Big City, Cut Me Loose Big City, Cut Me Loose

VANDERBILTMAGAZINE fall 2007 One toddler. Big City, Two goats. Cut Me Loose No electricity, running water, phone or car. Can this marriage survive? also: The High Price of No-Cost Health Care Goodbye, Mr. Gee The Residential Campus V ITAL Every gift counts. Every year. In fact, every gift is vital…and truly makes a difference every day in the life of Vanderbilt. With your participation in the Vanderbilt Fund, you decide what particular area of Vanderbilt you’d like to support. You can choose to give to a specific college or school. Or, you may want to participate in your class Reunion gift or give to a donor society. Whatever matters most to you. Just know that your support to any area, in any amount, will count greatly toward Vanderbilt’s continued success, every year. Photos by Vanderbilt Creative Services www.vanderbilt.edu/thevanderbiltfund 1-866-882-FUND Modern Art that Lets You Live in the Past DO\RgZO\RPg2O``S\ESZQV 9W`YZO\R6OZZPg8]SZ/\RSà]\ >O\QOYS>O\b`gPg3[WZg9SOTS` &¶f "¶:W[WbSR3RWbW]\>`W\b ¶f"¶:W[WbSR3RWbW]\>`W\ba 3dS`g]\SeV]SdS`ZWdSRW\<OaVdWZZSabWZZQO``WSaO^WSQS]TWb EkhD[m9e\\[[JWXb[8eeaCWa[ij^[F[h\[Yj>eb_ZWo=_\jW\bVSW`VSO`b<]eg]cQO\VO\UO^WSQS]TWb]\g]cèOZZ AV]e\PSZ]e(OTSe]TbVS#RSaWU\aW\bVSOeO`R BVWaPSOcbWTcZTcZZQ]Z]` ÔUS eW\\W\UA^W`Wb]T<OaVdWZZS5OZZS`g>`W\b1]ZZSQbW]\ P]]YeWZZP`W\UPOQYg]c`TOd]`WbS ;caWQ1Wbg[S[]`WSa4SObc`W\UOZZ ]TbVSO`bW\bVSA^W`Wb]T<OaVdWZZS 1]ZZSQbW]\bVWabW[SZSaaYSSâOYSWa TcZZ]T<OaVdWZZSVWab]`gO`QVWdOZ^V] b]aO\Rab]`WSaBVS¿àb#P]]Ya a]ZReWZZPSaWU\SR\c[PS`SRPg OcbV]Ò`bWab8]SZ/\RSà]\ B]aSSOZZ]T]c`QZOaaWQ^`W\baO\RUWTbadWaWb]cèSPaWbS]`QOZZ$#! %'&'" '¶f ¶VO`RQ]dS` ZW[WbSRSRWbW]\P]]Y =`RS`]\ZW\SOb(eeea^W`Wb]T\OaVdWZZSQ][ %/\RSà]\2SaWU\5`]c^7\Qeee/\RSà]\2SaWU\5`]c^Q][/ZZ`WUVba`SaS`dSR 1:09:55 PM Contents FEATURES 30 Big Shoulders, Deep Pockets, Tightened Belts Forty-five million Americans have no medical insurance —and the fallout for academic medical centers is jeopardizing the entire health-care system. 38 ’Dore No More Gordon Gee wasn’t like any chancellor Vanderbilt had before. Neither was his exit strategy. 42 American Rustic When the world wearies and ceases to satisfy, nothing spells refreshment like a lukewarm glass of DEPARTMENTS goat’s milk. 5 DoreWays 8 1,000 Words 52 10 The Campus Common Ground 16 Sports Starting next year, 20 Collective Memory Vanderbilt’s move to a 22 Bright Ideas residential college system 26 In Class will profoundly alter the lives and learning 60 The Mind’s Eye of students. 66 S.P.O.V. 68 A.P.O.V. COVER Photo of Heather Higginbotham 70 The Classes Ward, BA’91, and Logan Ward, Southern Journal BA’88, by Daniel Dubois. 88 Story on page 42. 2 All Together Now Is the Millennial Generation ready for residential life in The Commons? Vanderbilt is betting $150 million on the answer. Story on page 52. Photo by Tom Gatlin. Contributors Editor Whitney Weeks GayNelle Doll Whitney Weeks, BA’94, served as director of strategic communications for Art Director and Designer Vanderbilt University’s Division of Public Affairs until earlier this year, when Donna DeVore Pritchett For the Fall 2007 issue she left in order to master the domestic arts and launch her freelance writing career. Both before and after earning a master’s degree from Smith College, she Editorial has worked in various capacities for Vanderbilt—including but not limited to Associate Editor and Advertising Manager administrative assistant for the Department of Otolaryngology, undergraduate admissions Phillip B. Tucker counselor and speech writer. She lives in Nashville with her husband and their two children. Arts & Culture Editor Bonnie Arant Ertelt, BS’81 Mary Tom Bass Class Notes and Sports Editor Mary Tom Bass, MEd’85, is the former editor of Vanderbilt Magazine, Vanderbilt VNelson Bryan, BA’73 Medicine and the Owen Manager alumni publications. During her 16-year tenure at Vanderbilt, she also served as director of campaign communications Contributing Writer Cindy Thomsen and director of medical advancement communications. In 2001 she returned to her hometown of Red Oak, N.C., where she lives in the home that has been in Production and Design her family for more than 100 years. Since 2002 she has been director of public information Chief Photographers at Edgecombe Community College. Daniel Dubois, Steve Green Logan Ward Assistant Designers Susan Striepe, Keith Wood Logan Ward, BA’88, has written travel stories for National Geographic Adventure, The New York Times, Men’s Journal, Popular Science, House Beautiful and other Color Correction and Retouching Julie Luckett Turner publications. He also writes regularly about science and architecture and is a contributing editor for Popular Mechanics, Cottage Living, Coastal Living, New Vanderbilt Magazine Advisory Board Old House