increases in the price of an asset over time, to assurerepayment of your debt, know that capital gains are not a sure thing.

4. If your creditor isn’t monitoring the outcome of your borrowing, your creditor is contributing toa large potential mess — for you — and is probably damaging aggregate economic efficiency.

5. If the culmination of individual, corporate and government borrowing decisions is a large exter-nal U.S. debt, be aware that your country’s largest foreign creditor may be its future enemy.

6. Unfortunately, among all economic agents, only a government can force others to repay thedebt it has incurred, and that is a sure thing; for a highly indebted government has asingle source of income — tax revenue.


R.DEKLEPHOTOBYTAYLORFOUST;C.BETTSPHOTOCOURTESYOFC.BETTS

Economic reces-sions inevitably

occur once in a while.Some economists believe in the

“cleansing effect” of recessions. The idea is thatperiods of prosperity create irrational exuber-ance, overinvestment, and land and stock marketbubbles. Resources such as capital and manage-rial talent are inefficiently allocated to activitiesthat may not be in the nation’s best interest.

For example, during our last period of pros-perity starting in the early 2000s, many tal-ented young people with quantitative skillswere attracted to the finance industry. Ourcountry may have been better off if theseyoung people had gone into the sciences orengineering. Recessions, especially one asdeep as the current one, brings an abrupt stopin the growth of the sectors characterized byover-exuberance, and may help bringincentives back in line.

Opportunities in finance today are not nearlyas plentiful or well paying as before, and tal-ented young people appear to be moving awayfrom finance careers. Thus, by cleaning outwaste and by aligning incentives, recessionscan be good for a country’s progress, especiallyif the recessions are short-lived.

If recessions are long-lived, however, theycan be quite damaging. Of course, high levelsof unemployment are economically devastat-ing to individuals affected and entire commu-nities. Prolonged low growth rates sap acountry’s optimism, leading to an overcautiouspopulace. Investment in entrepreneurial andrisky ventures declines, resulting in low levelsof technical progress and economic growth.

Take Japan, a country that was growing veryrapidly in the 1980s, poised for global eco-nomic dominance. After its stock and landmarket bubbles collapsed in the early ’90s, thecountry went into prolonged recession, with

average economic growth rates dropping toless than 1 percent for almost the next 20years. There is no doubt that prolonged lowgrowth rates have sapped Japan’s entrepre-neurial energy, and this lack of energy hasmade the recovery of growth very difficult.

It is thus very important that a country useall resources at its disposal to escape from a re-cession as quickly as possible, so that the ex-pectations of the entrepreneurs and thegeneral population can remain optimistic.Once pessimism sets it, and people becomeover-cautious, it becomes very difficult for eco-nomic growth rates to resume. Fortunately, inthe United States, fiscal and monetary authori-ties have been very aggressive in trying tostimulate the economy, so I am confident thatthe U.S. recession will end soon, and that thecountry will thus escape the fate of Japan.

How does an economic recession factor into a country’s progress?Is a recession necessary for an economy’s survival?

ROBERT DEKLE, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS

Economists Caroline Bettsand Robert Dekle sharetheir insights into thenuances of the economy.

Q&A

?EXPERTS

OUR

WEIGH IN


CREDITCARDPHOTOBYPAVELKAPISH;K.MCNAMARACORLEYPHOTOCOURTESYOFK.MCNAMARACORLEY

KELLY MCNAMARA CORLEY ’82 is a

problem solver. She believes barriers —

legal, cultural, financial — can be overcome with

persistence, discipline, fearlessness and humility.

And she is exactly the type of leader the credit

card industry needs today.

“As an extension of my company, I work to be

vigilant and responsible about how we extend

credit in this climate. I counsel with transparency about the issues facing

our industry. I’m committed to finding equitable solutions and I’m sensi-

tive to the fact that people get into financial trouble through no fault of

their own sometimes, and we have an obligation to help them,” she said.

As a political science major in USC College, she learned to respect opposingperspectives and think analytically under pressure. The wider sphere of ex-perience provided by her liberal arts education also prepared her to betterunderstand the intricacies of law such as ethics and social responsibility.

Beginning her career as a lobbyist with Sears Roebuck & Co.’s govern-ment affairs office in Washington, D.C., McNamara Corley worked full-timewhile earning her law degree at George Mason University. After Sears waspurchased by Dean Witter, Coldwell Banker and Allstate, she ran DeanWitter’s government affairs department before it merged with MorganStanley and she became head of global government affairs.

As general counsel for Discover Financial Services since 1999, she and herteam are responsible for the company’s legal and regulatory matters, includinglitigation, bank regulation and intellectual property, to name a few. Each dayshe is challenged to be a leader who is fair, committed and compassionate.

Fascinated by the dynamic nature of law, she is also motivated by concernsabout her daughter’s future. McNamara Corley strives to open more doors inthe legal and business worlds for her and future generations of women.

CREDITCANDID on

Payments, fees, interest, statements — what does itall stack up to? Kelly McNamara Corley ’82 providesa peek into the credit industry’s legal landscape.

Q&A PROFILE BY EMILY CAVALCANTI

How would you respond to those who blame the credit cardindustry for our culture of overspending?

That’s like suggesting that the auto industry is responsible for speed-ing. I also question whether it is a true cultural phenomenon or merelya perception. I think most Americans work hard to provide for theirfamilies, pay their bills on time and live responsible lives. Credit andlending is part of the backbone of our economy; it’s how we buyhouses, open businesses and improve the quality of our daily lives. Itall boils down to responsibility: responsible lending, responsibleborrowing and allowing for contingencies.

As a result of the current economic downturn,how is the industry under greater scrutiny andwhat specific changes have been enacted?What new challenges are you facing?

New rules governing the credit card industry wereannounced in December 2008 by the Federal Re-serve Board. They make the most far-reaching andcomprehensive changes in the regulation of thecredit card industry in more than 30 years. The rulesenhance disclosures, highlight risks associated withuse of the card and eliminate certain longstandingindustry practices.

Many of these rules are consistent with our currentpractices. Discover is committed to fully complyingwith the new requirements; however, part of the in-dustry’s challenge is to implement the changes bythe Fed’s deadline of July 2010. With more than1,600 pages of new rules, each issuer must changethe products, processes, procedures, customer com-munications, job responsibilities, and technologiesthat support these changes.

We have begun putting new measures in place toenhance disclosures and to show the costs associatedwith credit and the risks that come with the misuseof credit. These entail highlighting borrowing costs— interest rates, fees, etc.: the consequences of onlymaking minimum payments. We also provide consumers with a 45-dayadvance notice of change in terms of the account and a limitation onchanging interest rates for existing balances.

In addition, Congress has taken an interest in the industry and is pro-posing its own changes to consumer protection and lending laws. It’s inour best interest — and that of most consumers who use credit respon-sibly — to make sure the legislation is fair and doesn’t create the effectof punishing all credit users because of the mistakes of a few.

How might regulation changes affect college students’ abilityto obtain credit? Any advice?

Some of the proposed regulatory changes may make it more difficultfor individuals with no credit history or a bad credit history to obtaincredit. Lawmakers, universities, parents, students and the industryhave an interest in ensuring that young adults use credit wisely anddevelop good credit histories. Credit availability is important in oureconomy and a good credit record is critically important to ensure youhave credit when you need it and on good terms. College students

should take advantage of the tremendous amount of consumer educa-tion out there. They also need to take the time to read the disclosureterms of their accounts and to ensure they comply with the terms ofthe account and avoid fees and charges. I also would advise them totalk to their parents about the subject and to ensure they use credit inconjunction with a sound budget plan.

Why is it important for consumers to understand their termsand disclosure statements?

It’s important for consumers to remember that costsand benefits of credit card usage depend on how eachindividual uses the card, and that credit cards are notall the same. Consumers who pay the full balance ontime each month aren’t affected by the interest rate orlate fees, so they can focus on other features, like re-wards programs, annual fees, online payment and billnotification features, and customer service. Con-sumers who carry a balance on their cards need to beaware of the interest rate and the minimum payment.All of this information is disclosed in solicitation mate-rials and account-opening disclosures, and on monthlystatements. The Fed has just issued new regulationsthat should help to make the most important informa-tion even more readable and understandable.

What is the best way for consumers to under-stand their rights and the industry’s rights?

The most important information — fees, interest,when payments are due and how to dispute charges —is disclosed on each monthly statement, so consumersneed to read these over rather than just mailing in min-imum payments. Those who want detailed informationabout their accounts can find it in the account agree-ment that came with the card. This is the fine printeveryone refers to, but you need to know it. If some-one doesn’t understand any part of this agreement, heor she should call the credit card company and ask for

an explanation. General information and advice about using credit cards isavailable online on at discover.com and from government sources such asthe Fed and the FDIC as well as sites providing financial advice.

Where do you see industry regulations and laws headed?

Comprehensive new regulations that will further enhance disclosuresand increase protections for consumers of financial services have beenadopted and it is possible we may even see more changes. The indus-try does a lot to help consumers and I think much more can be done tocommunicate that value to policy makers. I believe it is essential thatthe industry, regulators and consumers maintain a strong working dia-logue to ensure positive outcomes during this challenging time.

For example, Discover joined with other industry leaders last sum-mer to develop Help With My Credit, a resource designed to increaseawareness among consumers of the assistance available to them fromcredit card issuers. We did that not just in response to the economicenvironment, but because it’s our mission to help people spendsmarter, manage debt better and save more. �

WHAT

–YOU–CAN DOSpend withinyour means.

Take the time toread and understand

your credit cardterms and conditions.

Work with yourcredit card company

if you get into trouble.

Protect your creditcard information.

Protect yourcredit history.


• • •

• • •

• • •

• • •

YERINGTON,NEV.,SURVEYMAPCOURTESYOFJ.WILSON;ILLUSTRATIONBYEMILYCAVALCANTI

For geologist Jeffrey Wilson ’76, it takes more than just a pick andshovel to strike it rich. These days, gold exploration is as much aboutsatellite imaging, computers, graduate degrees and, oddly enough, agood dose of international diplomacy.

BY DAVID DORION ’94

PHOTOCOURTESYOFJ.WILSON

WHEN ASKED ABOUT his profession, Jeffrey Wilson ’76

describes himself medicinally:

“What I do is like that of a doctor when he looks in the ears, nose

and throat. We both explore.”

Explore. This is what Jeffrey Wilson does. He explores for signs,

patterns and symptoms. But beyond the fact that Wilson is an ex-

ploration geologist and not an exploratory doctor, it is easily under-

stood his concentration involves the Earth. Not to find what ails it,

but more what the Earth can yield, which in this case is gold.

Whereas gold was once found via a crude map and even cruder

manual labor, these days a modern gold explorer such as Wilson em-

ploys the assistance of GPS and 3-D terrain modeling computer

software. Gone are the days when gold explorers were transported

via mule or some other unsophisticated form of mobility. Today

they get from one site to the next via plane, helicopter or at its least

plush, a quadrunner.

But what has truly changed in modern gold exploration, and

Wilson can attest to this with much aplomb of his worldly adven-

tures, is that gold has gone international.

The American gold explorer’s efforts are no longer confined tolocal rivers and deserts. In Wilson’s case, he is more likely to be on aplane to Russia to check out a supposedly used-up mine, and afterthat, on another plane to South America to seek out rock formationsand what precious metal they might yield.

Undoubtedly, this brings gold to a higher standard as geologicalexploration has not only technically evolved, it has also become anindustry where one must be an ambassador.

Simply put, when the worst obstacles an old-time prospectorfaced were irate locals and yokels, Wilson is often in conciliationwith entire governments and social structures. In a multi-billiondollar multi-nation industry, a person has to do more than just dig inthe dirt. They have to negotiate first.

A Risky BusinessWilson, who earned a master’s in geological science from USC

College in 1976, became quickly acclimated to the conditions ofmineral exploration and its rigors.

While it can be hot, claustrophobic and dangerous work depend-ing on the conditions in a given area, any fears were tamed inWilson as a graduate student. His geology professor, Richard Stone,gave Wilson his first geological assignment. Being sent off to DeathValley in search of borate minerals tested the young student’s met-tle for rock, stone and heat.

Wilson already possessed the basics for reading rock formations andunderstanding how gold can reveal itself. The question, however, waswhether he had the strength and stamina to endure the near

unworldly conditions. He did, and despite the overall oppressive-ness of the Death Valley terrain, Wilson came away hooked. Healso came away with enough profit to pay for the rest of his USCeducation.

Thirty-two years later, as vice president of exploration forLincoln Gold Corporation of Vancouver, Canada, Wilson’s storiespossess the stuff of modern-day legends.

He recounts the time a helicopter dropped him in the SierraMadre, where, after stepping off the chopper’s landing skid, hefound himself amidst a pile of spent AK-47 shells from an earliershootout, most likely with Mexican federales.

On another occasion, while hammering on rock to obtain mineralsamples, Wilson and his crew had to straddle bales of dryingmarijuana bound presumably for the United States.

In his career, Wilson has encountered purveyors in the illegaldrug trade, dubious military and political representatives, as well asany number of unsavory characters attracted to gold and the for-tune the mineral yields.

At times, Wilson has even had to enlist the help of translators andguides, understanding these individuals might be indirectly or directlyconnected with some form of suspicious social and political activities.But after many years spent in the pits, veins and deep caverns of theEarth, Wilson has found that heavily armed soldiers, shifty-eyed copsand gun-toting drug lords have become somewhat of an afterthought.

Rod WorkWilson attests that once an explorer makes it past the marauders,

pirates, corrupt cops, duplicitous workers and dubious translators,in more cases than not, mineral rich deposits will be found. And ifall goes well, those deposits will eventually be mined, hopefully tofruition.

Jeffrey Wilson ’76 sits atop mined rock in an under-ground gold mine during a June 2006 expedition inHunan Province, China. The amount of timber usedto shore up the walls and high humidity are indica-tive of the unstable ground and poor ventilation.

This illustration (left) features an 1899 survey map from the Yerington,Nev., site where Jeffrey Wilson is exploring for gold.


When searching for gold, Wilson drills core holes into rock to see howmuch, if any, of the commodity can be located there. But first, he thor-oughly researches the surrounding area. When on a site, Wilson’s mainconcern is whether gold has been previously found there. If so, a crudetheory can take root — if a previous strike has occurred in the vicinity,there stands a good chance more gold can be found.

The abandoned Pine Grove mine near Yerington, Nev., one ofLincoln Gold Corporation’s latest holdings, is a perfect example ofWilson’s belief that gold usually exists near other gold. Where pastmining efforts in Pine Grove have yielded more than 240,000 ouncesof gold, Wilson is all but certain more exists there.

“Old gold mines never die,” Wilson stated wryly. “They just hibernate.”While history may not be on Wilson’s side, the seasoned explorer

holds additional hesitation toward historical maps as well as the latestspace-borne technology. Nothing in this business is entirely accurate.

Wilson would much rather rely on the capriciousness of luck andodds in gold exploration, knowing full well the axiom still holds truethat it’s better to be a lucky gold geologist than a good gold geologist.

“If you put everything together, you still may not be right,” he said.“Maybe one in 100 prospects will make it to an advanced stagemineral project.”

