Fords on Film The Burglary The Humor Code Alumni critics and filmmakers How a professor, two student reporters, and some A writer travels the world pick the best films of the year stolen documents helped rein in the FBI in 1971 to find out what makes things funny The Magazine of Haverford College WINTER 2014 Investigatinga Changing ClimateClimate Ford scientists are spanning the globe (and modeling it on supercomputers) to develop new ways to study climate change. Their aim: to gain a deeper understanding of Earth’s past and present in order to better predict the consequences of climate shifts to come. 4 11 Editor Contributing Writers DEPARTMENTS Eils Lotozo Charles Curtis ’04 Samantha Drake 2 View From Founders Associate Editor David Espo ’71 4 Main Lines Rebecca Raber Denise Foley Giving Back Editor Peter Goldberger ’71 11 Faculty Profile Emily Weisgrau Alison Rooney Anne E. Stein 17 Ford Games Class News Editor Mark Wagenveld Mixed Media Alison Rooney Joel Warner ’01 20 Marcus Y. Woo Roads Taken and Not Taken Graphic Design 50 Tracey Diehl, Contributing Photographers 51 Giving Back/Notes From Eye D Communications Andre Beckles the Alumni Association Thom Carroll Photography Assistant Vice President for Dan Z. Johnson 57 Class News College Communications Brad Larrison Chris Mills ’82 Nyrah Maddon ’16 73 Then and Now Interim Vice President for Tony Mastres Institutional Advancement Christopher Myers Ann West Figueredo ’84 James Reddick On the cover: This visualization of Earth, with population data from LandScan 2005 (orange indicates higher density) overlaid with a snapshot of integrated water vapor from a climate WHAT DO YOU THINK? simulation, was created by Kate Evans ’93, Jamison Daniel, and Eddie Bright of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Mark Taylor of We love to hear from our readers about what we Sandia National Laboratories. The research used the resources of publish in the magazine. the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. Email your comments to [email protected], Back cover photo: Courtesy of Haverford College Archives or write to Haverford magazine, College Communi- cations, Haverford College, 370 Lancaster Ave., Haverford, PA 19041. CHECK OUT THE DIGITAL EDITION OF HAVERFORD MAGAZINE AT Haverford magazine is printed on recycled paper haverford.edu/news/magazine that contains 30% post-consumer waste fiber. winter 2014 26 40 FEATURES 26 A Burglary Uncovered 33 COVER STORY: Investigating In 1971, a clandestine group broke into an FBI office in a Changing Climate Media, Pa., stole thousands of documents, and then Around the country, Ford scientists are studying oceans, made them public, revealing damning details about ice sheets, coral, and clouds, and using supercomputers the agency’s secret surveillance of anti-war activists, to create sophisticated climate models. Their aim: African-Americans, and others. A massive investigation to gain a deeper understanding of Earth’s past and produced no arrests, but the release of the documents present in order to better predict the consequences changed history—and the FBI. Now, a new book of climate shifts to come. identifies Haverford professor William Davidon as the By Marcus Y. Woo man behind the daring caper. By Mark Wagenveld 40 Searching for Laughs Plus: The Burglary and the Tri-Co What makes things funny? A Haverford alumnus Two former editors of The Bryn Mawr-Haverford traveled the world with a humor researcher to find out. College News recall what happened in 1971 when some By Joel Warner ’01 purloined FBI documents fell into their hands. By David Espo ’71 and Peter Goldberger ’71 44 Fords on Film Didn’t make it to the multiplex enough in 2013? Unsure of what to add to your Netflix queue in the year ahead? Let some Ford filmmakers and critics be your guides as they offer their picks for the best feature films, documentaries, and performances of the year. By Rebecca Raber Haverford magazine is published three times a year by College Communications, Haverford College, 370 Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, PA 19041, 610-896-1333, [email protected] ©2014 Haverford College view from founders The value of a Haverford education: How should we think about costs, pricing, and affordability? s you likely know, the issues of educational costs, pricing, and affordability are highly complex, dynam- ic, and connected in fundamental ways to important A questions about educational access, our mission, and our capacity to compete effectively in a challenging economic environment. With our current comprehensive fund-raising campaign approaching its public phase, and with a 10-year strategic budget recently drafted, I would like to reflect on what we have learned about how best to steward our budget in the coming years. The Cost of a Haverford Education Haverford President Tom Tritton once asked the parents of incom- ing first-year Fords what percentage of our students, in their opinion, receive financial aid. Was it 30 percent? 