and Southern Accents. He lives with his wife, Heather Higginbotham Roy Blount Jr., BA’63 Ward, BA’91, and their two children in Staunton, Va. Caneel Cotton, BA’88 Terry Eastland, BA’71 Ashley Rogers Robert Early, BA’71, MDiv’76 Ashley Rogers graduated from Vanderbilt in May 2006 with a bachelor’s degree Sam Feist, BA’91 in international political communication. She grew up in West Monroe, La. Frye Gaillard Jr., BA’68 During her studies at Vanderbilt, she interned in Thailand and India and spent Janice Miller Greenberg, BS’80 a semester in France. She established Vanderbilt FREE, a student organization G. Marc Hamburger, BA’64 that seeks to raise awareness of human trafficking and modern-day slavery. Wendell Rawls Jr., BA’70 After graduation she returned to India to volunteer in Calcutta with victims of trafficking. Edward Schumacher Matos, BA’68 Michael Schoenfeld She is now a first-year student at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle. Potential advertisers interested in purchasing space in Katherine Miller Vanderbilt Magazine should contact Phillip Tucker, advertising manager, at [email protected] or Katherine Miller is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Science from 615/322-3989. McLean, Va. A double major in English and economics, she serves as an Vanderbilt Magazine is published three times per year by Vanderbilt University from editorial and business offices assistant editor of the Life section of The Vanderbilt Hustler and as an associate at the Loews Vanderbilt Office Complex, 2100 West End Ave., Suite 820, Nashville, TN 37203. Phone: 615/322- editor of the Vanderbilt Torch, for which she writes political satire and draws 1003. E-mail: [email protected]. Please the occasional comic. send address corrections to Gift Records Office, Vander- bilt University, VU Station B 357727, 2301 Vanderbilt Place, Nashville, TN 37235-7703. Vanderbilt Magazine is Additional Contributors: William Akers, Carole Bartoo, Joanne Beckham, Craig printed by Lane Press in Burlington, Vt. Boerner, Neil Brake, Vivian F. Cooper, Lisa DuBois, Kara Furlong, John Howser, Bridgette Opinions expressed in Vanderbilt Magazine are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the Kohnhorst, Princine Lewis, Jonathan Marx, Joseph Mella, Melanie Moran, Ann Marie Deer views of the magazine or the university administration. Owens, Jim Patterson, Anne Rayner, Kathy Rivers, David F. Salisbury, Bill Snyder, Cindy Vanderbilt University is committed to the principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action. Steine, Dagny Stuart, Amy Wolf, Byron Walden, Wayne Wood Copyright 2007 Vanderbilt University 4 F a l l 2 0 0 7 DoreWays From the Editor From the Reader Hogwarts, Vanderbilt Style Spring Accolades n every issue of Vanderbilt Magazine, we include an essay written by a stu- In the most recent issue of Vanderbilt dent. The most frequent challenge I face as editor of these essays is convincing Magazine was an article about the under- young writers to share their stories, blemishes and all. One of the first rules of graduate admissions process [Spring 2007 writing is that without conflict, there is no story. Yet I find among high-achieving A forum for exchangingissue, ideas “Getting In,” p. 28]. I read it with inter- I est—as I have a rising high school senior Vanderbilt students a tendency to want to put their best foot forward and present life as near-perfect. Perfection, I tell them, is greatly overrated. It bores the reader and and took a “college road trip” with her earli- lacks credibility. That’s why I found Katherine Miller’s essay about her generation’s er in the summer—and have a friend who fears (page 66) so compelling. would like to read the article. I can’t locate At some point in their lives, Vanderbilt alum- my copy. Can I get another copy of the ni grow more willing to present their college years magazine? Thanks for your help. as less than perfect. In 20 years of interviewing Dr. Steven O’Sheal, BA’77, MD’81 Vanderbilt alumni, I have been struck by the num- Birmingham, Ala. ber of times seemingly well-adjusted, gregarious, Your Spring 2007 edition of Vanderbilt successful people have told me, “You know, I never Magazine may be the best overall edition I really felt I fit in when I was at Vanderbilt.” I sus- have ever read. Articles covering multiple pect that’s a common sentiment at campuses nation- subjects for the diverse, still scholarly, inter- wide, especially for first-year students. It’s one of ests of VU students and graduates were the reasons I find Vanderbilt’s attempt to rethink superb. I even benefited with increased campus life knowledge from the article “Wired for Sound” by investing in The Commons (page 52) such an JIM HSIEH [p.

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