Despite such dismal odds, gold mine investors still dredge through fea-sibility studies, environmental impact statements and cultural surveys.

“No one will start a mine when prices are low,” Wilson said. “At alow, you may break even or worse. But during good times, during a hit,you’re scrambling for production.”

When mining does begin, the local population is thoroughly tappedas a resource to the tune of 200, sometimes 300, individuals. And innearly every gold mining scenario, they are paid high wages not justbecause of the physical hardship and danger of the work, but becauseof the eagerness of the mining company and its investors to pull up thetreasure as soon as possible.

Terror in the TroveWhen the maps are read, the geotechnical detective work complete,

and the 3-D modeling supports what the geotechnical parameters sug-gest is the deepest one can dig, a scurrilous greed can brew, particu-larly, Wilson suggests, in Third World countries.

That greed arrives by way of threats, and in some cases, promisesfrom local bandits and government officials.

Kidnappings and occasional murders are not uncommon in Wilson’sbusiness, nor is being ripped off by a foreign political system.

Wilson, who has manned offices in Central and South America, Mex-ico, China, Russia, and Canada, suggests China and Russia are the mostunabashedly unfair countries in which to operate a mining project.

“What we’ve done in Russia and China,” Wilson said, “is give a prop-erty owner or the government our money with a written and signedagreement that we have an ownership interest in a mine. But then

they turn around and sell it to someone else.”Wilson considers this a rather helpless situation that also occurs in

Venezuela, Honduras and Indonesia, where mining laws change oftenand dramatically in an effort to expropriate mineral properties.

In Wilson’s view, Australia, Mexico, Chile and Canada are better atobserving mining laws and rights.

In fact, when based simply on its geological and mining historywhich stretches far and long into the Yukon, Canada is the unequivocalhub of mining today.

But there are smaller players in this game, too.As opposed to the few larger companies such as Wilson’s, junior min-

ing companies exist by the hundreds. These companies continuallyseek financing as they embark on their next big discoveries. Thosejunior companies that make significant finds are often gobbled up bythe larger mining companies. This generally leads to a win-win; the

junior is well rewarded and themajor company controls a newsource of goldproduction.

“When times are good,” Wilsonexplained, “there are lots of juniorexplorers and renegades. Whenthey’re tough, the companies seeksafe harbor, and many disappear.”

Of course there is also the long-standing belief that whoever hits thevein first, wins the yield, which does tend to even the playing field. Inshort, it’s anyone’s game out there.

Calling All GeologistsWilson’s work fills him. He feeds off of the exotic locales, the antici-

pation of finding a value-rich vein, and the impending social chal-lenges he might face on any foreign soil.

But beyond that excitement and elation, Wilson is also fearful for thestability of his profession.

“Geologists 35 and younger are in high demand as are senior geolo-gists 45 and younger,” he said.

Wilson believes this deficit in geologists is also due to low gold pricesdecimating the industry, thereby causing many to leave the profession.

To entice the younger set, he relates his work to what can easily bedeemed as real Indiana Jones-type adventures. Or, he bluntly callshimself a “geo-detective.”

Wilson will even wax historic, assuming a teacher’s air as he recountsexperiences in old Mexican, British and Spanish mines.

But if that doesn’t swing a person toward mineral geology, Wilsonhopes the high pay will, or the potential profit from a large gold strike.

Wilson recalls a junior mining company that struck a deposit in thejungles of Ecuador. After investing a couple million dollars in explo-ration, the firm came away with more than $1 billion in profits afterselling to a major mining conglomerate.

After much reflection, Wilson’s final truth about his work is the mostalluring: “People can become rich.”

With a little bit of luck — or a great bit of it, they certainly can. �

David Dorion is a 1994 graduate of the Master of Professional Writing program.

This illustration includes 1899 field notes on the Yerington, Nev., sitewhere Jeffrey Wilson is confident more gold still exists.

YERINGTON,NEV.,SURVEYNOTESCOURTESYOFJ.WILSON

“If you put everything together, you still maynot be right. Maybe one in 100 prospects willmake it to an advanced stage mineral project.”


Jason Thomas

certainly has a

knack for crunch-

ing numbers. An

alumnus of USC

College, he gradu-

ated with both a

bachelor’s and

master’s degree in economics in four years. He

went on to earn his doctorate in political econ-

omy and public policy — also in the College

— before completing an MBA at the Stanford

University Graduate School of Business.

After nearly two decades in finance, Thomashas worked his way up in both the public andprivate sectors. As a regional economist at theFederal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, hebuilt economic models and contributed tomonetary policy recommendations. He latermoved into private investment managementand consulting, first with Goldman Sachs, thenwith Wilshire Associates, an institutionalinvestment-consulting firm.

In 2005, Thomas joined independent wealthmanagement firm Aspiriant, where he servesas chief investment officer.

Thomas believes a good investment advisershould keep clients focused on their personalfinancial goals. Every investor is different, henotes, so no single investment plan will workfor everyone.

While maintaining focus may seem impossi-ble in this climate of uncertainty, most in-vestors should re-examine their financial goalsand tactics. Thomas is showing them how.

Know What You WantConcrete objectives are crucial to a financial

plan. “The right portfolio, which determinesthe risk and opportunity for return, dependson an investor’s goals, current wealth andability to bear risk,” Thomas said.

Once goals are set, whether looking to pro-vide for the family’s or company’s future, stickto them. “The only reason to have wealth is tospend it — be clear about the purpose of yourinvestments,” he said.

Even when markets are down, Thomasstresses the importance of financial goals. Anadviser should put goals into context and helpinvestors “maintain a focus on the achievementof those goals over the long term, rather than al-lowing themselves to be whipsawed by move-ments in the economy or financial markets.”

Be Realistic (But Don’t Panic)Investment involves risk, and some amount

of loss is to be expected. Thomas states that fi-nancial loss causes an emotional effect similarto grieving; but he adds that long-terminvestors with clear goals need not despair.

“Though the portfolio value goes up anddown, the goals themselves should be moreconstant,” he said. “An investor may feel poorafter a difficult year in the equity market, butthe value of the vacation home she wanted topurchase has also fallen.”

Strategic and tactical adjustments may benecessary in order to maximize future returns.When considering a course of action, be sure toevaluate your ability to take risks and suffertemporary losses for long-term gain. Be wary of“no risk” opportunities, because if somethingsounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Diversification is an important tool. Whilebehavioral finance experts note investors’ ten-dency to “swing for the fences” by taking moreconcentrated risk to make up for losses, a port-folio with many kinds of investments allowsinvestors to withstand short-term concerns.

Time Is on Your SideIn a recession like this, Thomas acknowl-

edges, “The short answer is that there is noshort answer.” Yet, he predicts that the long-range economic outlook is not so bleak as itmay appear.

The equity markets set all-time highs in2007, suggesting that all of the negative per-formance in the history of the equity markets(including the Great Depression) were eventu-ally turned around … in aggregate. “Individualclients may not have the timeframe to wait forthe eventual recovery and an important part ofour job is to help clients evaluate their abilityto take risk and suffer (temporary) losses,”Thomas said.

Economies worldwide are adjusting to thepresent circumstances, and capital is flowing tonew opportunities. “The monetary and fiscalstimulus should act as a catalyst, accelerating theprocess of adjustment inherent to capitalistsystems and markets,” he said.

The analysis is optimistic: “Even clients whoinvested all of their portfolios at the very peakof the market in 2007 have a high likelihood ofreaching their original financial goals duringthe next 20 years,” Thomas said. So whilethere may be no quick fix, investors can stillreach their goals through planning, focus andpatience — and a little sound advice doesn’thurt, either. �

KEEP the

DREAM aliveExPERT ADVICE FROM JASON THOMAS ’94, ’00

Jason Thomas ’94, ’00 offers his fellow Trojans afew simple but important tips to re-examine theirfinancial goals and tactics.

BY REBECCA DORMAN ’10

J.THOMASPHOTOCOURTESYOFJ.THOMAS


FACU

LTYNOTES

{

{

Landscape with Two SaintsHow Genovefa of Paris and Brigitof Kildare Built Christianity inBarbarian Europe

BY LISA BITEL

OxFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS / Byexamining the ruins of their citiesand churches, the workings of theircults, and generations of their devo-tees, Lisa Bitel, professor of historyand gender studies, shows howBrigit of Kildare and Genovefa ofParis helped northern Europeansadapt to religious change at thebeginning of the Middle Ages.

Mathematics of Physics andEngineering

BY EDWARD BLUM AND SERGEY LOTOTSKY

WORLD SCIENTIFIC / Edward Blum,professor emeritus of mathematicsand biomedical engineering, andSergey Lototsky, professor of math-ematics, take readers on a journeythrough the mathematical worlds ofEuclid, Newton, Maxwell, Einstein,and Schrodinger-Dirac.

Moscow & St. Petersburg1900–1920Art, Life & Culture of the RussianSilver Age

BY JOHN BOWLT

VENDOME PRESS / In this survey, JohnBowlt, professor of Slavic languagesand literatures, sheds new light onRussia’s Silver Age including theperiod’s best known artists and lesserknown movements.

The WomenBY T.C. BOYLEVIKING / The triumphs and defeatsof architect Frank Lloyd Wrightwere always tied to the women heloved: an exotic Montenegrinbeauty; an ill-tempered Southernbelle with a morphine addiction; thestrong-willed wife of a neighborwho later was tragically murdered;and his first wife, with whom he hadsix children. In his latest novel, T.C.Boyle, Distinguished Professor ofEnglish, tells the story of Wright’slife through the eyes of a youngman who in 1932 sought an appren-ticeship with the architect at hisWisconsin estate.

Making TranscendentsAscetics and Social Memory in EarlyMedieval China

BY ROBERT CAMPANY

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI’I PRESS / Bothxian or transcendents — godlike be-ings endowed with supernormalpowers — and those who aspired tothis status in the centuries leading upto 350 C.E. have traditionally beenportrayed as hermit-like figures. Thisstudy by Robert Campany, professorof religion, and East Asian languagesand cultures, offers a very differentview of xian-seekers in late classicaland early medieval China.

Where Memory DwellsCulture and State Violence in Chile

BY MACARENA GÓMEZ-BARRISUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS /In this ethnography, MacarenaGómez-Barris, assistant professor ofsociology, and American studies andethnicity, examines cultural sitesand representations in Chile touncover the lasting impact ofstate-sponsored violence.

Tall IfBY MARK IRWIN

WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY

PRESS / Mark Irwin, assistant profes-sor of English, has completed hissixth collection of poetry. The Amer-ican Book Review praises his work,saying, “Irwin is a poet who looksinto the world and sees more ques-tions than answers … big questions,inquiries that explore the nature ofexistence, meaning and reality.”

The Street Gangs of EuroburgA Story of Research

BY MALCOLM KLEIN

iUNIVERSE / Placed in a fictional buttypical European city, a research teamresponds to reports of street gang vio-lence by adapting the widely used re-search procedures developed in theEurogang Program in a dozen coun-tries since 1997. Malcolm Klein, pro-fessor emeritus of sociology, followsthe development of the researchteam and its relationships with com-munity leaders, the press, and severaldifferent street gangs.

Global CaliforniaRising to the Cosmopolitan Challenge

BY ABRAHAM LOWENTHAL

STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS /Abraham Lowenthal, Robert F. Er-buru Professor of Ethics, Globalizationand Development, and professor ofinternational relations, addresses howCalifornia citizens are affected by in-ternational trends, and what they cando to identify and promote their owninterests in a rapidly changing world.

Margaret MeadThe Making of an American Icon

BY NANCY LUTKEHAUS

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS /Nancy Lutkehaus, professor of an-thropology, gender studies and politi-cal science, explores the life and ideasof Margaret Mead, and how she be-came an American cultural heroinewho represented new ideas aboutwomen, non-Western peoples, cultureand America’s role in the 20th century.

Fatal JourneyThe Final Expedition of Henry Hudson

BY PETER MANCALL

BASIC BOOKS / Peter Mancall, profes-sor of history and anthropology,chronicles English explorer HenryHudson’s final expedition and his un-doing at the hands of his own men.

Genealogical FictionsLimpieza de Sangre, Religion andGender in Colonial Mexico

BY MARÍA ELENA MARTÍNEZ

BOOKPLATEfaculty


STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS /María Elena Martínez, associateprofessor of Latin American his-tory, provides the first in-depthstudy of the relationship betweenthe Spanish concept of limpieza desangre (purity of blood) and colo-nial Mexico’s sistema de castas, ahierarchical system of socialclassification based on ancestry.

It’s All for the KidsGender, Families, and Youth Sports

BY MICHAEL MESSNER

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS /Weaving together first-person inter-views with his own experiences withhis sons’ teams, Michael Messner,professor of sociology and genderstudies, probes the richly complexgender dynamics of youth sports.

This Could Be the Start ofSomething BigHow Social Movements for RegionalEquity Are Reshaping MetropolitanAmerica

BY MANUEL PASTOR, CHRIS BENNER,AND MARTHA MATSUOKA

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS /Manuel Pastor, professor of geogra-phy, and American studies and eth-nicity, and his coauthors evaluatewhat has and has not worked in vari-ous campaigns to achieve regionalequity. What they term “socialmovement regionalism” might offeran important contribution to therevitalization of progressive politicsin America.

The Clothing of theRenaissance World

BY MARGARET ROSENTHAL ANDANN ROSALIND JONES

THAMES & HUDSON / MargaretRosenthal, associate professor ofItalian, and her coauthor offer thefirst English translation of Italianartist Cesare Vecelli’s definitiveguide to the world’s dress andcustoms in the late 16th century.

The Politics of ExclusionThe Failure of Race-Neutral Policiesin Urban America

BY LELAND SAITO

STANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS /Focusing on economic redevelop-ment, historic preservation and re-districting in San Diego, New YorkCity and Los Angeles, LelandSaito, associate professor of sociol-ogy, and American studies and eth-nicity, illustrates the enduringpresence of racial considerationsand inequality in public policy.

Fighting for ForeignersImmigration and Its Impact onJapanese Democracy

BY APICHAI W. SHIPPERCORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS /Apichai W. Shipper, assistant profes-sor of political science and interna-tional relations, shows howJapanese citizens have respondedto a shift in demographics by estab-lishing a variety of local advocacygroups to help immigrants secure

access to social services, economicequality and political rights.

The Key of GreenPassion and Perception inRenaissance Culture

BY BRUCE SMITH

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS /Bruce Smith, the Dean’s Professorof English, studies the color green,considering its significance in theliterature, visual arts and popularculture of early modern England.

Natural LanguageWhat It Means & How We Use It

BY SCOTT SOAMES

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS /This first volume of PhilosophicalEssays, 15 essays by Scott Soames,director of the School of Philoso-phy, spans 28 years of thinkingabout linguistic meaning — what itis, how we use it and what ques-tions should be answered by em-pirical theories dealing with it.

The Wandering SignifierRhetoric of Jewishness in the LatinAmerican Imaginary

BY ERIN GRAFF ZIVIN

DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS / ErinGraff Zivin, associate professor ofSpanish and Portuguese, traces thesymbolic presence of Jews andJewishness in late 19th- throughlate 20th-century aesthetic worksfrom Argentina, Brazil, Peru,Mexico, Colombia, and Nicaragua.

edited WORKSOctaviaAttributed to SenecaOxFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS / A.J. BOYLE,professor of classics, offers new Latintext of Octavia, an English verse trans-lation, as well as detailed commentaryand an introduction.

