The Grinnell Magazine Winter 2012 Harry Hopkins 1912 Student Musings Touring Silicon Valley Why It Is the Best Thing I Did This Semester
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G The Grinnell Magazine Winter 2012 Harry Hopkins 1912 Student Musings Touring Silicon Valley Why it is the best thing I did this semester. This fall, I applied for a spot on Grinnell’s first career “My research has taught me a lot, and I really development industry tour of Silicon Valley [For more enjoyed it. Now I hope to find an industry internship about the trip, see Page 29.] In my application, I wrote: — the logical next step for me in pursuing a prosperous “As a third-year computer science major, I am both career where I can truly make a difference in the way we excited and scared to say I have decided what I want to use technology. It all starts in Silicon Valley.” do with my life after I graduate. I want to pursue my Fortunately, I was chosen for a place on the trip love of programming and problem-solving in a career in along with 11 other students. The trip far surpassed software engineering. And, like most Grinnell students, my expectations! The area is even more amazing than I I want to make a difference. I don’t know how or where I imagined. Companies there grow faster than anywhere will do it, but my work will be significant. in the world, yet they still manage to have a relaxed “I have been preparing myself for this trip since my culture where employees have a say in what the company first year, though I didn’t know it until recently. I have does and get to make a real impact in helping their taken as much computer science as possible, mainly just company succeed. This is especially true with start-up because I love it. I have also emphasized mathematics companies. I had never realized just how many start-ups and economics. Mathematics allows me to think like a there are in the area, and how interesting and unique all Photo by Dan Weeks ’80 Weeks Dan by Photo mathematician — key to solving the toughest problems in of them are. Actually, I never really even thought about By Erik Opavsky ’14, computer science. Economics helps me understand the start-ups at all before this trip, but now I think a Silicon a computer science business side of the computer industry. Valley start-up may just be a perfect work environment major from Omaha, “It takes much more than classroom experience for me. I have decided I will now actively pursue a career Neb. to impress the tech companies out there, so I have not there. wasted summers, either. After my first year, I performed This trip also made me realize the value of a directed research project with professor of computer networking, and how valuable the Grinnell alumni science Henry Walker to implement the use of robots network is. We have some powerful alumni in amazing in a Grinnell computer science course. This was the first places, and all whom I met on the trip were more use of Scribbler 2 robots with the C language, and my enthusiastic about helping current students than I could first experience doing something that had never been ever have expected. My primary goal for this trip was to done before. obtain an internship, and the Grinnell alumni at many “After my second year, I did a mentored advanced of the companies we visited submitted my application to project with another student and assistant professor their companies. I’ve already had interviews with three of mathematics and statistics Jeff Blanchard, in which companies, and there are more to come! Without this we created the fastest multiselection algorithm in the trip, I never would have been able to apply to so many world using NVIDIA GPUs. We created a parallelizable companies. algorithm for selecting multiple order statistics out of This trip gave me a much-needed foothold in the huge data sets and optimized the algorithm for GPU technology industry. At Grinnell, it’s easy to focus on technology. I then took what I had learned from that academics and forget about the real world, but this trip experience and applied it at the University of Nebraska has done more than anything else I’ve experienced at Medical Center, where I helped analyze large sets of Grinnell to help me plan for and feel confident about DNA to help with cancer research. my future. I hope there will be many more opportunities like this for Grinnell students in the future. Webextras www.grinnell.edu/magazine Download this issue! The Grinnell Magazine is now available online in .pdf form Departments Letters . 3. Students on the Silicon Valley industry tour [see inside front cover and P. 29] Photo by Dan Weeks ’80 Does Grinnell Mean Business? get words of encouragement from Intel co-founder Robert Noyce ’49. Campusnotes . 