Night Passages the Tunnel Visions of Urban Explorer Steve Duncan
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SPRING 2010 COLUMBIA MAGAZINE Night Passages The tunnel visions of urban explorer Steve Duncan C1_FrontCover.indd C1 3/9/10 1:04 PM Process CyanProcess MagentaProcess YellowProcess BlackPANTONE 877 C CONTENTS Spring 2010 12 18 24 DEPARTMENTS FEATURES 2 Letters 12 The Night Hunter By Paul Hond 6 College Walk Urban explorer and photographer Steve Duncan Preview From the Bridge . approaches history from a different perspective. Aftershocks . Aliments of Style . Two Poems by Rachel Wetzsteon 18 Defending the University Former provost Jonathan R. Cole, author of 36 In the City of New York The Great American University, discusses the If grace can be attained through repetition, need to protect a vital national resource. WKCR’s Phil Schaap is a bodhisattva of bop. After 40 years, he’s still enlightening us. 24 X-Ray Specs By David J. Craig 40 News Some celestial bodies are so hot they’re invisible. Scientists have invented a telescope that will bring 48 Newsmakers them to light. 50 Explorations 28 Dateline: Iran By Caleb Daniloff 52 Reviews Kelly Niknejad launched Tehran Bureau to change the way we read and think about Iran. 62 Classifi eds 32 Seven Years: A Short Story 64 Finals By Herbert Gold What happens when the girl next door decides to move away? Cover: Self-portrait of Steve Duncan, Old Croton Aqueduct, Upper Manhattan, 2006 1 ToC_r1.indd 1 3/8/10 5:21 PM letters THE BIG HURT celiac disease (“Against the Grain,” Win- I was about 10 when I visited the pool I enjoyed the feature about Kathryn Bigelow ter 2009–10). It was informative, inter- anchored in the Hudson at 96th Street. It was and The Hurt Locker (“Shoot Shoot, Bang esting, up-to-date, and — in contrast to a hot day, and at the urging of my gang, I dared Bang,” Winter 2009–10), especially because many pieces I read about celiac — com- the pool’s waters, despite seeing some fl otsam I was an ordnance bomb-disposal offi cer dur- pletely accurate. there. It was a memorable day because some- ing WWII. The Hurt Locker is a great movie Diana M. Gitig one had stolen my sneakers. I had to endure and Bigelow surely deserves an Oscar for it. White Plains, NY the hot pavement in my bare feet from the My novel A Choice of Evils, published in pool to my home on 104th Street. (“Barefoot 1968 by New American Library, was based Great informative article on celiac disease boy, with cheek of tan” was not I.) largely on my bomb-disposal experience. I and the potential of gluten to be a major In 1942, shortly after graduation, I spent wonder if I’m the only alumnus who was contributing cause. the whole day on Governors Island for so foolhardy. Robert J. Lafayette ’93TC, ’97GSAS my pre-induction physical. Normally, the Paul S. Sandhaus ’44CC New York, NY physical should have taken two hours at New York, NY the most. But I was stuck the whole day Congratulations on the article about celiac because I was unable to give my specimen AS OLD AS PRINT disease. It is exceptional and should be on command. At the end of the day I suc- I’m surprised that President Bollinger’s required reading for all physicians and ceeded and left Governors Island for Fort interviewer was surprised at the “nutti- medical students. There are many other Hancock, New Jersey. ness” on the Internet (“Freeing the Flow,” shadowy illnesses that are poorly under- Kenneth G. Von der Porten ’42CC Winter 2009–10). The same “promotion stood by the medical profession that still Boynton Beach, FL of crazy ideas” occurred the last time a await a champion clinician like Peter H. R. fundamentally new publishing technol- Green, who understood the symptoms and CRED GAP? ogy emerged, as Elizabeth L. Eisenstein was able to tie them to celiac disease. The guide from Columbia’s Center for explained so well in her 1980 book, The Robert Lerner, M.D. ’50PH Research on Environmental Decisions Printing Press as an Agent of Change. New York, NY (CRED), The Psychology of Climate Change J. Peter Saint-Andre ’89CC Communication, is a far-from-neutral cam- Denver, CO ON THE WATERFRONT paigner’s handbook (“Changing Minds on The Winter edition’s “In the City of New Climate Change,” Winter 2009–10). CRED STALKING CELIAC York” had two items of interest to me: assumes that human-caused carbon emis- I want to compliment David Craig and fl oating pools and Governors Island (“She sions are the principal cause of climate change the magazine on your recent article about Covers the Waterfront,” Winter 2009–10). (confi rmation bias) and that reducing those 2 Columbia Spring 2010 2-5, 60-61 Letters.indd 2 3/2/10 2:54 PM COLUMBIA MAGAZINE emissions is the only way to avoid the conse- with White’s perspective, but what I fi nd Executive Vice President for University quences of climate change (single-action bias). most