Nitrogen in the MarineEnvironmentELSEVIER / This second edition byDOUGLAS CAPONE, William and JulieWrigley Chair in Environmental Stud-ies and professor of biological sciences,and his co-editors covers the discover-ies during the past decade that havefundamentally changed the view of themarine nitrogen cycle.

Love, West HollywoodReflections of Los AngelesALYSON BOOKS / CHRIS FREEMAN, ofEnglish and gender studies, and hisco-editor have collected a series ofliterary love letters to L.A. that tellthe story of the city’s gay history.

The Civic Life of American ReligionSTANFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS / Thiscollection of essays edited by PAUL

LICHTERMAN, associate professor ofsociology and religion, and C. BRADYPOTTS, a Ph.D. candidate in sociology,investigates the public roles of religiouscongregations and associations.

A Continental Plate BoundaryTectonics at South Island, New ZealandAMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION / DAVIDOKAYA, professor of earth sciences, andhis co-editors offer comprehensive, up-to-date knowledge on the tectonicsand plate dynamics of the PacificAustralian continental plate boundaryin the South Island.

Multicultural JurisprudenceComparative Perspectives on theCultural DefenseHART PUBLISHING / ALISON DUNDES

RENTELN, professor of political science,and her co-editor bring together pow-erful examples of the cultural defensein many countries in Western Europe,North America and elsewhere.

JULIE ALBRIGHT of sociology has wonthe Journal of Sex Research’s 2008Hugo G. Beigel Award for her article,“Sex in America Online: An Explo-ration of Sex, Marital Status, and Sex-ual Identity in Internet Sexseekingand its Impacts.”

DANIELA BLEICHMAR, assistant professorof art history and history, has receiveda USC Early Modern Studies FacultyFellowship.

JOSEPH BOONE, professor of English,gender studies and comparative litera-ture, has been named a fellow at theNational Humanities Center for the2009–10 academic year. Boone willjoin 32 other distinguished scholarsfrom institutions across the UnitedStates and four foreign countriesworking on a wide array of projects.

LYNNE CASPER, professor of sociology,has been elected president of theAssociation of Population Centers.

MARSHALL COHEN, University Professor

Emeritus, professor emeritus of phi-losophy and law, and USC Collegedean emeritus, was honored with theUSC Faculty Lifetime AchievementAward as part of the university’s an-nual Academic Honors Convocation inApril. The award recognizes eminentcareers and notable contributions tothe university, the profession and thecommunity. During his 40-year careerin the academe, Cohen has distin-guished himself as a noted scholar inthe philosophy of law, aesthetics andfilm studies, and as a consummateteacher and mentor.

KELVIN J.A. DAVIES, professor of molecu-lar and computational biology in USCCollege and holder of the James E.Birren Chair of Gerontology at theUSC Davis School of Gerontology, hasbeen awarded an honorary doctoral de-gree by Semmelweis University of Bu-dapest, Hungary, “for his monumentalcontributions to science, especially hisdiscoveries of adaptive gene responsesto environmental challenges.” Davies

gave the 2009 William A. Pryor Distin-guished Annual Lecture at LouisianaState University in March. He also or-ganized and chaired the Gordon Re-search Conference on Oxidative Stressand Disease in Il Ciocco, Italy.

BILL DEVERELL, professor of history anddirector of the Huntington-USC Insti-tute on California and the West, hasbeen appointed the 2009–10 Freder-ick W. Beinecke Senior Fellow inWestern Americana at Yale Univer-sity’s Beinecke Rare Book & Manu-script Library.

RICHARD EASTERLIN, USC UniversityProfessor and professor of economics,has been awarded the 2009 Prize inLabor Economics by the Institute forthe Study of Labor, based in Bonn, Ger-many. The prize, which is endowedwith an award of 50,000 euros, is amongthe top economics awards worldwide.

STEVEN FINKEL, associate professor of bi-ological sciences, and graduate studentAlison Kraigsley published their paper“Adaptive Evolution in Single SpeciesBiofilms” in FEMS Microbiology Letters.

ALFRED FISCHER, professor emeritus ofearth sciences, has been awarded theNational Academy of Sciences’ MaryClark Thompson Medal. He is hon-ored for leadership and research in thediscovery of the cyclical and periodnature of the sedimentary record inthe geologic past and its connectionswith earth-system change, includingbiodiversity.

MARGARET GATZ, professor of psychol-ogy, gerontology and preventive medi-cine, has won the AmericanPsychological Association’s 2009 Devel-opmental Health Award. This awardrecognizes Gatz’s research contributionsto the fields of health and aging.

KO HONDA, professor of mathematics, hasbeen appointed Simons Visiting Profes-sor at the Mathematical Sciences Re-search Institute for the program inSymplectic and Contact Geometry andTopology.

PIERRETTE HONDAGNEU-SOTELO, professorof sociology and director of graduatestudies in the Department of Sociol-ogy, received ¡Adelante! California’s¡Adelante! Award at the group’s March2009 awards dinner. ¡Adelante! Califor-nia is a nonprofit organization dedi-cated to improving the quality of life incommunities throughout the state andnurturing youth through educationalprograms that promote advocacy.

PATRICK JAMES, professor of interna-tional relations and director of the USCCenter for International Studies, andPolitics and International RelationsPh.D. program doctoral student Abigail


TOP HONORS

Scientists Electedto PrestigiousAcademies

ARIEH

WARSHEL,professor ofchemistry andbiochemistry,has been

elected to the National Acad-emy of the Sciences. Warsheland his fellow researchers in thefield of modern biophysicalchemistry have pioneered sev-eral of the most effective modelsfor computer simulations ofbiological molecules.

GEORGE OLAH,DistinguishedProfessor ofChemistry andEngineeringand holder of

the Donald P. and Katherine B.Loker Chair in Organic Chem-istry has been elected to the Na-tional Academy of Engineering.Olah, one of the world’s preemi-nent scholars of hydrocarbonchemistry, received the 1994Nobel Prize in Chemistry forgroundbreaking work on su-peracids and his observations ofcarbocations, a fleeting chemicalspecies long theorized to existbut never confirmed.

SIMON TAVARÉ,holder of theGeorge andLouiseKawamotoChair in Bio-

logical Sciences and professorof biological sciences, preven-tive medicine and mathematics,has been named a fellow of theUnited Kingdom’s Academy ofMedical Sciences. One of thepioneers of computational biol-ogy, Tavaré studies the evolu-tionary genetics of primateswith anthropologists, DNA chipand sequencing technologywith molecular biologists, andthe vagaries of cancer withmedical scientists.

Faculty NotesUSC COLLEGE FACULTY HONORS & ACHIEVEMENTS

TOP HONORS

InvestigatingJapan’s NewEconomic Strategy

SAORI KATADA, associate profes-sor of international relations, hasbeen awarded a National En-dowment for the Humanitiesfellowship. Katada’s AdvancedSocial Science Research onJapan Fellowship will help her tocomplete her book, FragmentedRegionalism, the first in-depthstudy of Japan’s emerging eco-

nomic strategy,whichrelies less onthe U.S. dol-

lar and more onregional part-

nershipsin EastAsia.

A.WARSHELPHOTOBYTAYLORFOUST;G.OLAHPHOTOCOURTESYOFCOLLEGECOMMUNICATIONARCHIVES;S.TAVARÉPHOTOBYPHILCHANNING;S.KATADAPHOTOBYPAMELAJ.JOHNSON

Ruane received the Deborah “Misty”Gerner Innovative Teaching in Interna-tional Studies Award from the Interna-tional Studies Association fordeveloping effective new approaches toteaching in the discipline. Recognizedfor their creation of the course, The In-ternational Relations of Middle-earth,James and Ruane incorporate J.R.R.Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series toillustrate theoretical approaches in in-ternational relations. In November2008, they published an article inInternational Studies Perspectives detail-ing the course’s creation.

DAVID KANG, director of the KoreanStudies Institute and professor of inter-national relations and business, was in-terviewed for a CNN segment thataired internationally titled “Remember-ing Roh Moo-hyun.” The report fo-cused on the rise and fall of the formerSouth Korean president who commit-ted suicide in May. Kang was also fea-tured on NPR’s Talk of the Nation andwas quoted in The Christian Science Moni-tor and other media outlets about NorthKorea’s testing of nuclear weapons.

ROBIN D.G. KELLEY, professor of Ameri-can studies and ethnicity, and history,has been appointed the HaroldVyvyan Harmsworth Professor ofAmerican History at Oxford Univer-sity for the 2009–10 academic year.

SONYA LEE, assistant professor of arthistory, and East Asian languages andcultures, received a grant from theMetropolitan Center for Far EasternArt Studies for the publication of herbook Surviving Nirvana: Death of theBuddha in Chinese Visual Culture.

DANIEL LIDAR, associate professor of

chemistry and electrical engineeringsystems, has been named an Out-standing Referee of the PhysicalReview and Physical Review Letters.

CHI MAK, professor of chemistry, re-ceived the 2009 USC Associates Awardfor Excellence in Teaching in April forhis inspired teaching and enduringcontributions to undergraduate andgraduate education. This is the highesthonor the university faculty bestows onits members for outstanding teaching.

PETER MANCALL, professor of historyand anthropology, director of theUSC-Huntington Early Modern Stud-ies Institute, and associate viceprovost for research advancement, hasbeen elected a member of the Ameri-can Antiquarian Society. He also pub-lished an article in the spring 2009issue of American Heritage.

JILL MCNITT-GRAY, professor of kinesiol-ogy, biological sciences and biomed-ical engineering, was a featured expertin ABC’s Dancing with the Stars episodeeight results show that aired on Nov.11. “To be a professional dancer youneed a perfect combination ofstrength, speed and grace,” she said.“If anyone out there thinks that theseprofessional dancers aren’t athletes,then think again. They’re some of thetoughest athletes in the world.”

MICHAEL MESSNER, professor of sociol-ogy and gender studies, received a 2008CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titlefor his book Out of Play: Critical Essayson Gender and Sport (State University ofNew York Press, 2007).

RICHARD MEYER, associate professor ofart history and fine arts, and director ofThe Contemporary Project at USC,

has been selected for the College ArtAssociation’s 2009 Art Journal Awardfor his essay titled “‘Artists sometimeshave feelings.’”

SERGEY NUZHDIN, professor of molecularbiology, and his fellow researchers havereceived USC’s first-ever PlantGenome Research Grant from the Na-tional Science Foundation. The $3.2million grant will fund a three-yearstudy on adaptation to saline soil in thelegume Medicago truncatula (Mtr). Byfocusing on this small plant that can im-prove soil fertility naturally even undersaline conditions, they hope to improvethe world food shortage problem.

MANUEL PASTOR, professor of geography,and American studies and ethnicity,participated in a panel discussion titled“High-Wage America” as part of“Thinking Big, Thinking Forward,” aconference convened by The AmericanProspect, Institute for America's Future,Demos, and the Economic Policy Insti-tute in Washington, D.C., this February.

MARY ELISE SAROTTE, associate professorof international relations, has receivedthe American Academy in Berlin’s2009–10 Berlin Prize.

CARMEN SILVA-CORVALÁN, professor ofSpanish and Portuguese, and linguis-tics, has been appointed a researchassociate at the United Kingdom’sEconomic and Social Research Coun-cil’s Centre for Research on Bilingual-ism, Bangor University and has beenawarded a grant to be a visitingresearcher there.

KEVIN STARR, University Professor andprofessor of history, was presentedwith the Distinguished LeadershipAward by the American Ireland Fundat the California chapter’s annualfundraising gala in March.

PAMELA STARR of international relationswas invited to Washington, D.C., inMarch to have dinner with Secretary ofState Hillary Clinton and help brief herin advance of her trip to Mexico.

WILLIAM THALMANN, professor of classicsand comparative literature, has beenselected as a member of the Institutefor Advanced Study to pursue his bookThe Production of Space in the Argonauticaof Apollonius of Rhodes.

ANN TICKNER, professor of internationalrelations, was honored at the seventhannual Remarkable Women Awardssponsored by the Office of CampusActivities and the Women’s StudentAssembly. Nominated by peers andstudents, the recipients were chosenbased on achievements in their re-spective fields, contributions to USC,commitment to students and women’sissues, community involvement andother accomplishments.

KAREN TONGSON, assistant professor ofEnglish and gender studies, has beenappointed visiting assistant professor ofperformance studies and distinguishedguest faculty in New York University’sTisch School of the Arts.

JOHN TOWER, associate professor of bio-logical sciences, has received a grantfrom the National Institute on Agingto study the effects of aging onDrosophilia melanogaster, a laboratoryfruit fly. The $1.5 million, five-yeargrant titled “Aging-Specific Gene Ex-pression” will focus on how geneexpression changes as fruit flies age.

RACHEL WALKER, associate professor oflinguistics, joined the Executive Com-mittee of the Linguistic Society ofAmerica (LSA) for a three-year termbeginning in January 2009. The LSAExecutive Committee serves as the

>> continued on page 42


The hours of early-morning writing, themeticulous construction of his characters’

psyches and the unmitigatedneed to research, chronicle andgive contemporary America agood dose of wry wit, have againpaid off for writer and Distin-guished Professor of EnglishT. CORAGHESSAN BOYLE. He hasbeen inducted into the AmericanAcademy of Arts and Letters.

TOP HONORS

Wit Gets Its Due

T.C.BOYLEPHOTOBYPHILCHANNING;K.HALTTUNENPHOTOBYTAYLORFOUST

TOP HONORS

Setting the Groundwork

KAREN HALTTUNEN, professor of history, has earned a GuggenheimFellowship to support her book about 19th-century New Englan-ders and their sense of identity in relation to place. Titled, NewEngland Groundwork: Nature, History, and Local Place, 1790–1876,the book investigates “the vision of place imagined by peoplewhose creativity arose, not from pursuing continued expansion andconquest, but from embracing the cultural and intellectualchallenges of staying put,” Halttunen said.

FACU

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principal governing board for thesociety.

MICHAEL S. WATERMAN, UniversityProfessor, holder of the USC Associ-ates Chair in Natural Sciences, andprofessor of biological sciences,computer science and mathematics,has been named a 2009 fellow of theSociety for Industrial and AppliedMathematics. This fellowship is anhonorific designation conferred onmembers distinguished for theiroutstanding contributions to thefields of applied mathematics andcomputational science.

RUTH WILSON GILMORE, associate pro-fessor of American studies and ethnic-ity, and geography, has been electedpresident of the American Studies As-sociation. She will serve a three-yearterm starting July 2009 and is thefourth USC faculty member to holdthe title. She also lectured at the Uni-versity of Lisbon on “Regime-Change in the United States: What’sNew and What’s Old in the Age ofObama?” before the U.S. presidentialinaugural address and participated ina question and answer period.

GIDEON YAFFE, associate professor ofphilosophy and law, has beenawarded a New Directions Fellow-ship from the Andrew W. MellonFoundation.