40 percent? 50 percent? The audience nodded, comfortable with a 50/50 ratio. “The answer,” he then said, “is 100 percent—because the cost of educating a Haverford student is far greater than even the ‘sticker price’ of tuition plus all other charges.” So if the real cost of a Haverford education, per student, is much higher—and as I write, it is $88,000 a year—why do we not charge our students such amounts? We can all thank (a) ongoing philanthropic support for the College from alumni and friends, (b) returns on our endowment, and (c) other, modest revenues. When we talk about cost, we are talking about the following must employ highly skilled workers (such as faculty and admin- expenses, and the percentage of the budget that they constitute: istrators) in a labor market that is as broad as the international Instructional and academic support: 29 percent economy: To ensure that the best and the brightest continue to Financial aid: 21 percent pick Haverford as a place of employment, we must be mindful Maintenance of campus and facilities: 21 percent that everybody who works here is choosing from many options. Institutional support: 14 percent Other factors driving cost growth include dramatic increases in Student life: 12 percent the need for technology; library collections, including books and Athletics: 3 percent periodicals; research and educational material; and, to a lesser extent, new investment in facilities and other resources. Pricing Put it together, and ours is an expensive product because it The operating cost of an institution like Haverford has increased is time- and labor- and resource-intensive. Ours is a “hand-tooled” over time for many reasons, among them the expansion of services approach to learning that does not lend itself to mass production. and programs and the fact that almost all the components of our As you are likely aware, these costs have pushed tuition (by budget inevitably grow at rates in excess of inflation. We also which I mean all charges) ever higher, even as we have struggled Z. JOHNSON DAN PHOTO: 2 HaverfordMagazine to increase our levels of financial aid to support our commitment Our Board of Managers’ recent approval of a modification of to admit all students regardless of their ability to pay and, moreover, our no-loan financial aid program accomplishes these goals and to meet their full demonstrated need in order to attend. Over the will help stabilize these expenses. Specifically: past decade, our gross revenue from student charges (tuition, n Haverford will remain need-blind in our admission room, and board) has grown by 58 percent, while financial aid process. has grown by 135 percent. n Our neediest students and families—40% of those who So how can we make sure that we continue to have the resources receive financial aid—will continue to have financial aid necessary to continue offering this world-class opportunity? The packages that do not include loans. answer lies in the balancing act called “affordability,” by which we n Beginning with the class of 2019, students from families mean affordability for both the students and the College. with incomes above $60,000 a year will see their packages evaluated on a tiered basis, with a total, four-year loan expec- Affordability tation at graduation ranging from $6,000 to a maximum of Our goal is to balance our unwavering commitment to ensuring $12,000. Again, that is the total figure at graduation. that a Haverford education remains affordable for all students n Current students will not be affected by this change, nor with our need to manage resources in a way that aligns with our will students who are awaiting word on their application commitments to academic excellence and financial sustainability for admission to the Class of 2018. For them, all financial over the long term. These competing objectives have become aid packages will maintain the no-loan component. increasingly difficult to achieve in an economic environment Haverford remains committed to admitting students who will characterized by high levels of market volatility and generally most benefit from and contribute to this unique community of lower levels of endowment returns (which, as noted above, are scholars and citizens, regardless of their ability to pay. We are a fundamental revenue stream, without which we would face pleased to be able to help unburden students of debt, not just choices involving reduced services and even greater increases in because doing so will enhance their experience here and in the tuition). This challenge is by no means unique to Haverford. world into which they will graduate, but so that the world, in turn, To manage our resources carefully during this challenging may benefit from our students’ pursuit of careers of service that period, we have had to reflect carefully on every spending category are often less remunerative.