5. ESSAYS: FEATURES: Planning Strategically Inside front cover 18 A Gathering of Psych Majors Student Musings: Washington In Grinnell Touring Silicon Valley Harry’s War Riding RAGBRAI by Erik Opavsky ’14 Harry Hopkins 1912 was not only “the architect Leading Interfaith Dialogue of the New Deal,” he also helped engineer the 2 alliance to defeat Hitler — and was perhaps the Serving Alumni Volunteers EditorNotes: most powerful presidential aide in history . A The Nana Project Back to the Future new biography traces his tremendous influence by Dan Weeks ’80 in stories, quotes, and vintage photos . Conferencing at Grinnell 14 Social Justice Pioneers Blog Excerpt: 29 138! MIME @ 20: A Happy Anniversary Grinnell-in-Silicon Valley by Nathaniel S. Borenstein ’80 Classnotes . .39 . by Dan Weeks ’80 Notable Alumni 16 A dozen Grinnell students took a fall-break Personalizing the Political Blog Excerpt: trip to the land of Noyce . They met with more Carl Pfirman ’83 When Paul Ryan and I Were Friends than 30 alumni in high-tech industries — and by Joel Shapiro ’89 returned to campus wired . Lute Lover Jacob Heringman ’86 17 34 Music Maven Our Questions/Your Answers: Cameo Carlson ’93 Campus Technology Leveling the Playing Fields Publications, Productions, Inside back cover by Erin Peterson ’98 and Exhibitions . .47 . Alumni Musings: In 1972, a 37-word section of the Education In Memoriam . .47 . The Fourth State of Media Amendments transformed girls’ and womens’ by Armando Montaño ’12 sports nationwide . It wrought big changes on Alumni Council: Report campus in the 1970s and 80s, and continues to from Volunteer Weekend . .48 . reverberate today — and not only in athletics . The Grinnell Magazine Winter 2012 1 The Grinnell Magazine Winter 2012 Volume 45 Number 2 Email: magazine@grinnell .edu Office of Communications Vice-president for Communications Jim Reische reischej@grinnell .edu Editor Dan Weeks ’80 weeksdan@grinnell .edu Art Director / Designer EDITORNOTES Jim Powers powersj@grinnell .edu Classnotes Editor Back to the Future Bonnie Primley classnotes@grinnell .edu “Great Scott! Jennifer could conceivably encounter her future self! … The encounter could Editorial Assistant Kate Moening ’11 create a time paradox, the results of which could cause a chain reaction that would Contributing Photographer Justin Hayworth unravel the very fabric of the space-time continuum, and destroy the entire universe!” The Grinnell Magazine (ISSN 1539-0950) is published quarterly by Grinnell College, Office of Communications, —Dr. Emmett L. “Doc” Brown, Back to the Future Part II, 1989 733 Broad St ., Grinnell, IA 50112 . Periodicals postage paid at Grinnell, IA, and additional mailing offices . Nah . That only happens in the movies . I’ve seen people encounter their future and past selves © Copyright Grinnell College, 2012 in real life, and the universe remains intact . The individuals involved, however, are often POSTMASTER transformed . Send address changes to: It happens whenever more than one generation of Grinnellians gather — at reunions, The Grinnell Magazine 733 Broad Street alumni-taught classes and — for me most recently, on the College’s first industry tour, as students Grinnell, IA 50112 visited alumni at their workplaces and asked about life after Grinnell . (See the inside front cover FAX: 641-269-3408 Email: alumni@grinnell .edu and Page 29 for more about this trip .) I was along to take notes and photos and had the chance Mission Statement to observe these encounters up close . The Grinnell Magazine is published quarterly for For the students, it was a compelling glimpse into their potential futures at exactly the time alumni, students, parents, faculty, and friends of the College by the Office of Communica they need it most . For alumni, it was powerful déjà vu: “Wasn’t it just yesterday,” they think, tions . The contents of this magazine are “that I was where they are? Exhilarated and a bit scared by the possibilities that await after selected to stimulate thought and discussion, to demonstrate the range of opinions and graduation, looking for mentors to guide me?” activities on the campus and in its broader Repeatedly on that trip, students said to one another how touched they were by the intensity community, and to provide news about the College and its alumni . Views expressed herein of the bond between themselves and alumni they’d never met . “They really, really, really want us are those of the authors and do not necessarily to succeed, and to help us in every way,” one student said with more than a tinge of amazement . reflect official policy of Grinnell College . In 10, 20, 30, 40 years, they’ll know why . We alumni don’t see an anonymous, generic Central Switchboard 641-269-4000 representative of a younger generation when we look into the eyes of a Grinnell student . We see ourselves . World Wide Web www .grinnell .edu — Dan Weeks ’80, editor On the cover: [email protected] Photo of Harry Hopkins 1912 .