Monastic Matrix has been awardedan Honorable Mention in the Amer-ican Library Association and ABC-CLIO’s bi-annual competition forweb-based projects. Directed byProfessor of History and GenderStudies LISA BITEL, the project is cur-rently housed within USC as part ofits digital archives and is supportedby USC College, the Center forReligion and Civic Culture andUSC Libraries.

It’s a First for David Kang and USCThe Strategic Initiative for KoreanStudies (SIKS) at the Academy ofKorean Studies has awarded fund-ing for new projects in 2009 and hasselected DAVID KANG, director of theKOREAN STUDIES INSTITUTE (KSI) andprofessor of international relationsand business, to receive a $600,000,five-year grant. This is the first grantSIKS has awarded to Kang andUSC. The grant will provide theKSI with two annual postdoctoralfellowships that focus on contempo-rary issues, as well as fund anadministrative position.

American Association forthe Advancement ofScience FellowsMICHAEL ARBIB, SARAH BOTTJER andMYRON GOODMAN were named fel-lows of the American Association forthe Advancement of Science inrecognition of their outstanding

contributions in science and engi-neering. Arbib is University Profes-sor, holder of the Fletcher JonesChair in Computer Science, and pro-fessor of computer science, biologicalsciences and psychology. Bottjer isprofessor of biological sciences andpsychology as well as neurobiologysection head. Goodman is professorof biological sciences and chemistry.

Alfred P. Sloan Research FellowsFRANK ALBER and TANSU CELIKEL of bi-ological sciences have been named2009 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fel-lows. The Sloan Research Fellow-ships support the work of youngresearchers early in their academiccareers in the fields of physics,chemistry, computational and evolu-tionary molecular biology, computerscience, economics, mathematics,and neuroscience.

USC-Mellon Mentoring AwardsSupported by a grant from theAndrew W. Mellon Foundation andadministered by the USC Center forExcellence in Teaching, the USC-Mellon Mentoring Awards honor in-dividual faculty for helping build asupportive academic environment atUSC through faculty-to-faculty andfaculty-to-student mentoring. SARAHBOTTJER of biological sciences andpsychology received an award forfaculty-to-faculty mentoring. EUGENECOOPER of anthropology, MARK IRWINof English, and VANESSA SCHWARTZ ofhistory won USC-Mellon MentoringAwards for mentoring graduate stu-dents. FRANK MANIS of psychology andJOHN ODELL of international relationswon USC-Mellon Mentoring Awardsfor mentoring undergraduates.

2008 Holiday Reception andAwards CeremonyFaculty members were honored atthe 2008 Holiday Reception andAwards Ceremony held in December.General Education Teaching Awardswere presented to DANIELA BLEICHMAR

of art history and history; JUDITH HAL-

BERSTAM of English and gender stud-ies; DANA JOHNSON of English; SHARONLLOYD of philosophy;WILLIAM MCCLURE

of biological sciences; and JOHN PLATT

of earth sciences. Advanced WritingTeaching Awards went to JOHN MUR-

RAY and RON SCHEER of the WritingProgram.MACARENA GÓMEZ-BARRIS ofsociology was selected for the AlbertS. Raubenheimer Outstanding JuniorFaculty Award, and PETER MANCALL ofhistory and CHARLES MCKENNA of chem-istry for the Albert S. RaubenheimerOutstanding Faculty Awards.

The Levan Institute EstablishesNew PartnershipThe LEVAN INSTITUTE FOR HUMANITIES

AND ETHICS has established a partner-ship with the Carnegie Council forEthics in International Affairs tohelp create a global, interactive net-work with educational institutionsaround the world. Carnegie EthicsStudio partners contribute originalcontent to share with the network,and host interactive discussionsacross continents. In the process, across-cultural dialogue develops andeducational activities take ondeeper, richer dimensions. USC Col-lege Technology Services will act asthe technical center for the network.


S.FIELDPHOTOCOURTESYOFS.FIELD

Blogging fromthe North Pondand El Salvador

KATRINA EDWARDS, associateprofessor of biological sciences

and earth sciences, and other marine scien-tists led by Heiner Villinger of the Univer-sity of Bremen took a three-week cruise inFebruary to the middle of nowhere —specifically, a point about 20 degrees north

and three miles above a sediment-filled hollow on the sea floorknown as North Pond. There, they drilled into the sea floor andEdwards explains why on her blog at northpondexpedition.usc.edu.PAYTON PHILIPS, lecturer in the Department of Spanish and

Portuguese, blogged from El Salvador in March detailing herexperience as an independent non-partisan election observer,both during and after the March 15 presidential election. Philipsparticipated as a member of the Los Angeles contingency that issponsored by the Salvadoran American Leadership and Educa-tional Fund. Visit her blog at paytonphillipsgarcia.wordpress.com.

Syd FieldEstablishesBequest forMPW Program

Society’sfuture andthe humanrace dependupon agrowing un-

derstanding of all areas ofscience. Hoping to urgeyoung people to pursue aneducation and careers in thesciences, SYD FIELD, instruc-tor in the Master of Profes-sional Writing (MPW)program, has established abequest to USC College thatwill fund a prize for out-standing screenplays writtenwith a scientific bent.

“The purpose of my annualprize is to encourage and in-spire USC students to de-velop screenplays aboutscience and scientific achieve-ment,” Field said. Screenplaytopics may include purescience, aerospace science,medical science, and technicaland engineering science.

To learn more about howyou can establish a prize orother bequest to USC Col-lege, contact Susan Redfield,director of planned giving, at(213) 740-1628 [email protected].


J.ACOSTAPHOTOCOURTESYOFJ.ACOSTA;V.HONGSATHAVIJ,C.LAUNANDBRENDANUYENPHOTOSBYDIETMARQUISTORF;FORDFOUNDATIONDIVERSITYFELLOWSPHOTOBYTAYLORFOUST

Student NotesUSC COLLEGE STUDENT HONORS & ACHIEVEMENTS

USC College’s Fulbright Scholars

USC has 13 finalists for Fulbright scholarships this year, and sevenstudents already have received acceptance letters. Three USC Collegestudents are headed to Mexico, Laos and Thailand.

JEANETTE ACOSTA ’08 of Pasadena, Calif., earned a B.A. inpolitical science with a minor in psychology. She willspend a year in Mexico examining how scholarships in-fluence students’ decisions to pursue education or migra-tion. She is particularly interested in exploring students’attitudes and behaviors toward continuing their educa-tion, employment and migration in Zacatecas, Mexico.

VANESSA HONGSATHAVIJ ’09 of Pasadena, Calif., earned aB.A. in American studies and ethnicity, East Asian areastudies and political science with a minor in SoutheastAsia and its people. She will spend a year in Laos study-ing how the International Union for Conservation ofNature addresses the interests of three ethnic groups —the Lao, Yoane and Brao — and how the union’s devel-

opment plan relates to the Biodiversity Conservation Corridors Initiative.

CHELSEA LAUN ’09 of Columbia, Mo., received her B.A.in English and communication in May. She will spenda year as an English teaching assistant in Thailand.Laun also plans to conduct volunteer work focusing onthe Burmese refugee crisis in Thailand and study howurban and rural settings impact their ability to resettle.

Ford Foundation Diversity Fellows

The total number of Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowscurrently in the American Studies and Ethnicity (ASE)Ph.D. program has increased to 10 students, a record numberfor any Ph.D. program in any field in the nation.TERRION WILLIAMSON has been awarded a Ford Foundation Di-

versity Dissertation Fellowship for 2009–10. KIANA GREEN andANALENA HASSBERG have received Ford Foundation DiversityPredoctoral Fellowships (three years of fellowship funding).

The fellowships are awarded across all academic disciplines,and are the nation’s most prestigious and competitive fellow-ships intended to promote diversity in the academic profession.

The other Ford Fellows in the ASE program are GENEVIEVE

CARPIO, MICHELLE COMMANDER, CHRISSHONNA GRANT NIEVA,IMANI JOHNSON, ANTHONY RODRIGUEZ, ABIGAIL ROSAS andORLANDO SERRANO.

University HonorsBRENDA NUYEN,who majored inbiological sci-ences andminored inpsychology, wasnamed SALUTATO-

RIAN of the Class of 2009. A studentin the prestigious Baccalaureate/M.D. Program through USC Col-lege and the Keck School of Medi-cine of USC, she will enter medicalschool at University of California,San Diego.

All ten USC RENAISSANCE SCHOLAR

PRIZE winners recognized at theuniversity’s 126th commence-ment exercises majored or mi-nored in disciplines within USCCollege. The prize, which pro-vides $10,000 for post-baccalaure-ate study, recognizes graduatingseniors who excel academicallywhile pursuing two or more ma-jors, or a major and minor, widelyseparated across the academicspectrum.

The College’s 2009 RenaissanceScholar Prize winners were: ROBINACHEN (English and neurosciencemajor); KEVIN CHANG (biological sci-ences major with a minor in

medical anthropology); MARIE ANNECUEVAS (chemistry and religionmajor with minor in ancientreligion and classic languages);ALEXANDER ELIAS (philosophy andeconomics major with a minor inmathematical finance); NATHANIELGO (writing for screen and televi-sion, political science, linguistics,and East Asian languages and cul-tures major); ANDREW GOLDMAN

(performing arts, piano, and neuro-science major; KEVIN IKUTA (chem-istry, biological sciences andphilosophy major); KATHERINEPLEMMONS (theatre and Englishmajor with a minor in education in

a pluralistic society); ANDREW POUW

(comparative literature and biolog-ical sciences major); and ROBYN

STRUMPF (political science andmechanical engineering major).

The Discovery Scholars programhonors students who excel in theclassroom while demonstrating theability to create exceptional newscholarship or artistic works. Eachyear, an exemplary group ofstudents is selected to receive$10,000 DISCOVERY SCHOLAR PRIZES

and this year four were graduatesof the College: NATASHA AZAD (in-ternational relations/economics);>> continued on page 44

Genevieve Carpio (left), Terrion Williamson, Abigail Rosas, KianaGreen, Chrisshonna Grant Nieva, Orlando Serrano, and Imani Johnson

continued from page 43

MATTHEW BRENNAN (history/cinema-television); NAIRAKUZMICH (English/gender stud-ies); NOELLE STILES (biophysics/neuroscience).

The Global Scholars programrecognizes undergraduates whohave excelled in their studiesboth at home and abroad. Thoseselected as GLOBAL SCHOLARPRIZE winners receive $10,000awards to be applied towardgraduate study. This year NICOLEHUMMEL (international relations/

cinema-television) and SARAH

MALACHOWSKY (internationalrelations/human rights) earnedthis distinction.LEWINA LEE, (B.A., psychology

and international relations, ’03)a Ph.D. candidate in clinicalpsychology (aging) in the Col-lege, received the ROCKWELL

DENNIS HUNT AWARD for her aca-demic achievements, her em-bodiment of the university’svalues and mission, and her con-tinuing commitment to repre-senting the university withhonor as an alumna.

Ronald E. McNairScholars

Established in 1986 by the U.S.Department of Education andnamed for astronaut and Chal-lenger space shuttle crew memberRonald E. McNair, the programencourages low-income and first-generation college students, andstudents from historically under-represented ethnic groups to ex-pand their educationalopportunities by enrolling inPh.D. programs and ultimatelypursue academic careers.

McNair Scholars in the Class of2009 were: ENJOLÍ S.H. ALEXANDER(political science/ internationalrelations); ARTHUR FIDELARGOMANIZ (sociology); MIGUELEDUARDO DEL MUNDO (politicalscience/policy, planning anddevelopment); APOLLO DELANO

EMEKA (sociology/theatre arts);NABILA FARHIN JAHAN (physics);AISSA LLONTOP (psychology); RAYM. MARTIN (history); NICOLEMOODY (psychology/Americanpop culture); BRIAN NGUYEN

(biological sciences/kinesiology);

ERIN KATHLEEN O’DONNELL

(neuroscience/psychology);JAZMINNE NICOLE OROZCO

(psychology/English); ABISOLAOSENI (psychology); REGINAPRITCHETT (neuroscience/policy,planning and development);JOSE RIOS (psychology); BENJAMINRODRIGUEZ (classics/theatre/business entrepreneurship);MARNI SULLIVAN (neuroscience/anthropology); and DIONE M.

SURDEZ (creative writing/anthropology).

Coro FellowThe Coro Fellows Program in

Public Affairs is a full-time, ninemonth, graduate-level experien-tial leadership training programthat prepares diverse, intelligentand committed individuals foreffective and ethical leadershipin the public affairs arena.

Sixty-eight fellows are chosennationally annually through ahighly competitive selectionprocess, and this year USCCollege political science majorMAX SLAVKIN ’09 was selected.


STUDENTNOTES

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International RelationsScholars ReceiveNational Awards

Politics and InternationalRelations (POIR) Ph.D.program graduate AMY BELOW

’08 (left) and internationalrelations doctoral studentJENIFER WHITTEN-WOODRING

(right) won the Best Paper Award from the InternationalStudies Association’s International Communication sectionfor their paper titled “Climate Change in the News: Mediaand U.S. Environmental Foreign Policy.”

They earned praise for their research into the effect thatnews coverage of environmental issues has on U.S. environ-mental foreign policy, specifically global climate change.

In addition, Patrick James of international relations andPOIR Ph.D. program doctoral student ABIGAIL RUANE re-ceived the ISA’s Deborah “Misty” Gerner InnovativeTeaching in International Studies Award. Read more abouttheir award on page 40.

MPWSTUDENTPHOTOBYTAYLORFOUST;A.BELOWANDJ.WHITTEN-WOODRINGPHOTOCOURTESYOFJ.WHITTEN-WOODRING

WPW Students Receive Scholarshipsto Summer Writers Institute

Master of Professional Writing (MPW) program studentsSARAH FIEBER, SUE KIM, DANIELLE LENGLET and WAYETU MOORE

won scholarships to attend the New York State SummerWriters Institute’s 23rd annual program at Skidmore Collegein Saratoga Springs.

There they will have a rare opportunity to devote a monthto their craft under the guidance of celebrated authors andpoets. MPW has the largest number of students at the confer-ence this year.

“We’re so proud of our showing,” said Brighde Mullins,director of MPW. “These four writers are all representative ofthe strength of MPW, the kind of breadth that the programholds, in terms of their varied backgrounds and commoncommitment to writing.”

That all were granted scholarships is extraordinary, she said.

Master of Professional Writing program students Wayetu Moore,Sarah Fieber, Danielle Lenglet and Sue Kim

autumnTRUETRUE COLORSCOLORS

yearsIN THE

VIEW THE NLINE VIDEOat college.usc.edu/half-century

HE CADRE OF USC ALUMNI who had earned theirbachelor’s degrees at least 50 years earlier met

for the first time the morning of June 11, 1949.Clarence W. Pierce, 1898 alumnus and founder of Los

Angeles Pierce College, presided. The first topic was whatto call the new group. They considered Trojans Emeritus,Emeritus and Yesteryear before voting on Half CenturyClub, USC. Pierce became the club’s first president.

Sixty years later, now called USC Half CenturyTrojans and on its 55th president, the group’s missionremains the same: to strengthen the bonds connectingUSC alumni across generations and to perpetuate inter-est, spirit and a sense of belonging among the TrojanFamily’s most senior and faithful members.