fascinating is the certainty with which Development and Alumni Relations CRED invokes the precautionary principle to Hönisch and other earth scientists discuss Susan K. Feagin ’74GS argue that even if the science is not yet certain, the issue. Hönisch’s statements about small Executive Director of Communications failure to act would be disastrous if CRED’s CO2 shifts having large impacts, as well as Offi ce of Alumni and Development analysis of the problem is correct. The report’s her comments on the earth’s atmosphere over Jerry Kisslinger ’79CC, ’82GSAS tone throughout is that the public can’t walk millions of years, are made with no room for Editor in Chief and chew gum at the same time, never mind doubt. In fact, however, they are based on Michael B. Shavelson understand climate change. man-made computer models and extrapo- Senior Editor I’m a believer (not a “true believer”) in lated data. I think that, as a journalist, White David J. Craig the fact that climate is changing for the sees the importance of citing “purported” or Senior Writer worse. I’m agnostic about the causes of “alleged” circumstances, while most of the Paul Hond climate change (that is, I’m not a denier, a scientifi c community seems to have forgot- Staff Writer skeptic, a believer, or a true believer). The ten that rule. If my Columbia education has Cindy Rodríguez contemptible behavior revealed in the Uni- taught me anything, it is that a “consensus” Contributing Editor versity of East Anglia’s e-mails moved my isn’t worth the paper it is written on. Eric McHenry belief in climate change and my agnosti- Remember that computer models of the Designer cism about its causes away from the posi- economy, built on real data and tested by Eson Chan tion advocated by CRED and the scientists smart people, showed that the housing Assistant to the Editor CRED admires. The e-mails, which are not market was solid, mortgage-backed secu- Allegra Panetto ’09BC addressed by CRED’s report, reveal scien- rities were a good investment, and credit Editorial Assistants tists who are themselves unwitting prisoners default swaps were an excellent hedge. Isidro Del Valle, Kylie Rogers, Jay Yencich of confi rmation bias and single-action bias. Look at the economy now. One hopes that CRED will now turn Martin Moskovitz, M.D.’85CC Web Editor Jacqueline Ballantine its efforts to writing a report that will tell West Orange, NJ scientists how to avoid confi rmation bias, Mailing Address Columbia Magazine single-action bias, and special pleading, IN THIS CORNER . Columbia Alumni Center and how to leave moral judgements to Not everyone is as enthralled as Gradu- 622 W. 113th Street, MC 4521 everyone individually, because scientists ate School of Architecture, Planning, and New York, NY 10025 Tel. 212-851-4155 have no special access to morality and Preservation dean Mark Wigley is with Fax 212-851-1950 should probably eschew expressing such architect José Rafael Moneo’s new science [email protected] judgements in public so as to protect the building under way at the northwest corner www.alumni.columbia.edu/magazine credibility of their scientifi c work. of the campus (“Northwest Corner Build- Address and Archive Assistance Ian Gilbert ’67LAW ing Takes Shape,” Winter 2009–10). If [email protected] 212-851-4155 Washington, DC university architecture should be a teacher To update your address online, visit (as every architect from Thomas Jefferson alumni.columbia.edu/directory David Craig’s comment, “looking to talk to Mark Wigley has asserted), then what or call 1-877-854-ALUM (2586). sense to the doubters,” is incredibly arro- is the lesson to be learned from the build- Associate Director, Advertising gant. Is it possible for doubters to talk ing? Engineering innovations embodied in Taren Cowan 212-851-7967 sense to the conformers? platform and cross-bracing technology? To download our advertising brochure Harvey Seline ’64BUS Design solutions exemplifi ed by diagonally or submit a classifi ed advertisement Bedminster, NJ mounted aluminum grating that references online, visit www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/ Magazine/about.html. the steel crossbeams running beneath them? FAULTY MODELS? Perhaps. And yet, there are indeed larger Columbia magazine is published for Columbia magazine is an excellent forum lessons to be learned from the Northwest alumni and friends of Columbia by the Offi ce of Alumni and Development. for educated discourse on diffi cult topics Corner Building, namely, that planning and like global warming, and I was interested historic preservation should play crucial © 2010 by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York in the discussion between Gordon White roles in campus redevelopment and deserve ’57JRN and Bärbel Hönisch (“Signifi cantly an equal amount of attention to those of Small,” Winter 2009–10).