Some signature events include the annual Half Cen-tury Trojans Luncheon, Homecoming and new for 2009Going Back to College Day. Members’ direct descen-dants who are incoming freshmen, transfer students orcontinuing USC students may apply for Half CenturyTrojans Scholarships.

Under the auspices of the USC Alumni Association,Half Century Trojans number 20,000 — about one-fifteenth of USC’s total living alumni population ofroughly 300,000.

USC College alumni represent the overwhelming ma-jority of members. Here are the tales of six College HalfCentury Trojans. An emeritus professor recalls his daysas a student on the G.I. Bill; another recounts becomingthe first woman captain of USC’s debate team; andanother talks about enrolling in college as an AfricanAmerican woman before the Civil Rights Movement.

All are continuing the legacy of exemplary accom-plishments as USC Half Century Trojans. >>

TROJANALITIES

T

Celebrating their 60th anniversary, the HalfCentury Trojans have held the torch of USChistory and tradition for generations. Each hastraveled a unique path in life, but all haveremained devoted to the cardinal and gold.

BY EMILY CAVALCANTIAND PAMELA J. JOHNSON

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F.KEENANPHOTOSCOURTESYOFF.KEENANANDELRODEO;M.K.ARBUTHNOTPHOTOBYTAYLORFOUST

EVEN AS A

YOUNGSTER,Fred Keenan ’37was a consum-mate business-man. Hisboyhood neigh-borhood becamea treasure chest

of job opportunities: He mowed lawns, deliv-ered newspapers, and raised and sold chickensand rabbits.

Growing up during the Great Depression, hetook nothing for granted. Each dollar he

earned was a source ofpride.

Naturally, Keenanwas drawn to econom-ics when he enteredUSC College in 1933.Working for his fa-ther’s plumbing sup-ply company onSaturdays and duringsummers, he waseager to learn how alltypes of industries op-erated. He quickly de-cided business lawwas his niche.

A member of USCLegislative Council, Trojan Knights and sev-eral honorary societies, it was during one of hisSigma Chi fraternity’s events that Keenan metBlythe Rae Hawley, a Phi Beta Phi. The twomarried in 1938.

A year earlier, in the fall of 1937, Keenan en-tered law school. But three months later, hiscareer path changed when his father’s plumb-ing company secured a lucrative contract withCamp Callan Army artillery replacement train-ing center in San Diego. Keenan returned tohis father’s company and never looked back.

Beginning in Keenan Pipe & Supply’s pur-chasing department, he ultimately rose topresident in 1962. It took 25 years of hard,dedicated work to reach the top.

“Don’t give up, stick with it,” Keenan ad-vised. “People nowadays change jobs too eas-ily. I would urge them to stay where they areand work their way up.”

Keenan and his wife made their home inGlendale, Calif., and had two daughters Susanand Kathy. Susan also attended USC as didher daughters Noelle and Molly.

At 94, Keenan still runs Keenan InvestmentCompany in Burbank, which he established in1963 to construct modern warehouses withleasable office space.

With a penchant for saving since his youth,Keenan enjoys giving back to USC. His gener-ous contributions have helped construct build-ings, endow professorships and fundscholarships.

Half Century Trojans founder, the late ArnoldEddy ’24, first encouraged Keenan to attendUSC and it was Eddy who recruited him to theHalf Century Trojans Board. Keenan went onto serve as the group’s president and was recog-nized with its Distinguished Service Award in2003. He is also a former member of the USCBoard of Governors.

“There’s nothing like the Trojan Family,”Keenan said. “We love USC when we’re goingto school and it never gets out of our systems.”—EC

YELLOWED

NEWSPAPER CLIP-PINGS, match-books from herfavorite haunts,black and whitephotos capturingan afternoon atthe beach and el-

egant invites to dances at the Westside TennisClub. All these items and more adorn thepages of Mary Kay Damson Arbuthnot’s metic-ulously assem-bled scrapbook.

The 1946 USCCollege alumnapoints to her fa-vorite item.

“M.K. DamsonNoted as Sterling‘Character’” theSouthern Califor-nia Trojan head-line reads.

A Colorado na-tive, Arbuthnot arrived on campus in 1943ready to make her mark.

Arbuthnot, a speech major, was active in theDelta Delta Delta sorority, Trojan Amazonsand Phi Beta, the music and speech honorarysociety. She also judged and produced “Some-thing for the Girls,” a variety show forwomen’s organizations campus-wide. For herefforts, she was chosen as one of El Rodeo’sHelens of Troy and recognized with the SeniorScroll of Honor.

Serving as vice-chairman and then chairman,Arbuthnot led the university’s American RedCross college unit, which in the summer of1943 was the first established on a PacificCoast campus. For Arbuthnot, what beganwith assembling Christmas stockings for themen overseas blossomed into a steadfast dedi-cation for supporting U.S. troops.

“We would take several station wagons out tothe hospitals and just chat with the veterans,”

FRED KEENAN ’37a wise investment MARY KAY DAMSONARBUTHNOT ’46

a sterling characterstill shines

“Organizing theblood driveswas also verymemorable —seeing studentslined up to giveblood to theboys overseas.”

“Don’t giveup, stick withit. Peoplenowadayschange jobstoo easily. Iwould urgethem to staywhere theyare and worktheir way up.”


M.K.ARBUTHNOTPHOTOSCOURTESYOFELRODEO;G.GRAYPHOTO(2009)BYEMILYCAVALCANTIANDOTHERSCOURTESYOFG.GRAY;G.GRAYILLUSTRATIONBYARTBREWSTER

she recalled. “Organizing the blood drives wasalso very memorable — seeing students linedup to give blood to the boys overseas.”

Following graduation, Arbuthnot became aservice director for the American Red Cross’Los Angeles chapter, overseeing 17 collegecampuses for three years. She later marriedUSC trustee Ray Arbuthnot ’33 and the cou-ple resided in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

Throughout the years, Arbuthnot hasremained an active Trojan.

“I can’t say ‘no’!” she said with a laugh.She was involved with the Trojan Junior

Auxiliary and Town and Gown, then held nu-merous leadership positions with USC organi-zations including president of Half CenturyTrojans, president of the Association of TrojanLeagues and chairman of the Alumnae Coordi-nating Council. Honored with the Half Cen-tury Trojans Distinguished Service Award in2004, she also helped create the USC Univer-sity Hospital Guild and found the TrojanLeague of the Foothills.

Arbuthnot, who now resides in Indian Wells,Calif., has been recognized with the AlumniService Award and the Skull and Dagger ArnoldEddy Service Award, which she received withher husband. Yet, for this natural volunteer, it’salways been about the connections.

“I think the friendships were the No. 1 rea-son I chose to get involved as an alumna,” shesaid. “Those bonds continue on and onthrough life.” —EC

BEFORE MATT

LEINART or MarkSanchez, therewas GordonGray.

Dubbed “Grey-hound,” the All-City end on hisSan Francisco

high school football team was sent to USC in1943 under the Naval officer-training program.

“That was my first lucky break,” said Gray, a1948 graduate with a bachelor’s in history. “I’vebeen lucky all my life.”

But it was talent that made him a Trojan starplayer. During the 1944 Rose Bowl, the fresh-man playing at left end caught two touchdownpasses in USC’s 29-0 upset victory overWashington. The Rose Bowl title capped animpressive 8-2 season.

The local media began a love affair with Gray,calling him a “speedboy halfback” and gushingthat Gray “snagged passes as if he were a mag-net attracting the traveling balls.”

Lookinglike ayoung KirkDouglasand wear-ing a “33” jersey, his image sprinting and clutch-ing the ball was splashed on front pages. Aneditorial cartoon depicted a floppy haired Grayreaching for the ball, stating: “Gordon Gray!Trojan’s rugged halfback — a rare combinationof speed and power!”

After one winning game, then-head coach JeffCravath praised his players, ending with, “andplease, Lord, don’t let anything happen toGordon Gray.”

Then duty called. Gray was deployed to serveon a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Pacific. AfterWorld War II ended, he picked up where he leftoff, grabbing a team-best 13 passes and leadingthe Trojans to a 6-2 record in the 1946 season.

He met and married USC student MiriamFranz. “Prettiest girl on campus,” Gray said.After Gray graduated with academic honors, thecouple had Gordon Jr. Although drafted by thethen-L.A. Rams and the San Francisco 49ers,Gray, now a family man, opted for a career ininsurance.

“Another wonderful thing about being aTrojan: great contacts,” Gray said.

The couple settled in Glendale, Calif., andhad a second son, Richard. Gray eventuallyretired as supervisor of the world’s leading insur-ance firm Marsh & McLennan Companies. Heworked in the firm’s L.A. office.

After 55 years of marriage, Miriam died. Nowmarried to Patricia, the 84-year-old Gray has re-mained a steadfast supporter of USC. A memberof the University Convocation Committee, hehas served on the Alumni Association’s Board ofGovernors. He is past president of the HalfCentury Trojans and received its DistinguishedService Award.

With a full life, there’s no time to dwell on theglory days.

“Time marches on,” Gray said. “Good thingsare happening now.” —PJJ

GORDON GRAY ’48a man for all seasons

“Gordon Gray! Trojan’s ruggedhalfback — a rare combination of speed and power!”


K.MOSLEYMOORE(2008)ANDB.PIPKIN

(2008)PHOTOSBYALEXANDRABISSONNETTE;OTHERK.MOOREPHOTOSCOURTESYOFK.MOORE

A MIDDLE CHILD raised by her father,Katherine Mosley Moore somehow felt thatshe was her family’s proverbial uglyduckling.

“We dressed exactly alike, but my sister gotall the attention,” Moore said. “And mybrother was the ‘handsome’ one.”

At a young age, she decided to be the smartone.

Moore’s father owned a dry cleaning busi-ness and neither of her siblings was interestedin school. Yet, in grade school the youngsterset a goal of graduating from college.

“I really don’t know where all of that deter-mination came from,” she said. “I guess I wasmature beyond my years.”

Although an honors student, success did notcome easy. Attending high school in the late1940s, before the Civil Rights Movement,counselors advised her not to bother applyingto colleges.

“They advised my white friends to considerenrolling in the local colleges,” she recalled.“They said I wasn’t smart enough.”

She ignored the advice. She sought tobecome a registered nurse, which required acollege degree.

“What one person said didn’t matter to meone bit,” she said. “I was so determined toachieve my goals that I wouldn’t let anythinginterfere.”

Growing up in South Los Angeles, she was

accepted to USC’s nursing school, then-housed in USC College. After graduating in1955, she worked at the L.A. County GeneralHospital and became head nurse in itscommunicable diseases unit.

Throughout the years, she was an L.A.County Health Department and L.A. UnifiedSchool District nurse, a nurse practitioner andoccupational nurse. While employed full time,she earned a master’s in mental health fromUCLA.

In 1957, shemarriedJeromeMoore, a cityinspector.They had sonTimothy be-fore divorc-ing in 1964.

When Moore be-came a Half CenturyTrojan, her life be-came fuller, she said.As a single, workingmother, she had notime for extracurricu-lar activities. Now ac-tively involved inUSC campus life,she’s making up forlost time. She hasdedicated a room inher home to all thingsTrojan.

“I truly feel thespirit of the Trojan

Family,” Moore, 77, said. “I love being oncampus for any reason.”

Each time she stops by Tommy Trojan andreads the statue’s inscription describing theideal Trojan as faithful, scholarly, skillful,courageous, and ambitious, she smiles.

They are the same traits belonging to thatyoung, determined girl who got her to whereshe is today. —PJJ

SITTING IN HIS

Palos Verdesliving room,overlooking thebackyard tenniscourt where the81-year-old stillcan deliver acrushing back-

hand, Bernard “Barney” Pipkin studies aphotograph of his younger self.

The baby-faced man in Marine Corps dressblues with a high collar and shining brass but-tons had been directed to attend college underthe G.I. Bill. While at USC, he was called toserve in the Korean War.

“The military decided I needed a degree tobe shot at so they sent me to college,” said theUSC College alumnus and professor emerituswith a broad Johnny Carson-esque smile.

A native Angeleno who grew up in the Mid-Wilshire District and graduated from Los An-geles High School, Pipkin chose nearby USC.Planning for a lucrative career in the oil busi-ness, he earned his 1953 bachelor’s and 1956master’s degrees in geological science.

But USC faculty members — including BillEaston, Thomas Clements and Richard Stone— inspired him to take a different path. Hisroad to professorship wasn’t a direct one.

He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Ari-zona, worked with the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers, became a consulting engineer withhis former professor, Clements, then startedhis own company, B.W. Pipkin & Associates.

Returning to USC in 1969, he rose throughthe ranks and became a professor of geologicalsciences, earning several teaching awardsbefore his retirement in 1993.

Over the years, he has written many bookson oceanography and environmental geology.USC is also where he met his wife of 51 years,Faye, who in 1956 earned her bachelor’s fromthe USC Rossier School of Education.

“The summer I graduated, I was taking aclass with a friend and we were downstairs atThe Grill,” Faye Pipkin reminisced of the daythey met. “Barney came over with a cup ofcoffee and that was it.”

The couple has three children — all USC

KATHERINE MOSLEY MOORE ’55an acute case of courage BERNARD PIPKIN ’53a grateful patriot

“Whatone personsaid didn’tmatter tome one bit.I was sodeterminedto achievemy goalsthat Iwouldn’tlet anythinginterfere.”


B.PIPKIN

PHOTOSCOURTESYOFB.PIPKIN;M.FARNSWORTH(2008)PHOTOBYALEXANDRABISSONNETTE;OTHERM.FARNSWORTHPHOTOSCOURTESYOFELRODEO

alumni — and fivegrandchildren.

In a way, theirfamily dog is also aTrojan. Seventeenyears ago, one ofPipkin’s graduatestudents found theprecious straynearly dead inbushes outsidecampus. The Pip-kins adopted theterrier mix, nursedhim to health andnamed him Ricky.

In recognition of a cherished mentor, thePipkins created the Faye Taylor and BernardW. Pipkin Charitable Remainder Trust at USCto benefit the Richard O. Stone Scholarship inEarth Sciences.

Now, peering at the photo of the rosy-cheeked young man in uniform, the HalfCentury Trojan recalls the days when thecorridors at USC were filled with student warveterans, some disfigured from their battlewounds, grateful to be given the chance for aUSC education.

“The G.I. Bill gave us an opportunity wenever would have had otherwise,” Pipkin said.“Maybe that’s what gives us such loyalty asTrojans.” —PJJ

“WITHOUT

QUESTION beingthe first woman

captain of the USC Trojan Debate Squad wasmy maiden voyage for women’s liberation,”Mildred “Millie” Carman Farnsworth said.

At 17, Farnsworth entered USC in the fall of1942 and became involved in numerous cam-pus activities, including serving as president ofthe women’s service organization Trojan Ama-zons. But debate is where she found her calling.

“There’s no way I can truly express my ap-preciation for what debating gave me in termsof my own development — my ability to seeboth sides of a question, to make decisionsbased on evidence not on emotional over-tones,” she said. “All of those things helpedme to emerge as someone willing to take re-sponsibility for her own actions.”

Farnsworth credits her faculty adviser, DeanPearl Aiken Smith, with encouraging her tochart new academicground and pursue aninterdisciplinary de-gree in “The Arts,”which was similar totoday’s USC Renais-sance Scholars pro-gram. As Farnsworthrecalls, she was the only graduate in the Class of1946 who earned this distinction.

After graduating Phi Beta Kappa and beingnamed one of El Rodeo’s Helens of Troy forher outstanding record of student leadership,Farnsworth returned to her high school almamater, Mark Keppel High School in Alhambra,Calif., to coach debate.

She took a break from coaching after hermarriage to Virgil and the birth of their daugh-ters Dana and Lisa, but later returned to theclassroom at West Covina High School. There,she rose from substitute teacher to head of theschool’s English department.

In later years when diagnosed with cancer,

Farnsworth relied on her debating skills tocalmly evaluate the situation and maintain anoptimistic attitude that she believes wasinstrumental in her recovery. Farnsworth hasbeen a cancer survivor for 30 years.

“It’s become a verypersonal crusade forme,” she said, “to sharewith others that youcan take that experi-ence, which hits youharder than almost

anything I can think of, and get through it witha positive outlook.”

Active in many USC alumni organizationsincluding Town and Gown, Farnsworth is amember and past president of the HalfCentury Trojans, the Trojan League Associatesof the Foothills and the USC UniversityHospital Guild. She was honored with theWidney Alumni House Award in 1997 and theAlumni Service Award in 2008.

“I gained tremendously from my experiencehere,” she said. “Gratitude, not in the sense ofa burden, but gratitude as an expansion of theperson that you are is important for everyoneto think about.” —EC

MILDRED CARMAN FARNSWORTH ’46a woman ahead of her time

“There’s no way I can trulyexpress my appreciation forwhat debating gave me interms of my own development....”

“The G.I. Billgave us anopportunitywe neverwould havehad otherwise.Maybe that’swhat gives ussuch loyaltyas Trojans.”

Ricky


C.ABANIPHOTOCOURTESYOFC.ABANI

1950sTHOMAS C. BRUICE (B.S., chemistry,’50; Ph.D., chemistry, ’54), professorin the Department of Chemistryand Biochemistry at the Universityof California, Santa Barbara, hasbeen awarded the 2008 Linus Paul-ing Medal. The Linus PaulingMedal is given annually by the Ore-gon, Portland and Puget Sound sec-tions of the American ChemicalSociety. The award recognizes out-standing accomplishments in chem-istry in the spirit of and in honor ofLinus Pauling, a native of thePacific Northwest.

1960sDENNIS GERTMENIAN (B.A., politicalscience, ’68) received an honorarymembership to the La Mirada, Calif.-based Fresh Produce & Floral Coun-cil in Jan. 2009. Gertmenian, isfounder, chairman and chief execu-tive officer of Ready Pac Produce Inc.

ALICEMARIE STOTLER (B.A., ’64; J.D.,’67), Chief U.S. District Judge, tooksenior status in Jan. 2009. Ratherthan retire outright, senior judgeshear partial caseloads. Stotler servedas chief judge since 2005 and spentmore than 24 years on the bench.

1970sDR. JOSEPH AGUERREBERE (B.A., po-litical science, ’72; M.A., education,’86; Ph.D., education, ’75), presi-dent and chief executive officer ofthe National Board for ProfessionalTeaching Standards, spoke at a na-tional symposium held in Canberra,Australia, in October 2008 on usingstandards to recognize advancedteaching and school leadership.

CELIA AYALA (B.A., Spanish and soci-ology, ’76) has been appointed byCalifornia Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger to the Early Learn-ing Quality Improvement System Ad-visory Committee. Since 2007, she hasserved as the chief operating officer ofLos Angeles Universal Preschool.

HELIA CORRAL (Ph.D., Spanish, ’75),professor of modern languages andliteratures, has received the2008–09 Faculty Leadership andService Award from California StateUniversity, Bakersfield.

DAVID S. CUNNINGHAM III (B.A., eth-nic studies, ’77) has been appointedby California Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger to a judgeship inthe Los Angeles County SuperiorCourt.

GEOFFREY A. GOODMAN (B.A., politi-cal science and speech communica-tion, ’73) has been appointed byCalifornia Governor ArnoldSchwarzenegger to a judgeship withthe Sacramento County SuperiorCourt.

NANCY JONES (B.A., economics, ’70,M.A.; economics, ’72) left her posi-tion as chief executive at the Com-munity Foundation of Abilene inMarch 2009 to become president ofthe Community Foundation ofNorth Texas, based in Fort Worth.

JEFF MARSEE (B.A., economics, ’71)was appointed president of Collegeof the Redwoods on July 1, 2008.Most recently, he held the positionof vice president of administrativeservices at El Camino College inTorrance, Calif. For 21 years, Marseewas vice president and vice chancel-lor of academic affairs and fiscalservices at community colleges inTexas, New York and California.

MICHAEL ORMAN (B.S., biology, ’77)has joined County Commerce Bankas executive vice president andchief operating officer. He alsoserves on the boards of the VenturaMarina Rotary Club and the Tri-Counties Chapter of the RiskManagement Association.

JONATHAN PELL (B.A.,East Asianlanguage and cultures, ’71), long-time director of artistic administra-tion for The Dallas Opera has beenpromoted to artistic director. Pelljoined The Dallas Opera 24 yearsago and in his new position he willwork with the opera’s music directorin preparing to launch its inauguralseason in the Margot and Bill Win-spear Opera House at the DallasCenter for the Performing Arts.

JOHN F. PILGER (B.S., biology, ’71and Ph.D., biology, ’78) was in-ducted into the Fullerton UnionHigh School Wall of Fame in Octo-ber 2008. Through the years, Pilgerhas been an educator and a memberof many honorary and professionalsocieties, including the board ofeducation in Decatur, Ga.

MICHAEL F. STEPHEN (M.S., geologi-cal sciences, ’73) has been ap-pointed to the Greater NaplesChamber of Commerce board of di-rectors. Stephen, president andCEO of Coastal Engineering Con-sultants Inc., chaired the board ofthe Naples Area Chamber of Com-merce in 1990. He will be the liai-son to the past chairman’s council,

Class NotesALUMNI OF USC COLLEGE OF LETTERS, ARTS & SCIENCES

SHARE YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND MILESTONES WITH USC COLLEGE ALUMNI BY SENDING YOUR CLASS

NOTE TO: USC COLLEGE MAGAZINE, C/O LETITIA FRANKLIN, 1050 CHILDS WAY, RRI 308, LOS ANGELES,CALIFORNIA 90089-2910 OR [email protected]. PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR

FULL NAME (INCLUDING MAIDEN NAME) AND CLASS YEAR ALONG WITH YOUR UPDATES, ANNOUNCEMENTSAND PHOTOS. YOUR CLASS NOTE WILL BE EDITED FOR CONTENT AND LENGTH.

CLASS NOTABLE

CHRIS ABANI (Ph.D., literature and creative writing, ’06) has beennamed a 2009 Guggenheim Fellow in Fiction. The fellowship willallow him to travel in pursuit of his next novel.

Abani, an award-winning poet, novelist and playwright, is professorof creative writing at University of California, Riverside. He haspublished five novels, three plays and four collections of poetry.

“The Guggenheim is such a prestigious honor that I am a little lostfor words,” he said. “It is always humbling when your work as a writergets recognized, but when it is by an institution that has given thesame award to artists, photographers, intellectuals and writers who Ihave been in awe of, it is a double honor.”

which consists of all those who haveserved as chamber leaders.

DORA SUMMERS-EWING (B.A., politi-cal science and broadcast journal-ism, ’77) has been named chiefpeople officer of Coinstar, Inc.

PETER WALSH (B.A., psychology, ’79)was hired as vice president of med-ical affairs at St. Francis MedicalCenter in Colorado Springs, Colo.

1980sBRIAN D. DAILEY (B.A., internationalrelations, ’82; Ph.D., internationalrelations, ’87) retired from his posi-tion as senior vice president, Wash-ington operations, at LockheedMartin Corporation in April 2009.

DAN DUNMOYER (B.A., political sci-ence, ’84), who recently served as

chief cabinet secretary and deputychief of staff for California GovernorArnold Schwarzenegger, has ac-cepted a national, executive posi-tion as head of State Legislative andRegulatory Affairs for Farmers In-surance and Zurich Financial Serv-ices in the United States.

GUY R. GRUPPIE (B.A., political sci-ence and journalism, ’88) has beennamed a 2009 Southern CaliforniaSuper Lawyer in a vote of his peersconducted by Law & Politics Maga-zine. Fewer than 5 percent of Cali-fornia lawyers are so honored eachyear. Gruppie, who specializes incivil trial work with an emphasis ongeneral liability and product liabil-ity defense work, was honored inspecial sections of recent editions ofThe New York Times and Los AngelesMagazine.

ROBERT HOBBS (M.S., geology, ’89)has been appointed chief executiveofficer of TGS-NOPEC Geophysi-cal Company effective June 4. Hejoined TGS in January 2008 as thechief operating officer.

JIM JIMENEZ (B.S., accounting,’83)has been appointed partner inWindes & McClaughry Account-ancy Corporation’s Internal Auditand Business Advisory ServicesPractice.

PAUL W. JONES (B.A., psychology,’81; M.P.A., health services adminis-tration, ’84), a physician/anesthesi-ologist, recently concluded his termas president of the American Osteo-pathic College of Anesthesiologists(AOCA) for 2008. He was installedas the immediate past president ofthe AOCA for 2009 in September2008. Jones serves as chairman ofthe Department of Anesthesiologyand director of anesthesia servicesat Robinson Memorial Hospital inRavenna, Ohio.

OMAR M. KADER (Ph.D., internationalrelations, ’81) delivered the keynotespeech titled “The National Interestof the U.S. in the Middle East” aspart of Southern Illinois UniversityCarbondale’s Asian AmericanHeritage Month activities in April.

JIM MAHONEY (M.A., marine affairs,’86) has been appointed chief execu-tive officer of Novomer Inc., a materi-als company pioneering a family ofhigh-performance, biodegradableplastics, polymers and other chemicalsfrom renewable substances.

GRAEME WILSON (M.A., interna-tional relations, ’81) has been ap-pointed as special coordinator of theRegional Assistance Mission toSolomon Islands (RAMSI). As spe-cial coordinator, Wilson is responsi-ble for the overall coordination andstrategic direction of RAMSI’s assis-tance to Solomon Islands. RAMSI’sarrival in July 2003, at the invitationof the Solomon Islands governmentand under the auspices of the Pa-cific Islands Forum, has seen the re-turn of peace and economic stabilityto Solomon Islands.>> continued on page 52

Everyone has a story 1-2-3-4-5-6Share yours in six words. Submit your six-word memoirto be considered for inclusion in the next issue ofUSC College Magazine.Send your submission to USC College Magazine, c/o Letitia Franklin,1050 Childs Way, RRI 308, Los Angeles, California 90089-2910 [email protected].


N.WACKERPHOTOBYDIEUWERTJE

KAST

Obama TapsAlumni for HisAdministration

President Barack Obama hasreappointed MIKE DONLEY

(B.A., international relations,’77; M.A., international rela-tions, ’78) Secretary of the AirForce and has nominatedMERCEDES MÁRQUEZ (B.A., po-litical science, ’82) for AssistantSecretary for Community Plan-ning and Development in theDepartment of Housing andUrban Development.

Donley is responsible for theaffairs of the Department ofthe Air Force, including the or-ganizing, training, equippingand providing for the welfare ofits more than 300,000 men andwomen on active duty, 180,000members of the Air NationalGuard and the Air Force Re-serve, 160,000 civilians, andtheir families. He also overseesthe Air Force’s annual budgetof approximately $110 billion.

Previously, Márquez wasnamed the general manager ofthe City of Los Angeles Hous-ing Department. She served inthe Clinton administration asthe Senior Counsel to the Sec-retary and Deputy GeneralCounsel for Civil Rights andFair Housing for the Depart-ment of Housing and UrbanDevelopment. She was princi-pal adviser to former SecretaryAndrew Cuomo on civil rightspolicy and advised him on ruralhousing and economic devel-opment policy, supervised farmworker and Colonias Commu-nity Builder specialists in fivestates, and served as a U.S.delegate to internationalcommissions.

CLASS NOTABLE

NIEN-LING WACKER (M.S, chem-istry, ’73), president and CEO ofLaserfiche, a leading provider of en-terprise content management (ECM)software, was presented with the Dis-tinguished Alumni Award from theCollege’s Department of Chemistryin April for her entrepreneurial career.

Wacker founded Laserfiche in1987. Under her leadership the com-pany has undergone perpetual trans-formation, becoming an innovative,independent software company serv-ing more than 25,000 organizations.

“I am deeply honored by thisaward. My graduate work at USCtaught me the value of communica-tion, and provided me with the op-

portunity to grow in a challenging yet flexible environment,” Wackersaid. “This carried over to the Laserfiche philosophy of establishing abalance between flexibility and control via software that allows organ-izations to digitize paper archives and manage documents, recordsand workflow.”


CLASS

NOTES

{

{

A.IFTIMIEPHOTOBYCHRISTOPHERSMITH

JO JAVIER (B.A., internationalrelations, ’86) and NORM KATNIK

(B.A., social science (economics),’03) have joined Sendio, Inc., an e-mail security company. Javierserves as vice president of sales andKatnik has joined his sales team.Together, they will spearhead thesales team’s expansion throughoutthe Southern California region.

1990sMILLICENT BORGES ACCARDI

(MPW, ’93) recently had her po-etry published in the following lit-erary journals: Salt River Review,Folio, Poetry MidWest, Room of One’sOwn, and Wordgathering, a Journalof Disability Poetry. In September2008, she was a poet-in-residenceat Fundación Valparaíso, an inter-national arts residency organiza-tion located on the Mediterranean

coast of Andalucía, Spain, in theold Moorish hill town of Mojacar.

JULI BERWALD (Ph.D., ocean sci-ence, ’98) blogged for Wired Sci-ence about her testimony beforethe Texas State Board of Educa-tion in their final public hearingregarding revisions to the statescience education standards. Sheis a freelance science writer livingin Austin, Texas.

EMILE CUBEISY (B.A., political sci-ence and economics, ’91) joinedContent Syndicate’s Board of Di-rectors. He is currently a directorof IV Holdings, Jeeran, Con-servus, ShooFeeTV, Arab MediaHolding and NetCorps.

JONATHAN HIMEBAUCH (B.A., cre-ative writing, ’97) joined the Mon-tréal Alouettes as offensive linecoach. He is a former offensivelineman and long snapper whoplayed in the CFL and NFL. Hebegan his professional coachingcareer in 2003 with Calgary, wherehe was the offensive line coach.

KYLE MATHEWS (B.A., philoso-phy/ethics, ’98; J.D., ’01) was ele-vated from attorney to partner atthe firm of Sheppard, Mullin,Richter & Hampton LLP. Math-ews, in the firm’s Finance andBankruptcy practice group in theLos Angeles office, specializes inthe area of workouts, restructuringand commercial lending, mainlyrepresenting financial institutions.

EDWARD J. MCCAFFERY (M.A., eco-nomics, ’94) has joined SeyfarthShaw LLP in the law firm’s LosAngeles office. He practices in theareas of trusts and estates, taxa-tion and intellectual property. Mc-Caffery also holds the Robert C.Packard Trustee Chair in Law andis professor of law, economics andpolitical science at the USCGould School of Law.

KEVIN O’CONNOR (Ph.D., English,’95), who serves as dean of Saddle-back College’s Liberal Arts andLearning Resources, has beennamed Administrator of the Yearof the South Orange County Com-munity College District. O’Con-nor has worked at the MissionViejo, Calif., college for nine years.

CLASS NOTABLE

ALEXANDRU IFTIMIE (B.A., interna-tional relations and global business, ’07)has been named a Paul and Daisy SorosNew American Fellow for 2009.

The fellowship program for newAmericans was established by Hungarianimmigrants Paul and Daisy Soros in 1997as a way to “give back” to their adoptedcountry. The awards support graduate

study by naturalized citizens, resident aliens or the children ofnaturalized citizens.

A native of Bucharest, Romania, Iftimie came to the UnitedStates when he was 12 and is now a naturalized citizen. Whilegrowing up in Romania and listening to Radio Free Europe’s“Youth Reports,” he became convinced of the importance of de-bate to civil society. In high school and college in the U.S., heparticipated on and captained debate teams, and served as adebate coach and judge.

Currently a student at Yale Law School, he plans to pursue acareer in international law and public interest.

The USC Career Planningand Placement Center(CPPC) has a vast arrayof resources designedespecially for USCalumni.

In today’s challengingeconomic climate, developingstrategies for successfulcareers is more importantthan ever. Whether you’re arecent graduate or a retiree,the CPPC can help you withyour career needs.Among the center’s many

offerings for alumni are:

• Career advising

• ConnectSC, an exclusiveonline job portal

• Alumni networking events

• Passport 4 Success, anonline career course

• Career fairs

• Podcasts

• Educational careerseminars

• Employer-sponsoredalumni recruiting events

• Networking resources

Additionally, the CPPC, inpartnership with the USC

Alumni Association, recentlylaunched a new initiative,“Trojans Hiring Trojans,” whichencourages alumni to help andsupport their fellow Trojans byconsidering USC candidates forjob opportunities.All alumni are entitled to

one complimentary advisingsession, which includes indi-vidualized coaching, cover let-ter and résumé critiques and ageneral discussion of your cur-rent career path. Additional ca-reer coaching services areavailable at a discounted rate.“Our mission is to provide

exceptional career services toall members of the TrojanFamily,” said Lori Shreve Blake,director of alumni and studentcareer services at the CPPC.“During the last eight years,the Alumni Career Servicesprogram has helped thou-sands of Trojans make suc-cessful career transitions.”

For more information, visitcareers.usc.edu or contactLori Shreve Blake, directorof alumni and student ca-reer services at (213) 740-9111 or [email protected].

LOOKINGfor the

NEXT STEPin your

CAREER?


A.ONGPHOTOCOURTESYOFA.ONG

STEVE ROKOSZEWSKI (B.A., inter-national relations, ’98) has beenappointed vice president, nationalsales desk for Realty Capital Se-curities LLC. He is responsiblefor managing Realty Capital Secu-rities internal sales team to marketAmerican Realty Capital Trust tobroker dealers nationwide.

2000sCHRISTINA ALMEIDA (B.A., politi-cal science and print journalism,’01), who oversees news coveragein Montana and Wyoming for TheAssociated Press, has been namedAP’s news editor in Atlanta.

MICHAEL KHANDELWAL (MPW,’07) held a poetry reading at thePhoebus Art Gallery in Hampton,Va., in October 2008. He has con-tributed features and profiles toHampton Roads Magazine and isthe poetry editor for Port FolioWeekly. Khandelwal also teachespoetry and fiction for The MuseWriters Center in Norfolk, Va.

CATIE MIHALOPOULOS (Ph.D., arthistory, ’01) traveled to St. Cather-ine’s on Mount Sinai, one of theoldest Christian monasteries in

the world, in December 2008 tolecture on the assumption of theVirgin Mary and study themonastery’s icons. She is assistantprofessor of art history at Califor-nia State University, ChannelIslands.

MICHAEL RASALAN ODOCA (B.A.,political science and sociology, ’05)was sworn in on Dec. 5, 2008, afterpassing the July 2008 CaliforniaBar Exam. Odoca received hisjuris doctor degree from the Uni-versity of San Francisco School ofLaw. He is currently employedwith the U.S. Department ofLabor in Pasadena, Calif., as a fed-eral investigator for the EmployeeBenefits Security Administration.

TIM WOODWARD (B.A., creativewriting, ’01) was a contestant onthe game show Who Wants to be aMillionaire in March. He developstrivia questions for an African tel-evision show, The Zain AfricaChallenge, based in Nairobi, Kenya.He recently completed his firstnovel about coming out as a gayteenager in small-town America.Woodward said during the tapingthat he wants to use his winningsto publish his book.

Marriages &EngagementsCHRISTINE ABBOUD (B.A., interna-tional relations and political sci-ence, ’05) is engaged to EricAlegria (M.A., public administra-tion, ’05). She is a managementanalyst in Long Beach, Calif.

KAVITA AMIN (B.A., psychology,’03) will marry Scott Davenport insummer 2009. She is currently aregistered nurse in the Surgicaland Trauma ICU at UC IrvineMedical Center.

JONATHAN LYNN (B.A., interna-tional relations, ’05) and MalloryShipman were married on April25, 2009. He is a public defenderat the Palm Beach County PublicDefender’s Office in West PalmBeach, Fla.

ALYSIA MICHELLE PIFFERO (B.A.,psychology, ’02) and MatthewScott Bell were married Septem-ber 20, 2008, at Peachwood’s inSanta Cruz, Calif. She works asthe director of operations/humanresources for the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Com-merce in Irving, Texas.

CHRISTIE JADE RIZZO (M.A., psy-chology, ’02; Ph.D., psychology,’05) and John Gregory Martin Jr.were married on October 19, 2008,at Wedgewood Pines CountryClub in Stow, Mass. She isassistant professor (research) atWarren Alpert Medical School ofBrown University.

LAURETTA MINH-LEE TEOH-LIM

(B.A., psychology, ’97) and MichaelJohn Boulton were married onJune 13, 2009. She works forIdaho’s Meridian School District.

NOTE: Listings for the “Class Notes” and“In Memoriam” sections were compiledbased on submissions from alumni andCollege departments as well as publishednotices from various media outlets. Toshare your news, write to USC CollegeMagazine, c/o Letitia Franklin, 1050 ChildsWay, RRI 308, Los Angeles, California90089-2910 or [email protected].

BOOKPLATEalumni

The AmericanDiscovery of Europe

BY JACK D. FORBESUNIVERSITY OF

ILLINOIS PRESS / JackD. Forbes (Ph.D.,history, ’59) professoremeritus of NativeAmerican studies and anthropol-ogy at University of California,Davis, investigates the voyages ofAmerica’s Native peoples to theEuropean continent beforeColumbus’s 1492 arrival in the“New World.”

Put Your MoneyWhere Your Heart IsInvestment Strategiesfor Lifetime Wealth

BY NATALIE PACE

VANGUARD PRESS /Natalie Pace (B.A.,English, ’94) offers a

sensible, easy-to-follow yet power-ful set of investing strategies forthe would-be investor.

British Periodicalsand Romantic IdentityThe “LiteraryLower Empire”

BY MARK SCHOENFIELD

PALGRAVE MACMILLAN /Mark Schoenfield(MPW, ’86; Ph.D.,English, ’90), associate professor ofEnglish at Vanderbilt University,explores how periodicals such asthe Edinburgh, Blackwood’s, and theWestminster became the repositoriesand creators of “public opinion.”

Flying Lessons

BY PEGGY DUMM WILKES

FINISHING LINE PRESS

/ Peggy Dumm Wilkes(B.A., anthropology,’68), adjunct professorof creative and naturewriting at National

University, offers this book ofpoetry that according to onereviewer, “paints the landscape ofthe human heart from 3,000 feet.”

CLASS NOTABLE

ANTHONY ONG (Ph.D., psychology,’02) has been awarded the 2008 SpringerEarly Career Achievement Award in Re-search on Adult Development and Agingfrom the American Psychological Associa-tion’s (APA) Division of Adult Develop-ment and Aging. He has also received the2008 Margret M. and Paul B. Baltes EarlyCareer Award in Social and Behavioral

Gerontology from the Gerontological Society of America.The Springer award, which was presented at the APA’s annual

convention last August, is given to “an individual whose work hasmade significant early career contributions to understanding criti-cal issues in the psychology of adult development and aging”.

The Baltes award recognizes outstanding early career contribu-tions in behavioral and social gerontology and is funded by theMargret M. and Paul B. Baltes Foundation.

Ong, who is assistant professor of human development in Cor-nell University’s College of Human Ecology, studies the socio-emotional, cognitive and cultural resources that people drawupon to adapt to stressful life circumstances as they age. A cen-tral goal of his work is to understand how certain individualsshow maintenance, recovery or even improvements in adaptiveoutcomes despite the presence of challenge and adversity.


INMEM

ORIAM

{

{

JUDITH CARR AREND (B.A.,English, ’60), Los Angeles, CA(10/22/08) at age 70; was amember of the Pi Beta Phisorority at USC; raised her fam-ily in Chicago; returned to L.A.to work with her father who wasthe founder and chairman ofMulti-Media Services; a devoutCatholic; an accomplished ten-nis player; played golf; an ad-venturous traveler and cook.

DR. DONALD E. CROCKER(B.A., ’43), Orange, CA(09/08/08) at age 75; served inthe Navy during World War II;served as a lieutenant in theAir Force in the Korean War;worked more than 50 years as afamily practitioner and generalpractitioner in Lynwood andYorba Linda, Calif.; deliveredthousands of babies; practicedcountless pro bono hours in hismedical practice; taught atUSC and the University of Cal-ifornia, Irvine medical schools;

a world traveler, philatelist,Sierra Club member, avid gar-dener and horticulturalist.

JOAN CULVER (M.A., history,’58), Reno, NV (10/10/08) at age74; began as research assistantfor the Rand Corporation in1961; former member of theWomen’s National DemocraticClub; worked on the presidentialcampaigns of Robert Kennedy,George McGovern and JimmyCarter; wrote for the UptownCitizen Gazette in the ’80s.

DR. JOHN DIGGINS (Ph.D., his-tory, ’64), Manhattan, NY(01/28/09) at age 73; the intel-lectual historian taught at theGraduate Center of the CityUniversity of New York; prior,he taught intellectual history atSan Francisco State Collegeand the University of Califor-nia, Irvine; wrote books aboutMussolini, fascism, commu-nism, and the American left

and established himself as anhistorian of ideas; at his death,he had nearly completed abook on the theologianReinhold Niebuhr.

MARIE BABARE EDWARDS(B.A., psychology, ’46), Holly-wood, CA (12/31/08) at age 89;a psychologist who helped pio-neer a “singles pride” move-ment in the 1970s through herbook, The Challenge of BeingSingle; taught workshops atUSC; inherited her father’sTexas-based oil business.

DR. RICHARD EXNER (Ph.D.,German literature, ’58), Berlin,Germany (07/16/08) at age 78; apoet, prose author, translator,and scholar of German literature;joined the Department of Ger-manic, Slavic and Semitic Stud-ies at the University ofCalifornia, Santa Barbara in1965; prior, he taught at USC,the University of Rochester,Princeton University and Ober-lin College; authored numerousscholarly books and articles onGerman literature and translatedEnglish poetry into German andGerman poetry into English.

SISTER ALINE MARIE GERBER(B.A., French, ’42), Brentwood,CA (02/15/09) at age 92; profes-sor of romance languages atMount St. Mary’s College;moved into the Doheny Man-sion in 1965 and for many yearsserved as its primary caretaker;fluent in English, Spanish, Ital-ian and French; raised in Mex-ico and Switzerland andfollowed her two younger sis-ters into religious life after heracademic career.

ANNETTE HADDAD (B.A., polit-ical science, ’87), Pasadena, CA(04/22/09) at age 46; businesssection reporter for the Los An-geles Times; covered SouthernCalifornia residential real es-tate; a former reporter internfor the Los Angeles HeraldExaminer and United PressInternational reporter; joinedthe Times in 1992 as an assistanteditor in the Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service;worked on the Times’ nationaldesk and as an assignmenteditor for the airline, tourism,retailing and agriculture beats.

THOMAS HARRIS (B.A., politi-cal science, ’61), Fresno, CA(11/12/08) at age 69; served as ajudge in Fresno County’s mu-nicipal and superior courts be-fore being appointed by former

Gov. George Deukmejian tothe appellate court in 1990;wrote the opinion that freedDonna Sue Hubbard, who wasserving a 100-year sentence forchild molestation, arguing thatthe children’s testimonies werefalse and unreliable.

JAMES HASTINGS (B.A., politi-cal science, ’40; J.D., ’48), Ran-cho Palos Verdes, CA (03/24/09)at age 91; a retired justice of the2nd District Court of Appeal;upon graduating from the USCSchool of Law in 1948, joined hisfather, a lawyer, at the firm Hast-ings, Blanchard and Hastings;became a Los Angeles SuperiorCourt judge in 1972 and was ap-pointed by former Gov. RonaldReagan to the appellate court;prior, served as an officer in theU.S. Navy during WWII; retiredfrom the Navy Reserve at therank of caption after 20 years ofservice; taught at USC Law andSouthwestern University.

ARTHUR HEMINGWAY (B.A.,English, ’96; M.A., education,’98), Oceanside, CA (02/26/09)at age 48; a promising fullbackwho was paralyzed at age 18after a speeding car struck him;returned to USC on a scholar-ship from the university’sSwim With Mike program forphysically challenged athletes;helped coach football teams atOceanside High School andRanch Buena Vista HighSchool in Vista.

DR. PHILIP GUTHRIEHOFFMAN (M.A., history, ’42),Houston, Tx (10/29/08) at age93; president emeritus of theUniversity of Houston; formerpresident of the Texas MedicalCenter; earned B.A. degree inbusiness administration fromPacific Union College in 1938;earned Ph.D. in history fromThe Ohio State University in1948; professional experienceincluded faculty teaching posts

Robert BauTHE PROFESSOR OF

CHEMISTRY WAS A

TOP SCHOLAR AND

BELOVED MENTOR.

Robert Bau, award-winning researcher in thefield of x-ray and neutron

diffraction crystallography, has died. He was 64.A faculty member in the College’s Department of

Chemistry for nearly 40 years, Bau was the recipientof fellowships from the American Association for theAdvancement of Science and the Alfred P. SloanFoundation. He also earned Alexander vanHumboldt Foundation U.S. Senior Scientist andNIH Research Career Development awards.

In 2006, he was president of the American Crystal-lographic Association. Diagnosed with pancreaticcancer in September, he died Dec. 28.

“Professor Bau was an outstanding scholar, giftedteacher and wonderful colleague,” said CharlesMcKenna, professor of chemistry and departmentchair. “His untimely passing is a great loss.”

An inspiring instructor, Bau received USC Associ-ate Awards for Excellence in Research and Excel-lence in Teaching.

Raymond Stevens ’88, professor of chemistry andmolecular biology at The Scripps Research Institutein La Jolla, studied under Bau as a Ph.D. student.

“Bob Bau was an incredible adviser and mentor,”Stevens said. “If we could take one lesson away fromBob, it would be the balance of mentoring strongindependence with gentle guidance.”

George O.Totten IIITHE DISTINGUISHED

PROFESSOR EMERITUS

WAS A WWII VETERAN

AND SCHOLAR OF

WORLD PEACE.

George Oakley TottenIII, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of PoliticalScience, whose research promoted peace in thePacific Rim and worldwide, has died. He was 86.

Totten died of heart failure March 2 at his daugh-ter Vicken Totten’s home in Shaker Heights, Ohio.

“My father loved people, and sharing his passionfor world peace,” said daughter Linnea Totten-Day.

Director of the USC Korea Project and foundingdirector of the USC-UCLA Joint East Asian Lan-guage and Area Studies Center, Totten was formerdirector of the USC East Asian Studies Center andDepartment of Political Science chair.

Fluent in Japanese, Swedish, Chinese, French andGerman, he authored, edited or translated 35 booksand 80 articles related to East Asian politics.

Joining the College in 1965, he retired in 1992. Heearned a USC Faculty Lifetime Achievement Awardin 1996 and a year later delivered the Albert andElaine Borchard Lecture: “What Can be Done toEstablish Peace and Stability in Northeast Asia?”

“George was a wonderful scholar and teacher, anda kind and gracious colleague,” said USC CollegeDean Howard Gillman, professor of political scienceand Totten’s friend of 20 years. “His loss is deeplyfelt by all who knew him.”

R.BAUPHOTOCOURTESYOFUSCCOLLEGEPHOTOARCHIVES;G.TOTTENPHOTOCOURTESYOFTHETOTTENFAMILY


C.S.WHITAKERPHOTOCOURTESYOFUNIVERSITYARCHIVES;J.WARFPHOTOCOURTESYOFTHEWARFFAMILY

in history at five universities;recipient of USC Alumni MeritAward in 1975.

RAYMOND KAHN (B.S., politicalscience, ’38, LLB ’40), Camarillo,CA (01/15/09) at age 91; a WWIIveteran, serving in the 62ndFighter Wing of the Army AirCorps in North Africa, Sicily andItaly and rising to the rank of cap-tain; prior, he served on the LawReview and was an assistant edi-tor-in-chief of the Student Edito-rial Board at USC Law; he wasthen selected to clerk for JusticeJustin Miller on the U.S. Court ofAppeals in Washington, D.C.

DR. JOHN MENKES (B.A., chem-istry, ’47, M.S. ’51), Los Angeles,CA (11/22/08) at age 79; pediatricneurologist who identifiedMenkes disease, maple syrupurine disease and other congeni-tal disorders of the neural sys-tem; established the pediatricneurology program at UCLA;served as an expert witness forthe plaintiffs in trials involvingdamages caused by vaccines;wrote three novels and threeplays produced in L.A., one ofwhich won the Drama-LogueAward; born in Vienna, the scionof four generations of physicians.

LAWRENCE NAGIN (B.A., inter-national relations, ’62), NewYork, NY (01/28/09) at age 67; amember of the State Bar of Cal-ifornia for more than 42 years;served as a deputy public de-fender for Los Angeles County;was in private practice in Bev-erly Hills; served as special

counsel to the Los Angeles cityattorney, then the senior assis-tant city attorney representingthe L.A. Department of Air-ports; became an airline indus-try executive when he joinedthe L.A.-based Flying Tigers asits general counsel; joinedUnited Airlines as executivevice president and generalcounsel; joined US Airways andretired in 2002, when he be-came senior strategic adviserwith a law firm in New York.

DR. ALAN PAUW, SR. (Ph.D.,history, ’65), Riverside, CA(03/20/09) at age 88; served inthe Army in Europe from 1942to 1946; had a lifelong career asan attorney at Pauw and PauwInc. and certified public ac-countant at Ross, Landis andPauw; served 28 years on theRiverside Community CollegeBoard of Trustees, which dedi-cated the Alan Pauw BusinessEducation Building to him onMarch 24, 1996; named 2005Citizen of the Year by theGreater Riverside Chamber ofCommerce.

HELEN PRICE (B.A., English,’38), La Jolla, CA (06/21/08) atage 93; met Sol Price at SanDiego High School and theymarried in 1938; Sol Pricefounded FedMart and PriceClub; Helen raised their family,which included two sons.

GRETCHEN RICHARDSON (B.A.,’25; M.A., Spanish, ’30), SanDiego, CA (01/16/09) at age 104;graduated magna cum laude and

Phi Beta Kappa; taught lan-guages for 17 years at MontebelloHigh school; active in the Ameri-can Association of UniversityWomen; was on a steamship inthe North Atlantic returningfrom Germany when her shipreceived distress calls for helpfrom the Titanic.

ROY SAARI (B.A., history, ’67),Mammoth Lakes, CA (12/30/08)at age 63; a freestyle and med-

ley swimmer who won twoOlympic medals, one gold, onesilver; set four world records, in-cluding a time of 16:58.7 in the1,500-meter freestyle; inductedinto the International Swim-ming Hall of Fame in 1976 andthe U.S.A. Water Polo Hall ofFame in 1982; following hisswimming career, he became anattorney and later a real estateagent and planning commis-sioner in Mammoth Lakes.

CLARENCE “LARRY” SLINN JR.(B.A., economics, ’38), MyrtleBeach, SC (03/12/09) at age 93;operated a wholesale florist mar-ket in New York City for 43years; member of the Elk’sLodge No. 2679 in Calabash,N.C.; he was also a starter/rangerat Possum Trot Golf Club.

DR. KENNETH STOCKING(Ph.D., ’50), Sonoma County,CA (11/17/08) at age 97; pio-neering environmentalist; re-tired from Sonoma StateUniversity in 1979 as professoremeritus of environmental stud-ies; began teaching at the then-Sonoma State College in 1964and retired after transformingthe biology department into theuniversity’s school of environ-mental studies and planning;served on the California CoastalCommission; active member ofthe American Friends ServiceCommittee, American Civil

Liberties Union, Audubon Soci-ety, Sierra Club and CaliforniaNative Plant Society.

FILLMORE “PHIL” TESTA JR.(B.A., history, ’65), Palm Springs,CA (12/10/08) at age 65; memberof the Phi Sigma Kappa frater-nity; a highly respected memberof the insurance industry;founder of Modern Concepts In-surance Marketing; a passionategolfer; his daughter, Taylor, is athird generation Trojan.

WILHELMINA VAN HUNNICK,(B.S., business administration,’58), Cypress, CA (04/28/09);parents built the first moderndairy in Cypress; played a sig-nificant role in the AnaheimUnion High School District(AUHSD) as a teacher, depart-ment chair and supporter of theAUHSD Performing Arts Cen-ter at Kennedy High School;named Kennedy’s Teacher ofthe Year three times; served asadviser for the Future BusinessLeaders of America; broughtcountless student groups toUSC’s campus for personaltours; served on USC College’sHumanities Committee for sixyears; a strong advocate for theimportance and value of liberalarts education; established anendowed USC scholarship inher parents’ names; survived byher sister Elizabeth Van Hun-nick (B.A., history, ’56).

James C. WarfTHE DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR EMERITUS WAS AN

EXPERT ON NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY AND A PEACE ACTIVIST.

James C. Warf, a professor emeritus of nuclear chemistryconsidered a “citizen scientist” because of his work towardworld peace, died Nov. 7. He was 91.

Warf, who joined USC College in 1948 and retired 40years later, remained an active scholar until shortly before

his diagnosis of metastatic cancer in June.He died at his home in Franklin Hills, surrounded by his family, said son Curren

Warf, associate professor of clinical pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC.In 2001, Warf earned a USC Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award and USC

Distinguished Emeriti Award.“My father was a very gentle, intelligent man who was concerned about poverty

and human suffering,” his son said.A Ph.D. student in the mid 1940s, Warf was a leader of analytical and inorganic

chemistry on the Manhattan Project, which developed the first nuclear weaponsduring World War II.

After the United States’ atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, hehelped found the Federation of American Scientists, created to warn people of thedangers of nuclear proliferation.

The College’s Larry Singer of chemistry added: “I think of James Warf as acitizen scientist.”

C. Sylvester Whitaker Jr.THE PROFESSOR EMERITUS AND FORMER DEAN

OF SOCIAL SCIENCES WAS AN EXPERT IN THE

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF AFRICA.

C. Sylvester Whitaker Jr., professor emeritus of politicalscience and former dean of social sciences, died in Water-ville, Maine, on Nov. 29 following a struggle with cancer.He was 73.

Whitaker was an expert in the political development of Africa and throughout hiscareer he made regular visits to Africa and wrote scholarly papers on its post-colonialconflicts. A noted analyst of comparative and international politics, he held appoint-ments as dean of social sciences and director of the Center for Multiethnic andTransnational Studies in USC College.

“Dean Whitaker was a superb scholar and an exceptional administrator,” saidMichael Preston, vice provost for strategic initiatives and professor of political sci-ence. “As a scholar he wrote one of the best books on political developments inNigeria, The Politics of Tradition. Published in 1970, it has stood the test of time.Dean Whitaker served USC well, and I am delighted to have been able to call himmy dean, as well as a very good friend.”


INMYOWNWORDS

ILLUSTRATIONBYROBERTP.HERNANDEZ;N.PACEPHOTOBYSTACIEISABELLATURK,STYLISTARLENEHYLTON-CAMPBELL

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SOME OF OUR MOST BELOVED CEOs wereonce just couch-surfing college drop-

outs, which is a ray of hope for anyone stuckin a rut or just tired of the ramen diet.

It was while Steve Jobs, CEO and co-founder of Apple, was bumming beds in hisfriends’ dorm rooms that he crashed a collegecalligraphy course, which inspired Apple’sfont styles. It was during my house-sharingdays — as a struggling single mother — thatI launched my financial news company.

Don’t get me wrong. Having my USCdiploma, an exceptional alumni network andthe wisdom of the classes I took were all as-sets that helped me become a published au-thor and No. 1 stock picker, but you feelmore like an a** than an asset when you arecounting pennies to afford a fast-food burger.

And yet, these ridiculous, embarrassing,humbling moments of hardship are often thefuel of our most important, lasting and posi-tive change. As an English literature gradu-ate, I would have never dreamed of enteringthe world of personal finance, if I did nothave to find a better way of budgeting andinvesting for myself after my divorce.

So “tough times” are the opportunity toreinvent ourselves, if we’re willing to reach outfor help. Lend a hand; pull together. Thinkpartner, not competitor. And couch surf.

Armed with these ideals, you too, mightbecome the next USC VIP to use a breakingpoint as the “tipping point” of your life.

COUCH SURF. According to Jobs, the seeds ofApple were quite humble. In a commence-ment address he delivered in 2005, he said,“It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dormroom, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms.I returned Coke bottles for the 5-cent de-posits to buy food with, and I would walk theseven miles across town every Sunday nightto get one good meal a week at the HareKrishna temple. I loved it. And much of whatI stumbled into by following my curiosity andintuition turned out to be priceless later on.”

Even if you don’t invent the iPhone, andyour couch-surfing period returns little morethan drool on a pillow, let Steve’s story giveyou the inspiration (and humor) you need tomove forward.

INVEST FOR LIFETIME WEALTH. Buy and holddoesn’t work. Mutual funds don’t work. TheBlue Chip Index has become the BailoutIndex. If you’re freaked out about your losses(and who isn’t these days), understand thatfear and loathing only create more problems.Turn instead to a winning game plan. Whatdoes work? Modern portfolio theory. Ex-change traded funds. Rebalancing twice a year.Avoiding dying companies. Investing in prod-ucts and services of tomorrow. Reach out forwisdom instead of blind faith when you aredeciding which companies you will take own-ership in through your Buy My Own IslandFund (formerly known as your IRA or 401(k)).

FIND ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE. One investmentanalyst has decided to volunteer her time ata local nonprofit organization. She is goingto keep her skills sharp and learn some newchops, so that when she does get a job, shecan enter one rung up the career ladder!

TAKE ONE FOR THE TEAM.There is a city inConnecticut where the staff has volun-teered to take one day off every two weeksto cut costs. This has reduced expensesacross the board and prevented layoffs.

REMEMBER THE CURRENCY OF A SMILE. Don’tunderestimate the value of your positive en-ergy and willingness to give. Mario, a waiterat a restaurant that I frequent, gets free L.A.Lakers seats, avocados and hands to movebecause he is so ready and willing with histime and energy.

Every cent you own and every momentyou spend is always an investment, so begenerous with your smiles, your charity,your creative solutions and even yourcouch-surfing, knowing that you are alwayswalking toward a better life. �

NATALIE PACE ’94,author of Put YourMoney Where YourHeart Is (VanguardPress, 2008), is fea-tured in the movie,Spiritual Liberationand is CEO of ahighly respected, in-dependently ownedfinancial news com-

pany. She has been ranked a No. 1 stock picker byTipsTraders.com and has been featured on CNBC,Forbes.com, Good Morning America, Fox News,and more. Check out her forensic, investigative fi-nancial reporting at NataliePace.com. Sign up for30 days free at the Join Now link.

Send your “In My Own Words” essay ideas forconsideration to [email protected] or USCCollege Magazine Editors, 1050 Childs Way, RRI308, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2910.

CouchurfingTURN BREAKING POINTS

INTO TIPPING POINTS.

A Gift that GivesAND GIVESBACK TO YOUFor guaranteed fixed income,you may want to consider aUSC Charitable Gift Annuity.

Tommy Trojan, age 75, plans to donate a maturing $100,000 certificate of depositto USC College. Because he would like to continue receiving income, he decidesto fund a one-life USC Charitable Gift Annuity. The annuity will pay him a rateof 6.3%, or $6,300 per year. And there are further advantages!

For his $100,000 donation to establish the annuity, Tommy receives a charitableincome tax deduction of $45,433. Because Tommy itemizes his tax deductionson his income tax return, he can use this deduction to reduce his current year’sincome tax obligation. With Tommy’s 35 percent federal income tax rate, his taxsavings is $15,902. In addition, for 13.4 years, the first $4,404 of his annual paymentsof $6,300 will be tax-free.

The gift annuity will therefore yield an effective rate of return of 10.3%.Plus, his gift may be designated to support any USC College department orprogram of his choosing.

Please contact Susan Redfield, USC College Director of Planned Giving, by phone or e-mail [email protected] discuss gift options and to obtain a copy of the university’s Suggested Bequest/Distribution Language.Deferred gift annuities for individuals under age 60 are also available for your consideration. Please visitcollege.usc.edu/giving for further information.

Trojans have supported USC College students for generationsthrough planned gifts and annual gifts.L to R: Morton Kay ’49, Andrew Platt ’09, Larry Platt ’74 and ’77

AGE ANNUITYRATE

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USC Charitable Gift Annuity Rates are

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