Deep Springs College Alumni Newsletter • Spring 2015 in modern world politics. Tom Miller DS04 returns for his Academic Update second semester in the valley as a by Thomas Thongmee 14DS Jenny’s second offering is “Logic,” visiting professor for the seminar an introductory course in which “Classic French Thinkers.” The n her second semester as the students study formal symbolic writing-intensive class focuses IHerbert Reich Chair of the logic and analyze its application in on canonical authors of multiple Natural Sciences, Michele Lanan a variety of disciplines. genres. Students meditate on works offers “The Chemistry of Food.” by Montaigne, Descartes, Molière, The course introduces students to Caroline Schaumann is visiting Racine, Pascal, and others. organic chemistry with lectures for a semester from the German and labs relating to food. Each stu- Studies department at Emory to James Clayson, professor emeri- dent will create his own recipe, us- teach two courses in the humani- tus at The American University of ing scientific principles. ties. Her course on “The Age of Paris, is visiting for a semester to of- Goethe” treads carefully through fer the experimental course “Visual In addition, Michele has paired the German poet’s catalog. The Modeling, Visual Thinking.” Using up with previous Reich Chair and course will progress from shorter James’ own textbook written spe- current dean Amity Wilczek for works like The Sorrows of Young cifically for this class, students the field course “Vertebrates of the Werther and Wilhelm Meister’s learn the programming language Valley.” Students study the biology Apprenticeship to his epic Faust I Python as a gateway to explora- of the fauna around the ranch and and II. tions within visual science and vi- valley through hands-on fieldwork sual modeling. with animals in their habitats. An avid climber and mountaineer, Caroline will also teach “Mountains Finally, Director of Operations Social Sciences professor Jennifer of the Mind,” an exploration of the Padriac MacLeish DS99 Smith leads two classes this spring. role of mountains within the col - will teach his perennial “Auto The first is an upper-level political lective psyche. The course follows Mechanics” class, in which stu- science course in her research area the historical development of con- dents combine theory and practice – “Comparative Democracies in cepts such as the wilderness and to learn the basics of vehicle main- the Modern World.” This course the sublime before culminating in a tenance and repair. combines Jenny’s expertise in her reading of The Magic Mountain. field with day-to-day developments

Michele Lanan and students from “Vertebrates of the Valley” study the gait of Utah, the horse. A Long Journey to Coeducation at Deep Springs by Dave Hitz DS80, Chairman of the Trustees of Deep Springs

n December, I shared the good the last few months, the college has news that we won our case in reached out to the opposition by of- Ilower court, but I warned that we fering to discuss possible paths to could be delayed by several years a negotiated resolution. So far we if the opposition appealed. It looks have received no response. like delay is our fate. Unfortunately, In late March, the opposi- the Court of Appeal in Riverside, tion filed a motion, (posted under where our case will be heard, has a the coeducation tab on our website), backlog of several years. The most asking that the court order Deep hopeful estimate is one year, but Springs to pay over $1.3 million for three years is more realistic. We legal services that have been pro- have no choice but to be patient. vided without charge to the oppos- In Hamlet, Shakespeare listed “the ing trustees. Trust law does allow law’s delays” as one of the ills of life a trustee to spend money on legal that one must simply bear. Perhaps services “to benefit the trust”, but there is consolation in knowing we do not believe that losing an ex- that generations before us have pensive legal battle against the ma- shared this same frustration. jority of trustees is a benefit to the Many people have asked trust. Once again, the court will whether the two sides could come decide. to some kind of agreement that In the end, I remain opti- would allow the college to move mistic. In the lower court, we won forward peacefully to its second on three of our five legal argu - century of operations. To be hon - ments. It only takes one, so we are Nathan Wheeler DS13 harvests est, I don’t know, but I would love well positioned for the appeal. arugula from the garden’s main hoop that outcome if it’s possible. Over house. News from the Farm and the Library: Introducing Noah Beyeler and Gwen Von Klan by Lewis Ho DS13

Gwen joins us after work- ing with an organic food distributor and managing a retail co-op. She and Noah met while both attend- ing Berkeley. She has quickly set- tled into life at Deep Springs, and can often be found at Community Game Night or making ice cream in the BH basement. She shares Noah’s passion for environmental sustainability, commuting by bike from Henderson Station. As librarian, she has been leading her own mini-revolu- tion. In addition to integrating the Wolin Collection (donated last year by political philosopher his Fall, the Deep Springs Since arriving, Noah and Sheldon S. Wolin), Gwen and the community welcomed Noah his student labor crew (nicknamed student librarians have embarked BeyelerT DS03 and Gwen von “Noah’s Ark”) have begun rebuild- upon an inventory overhaul and Klan into their roles as farm/ ing the small-animal livestock relabeling project. The daunting maintainence manager and librar- operation. His long-term goal is stacks of unsorted material have ian/registrar respectively. to raise all the eggs and meat con- now mostly found their proper After graduating from sumed by the community. Early place on the shelves. Gwen has Deep Springs, Noah made a steps toward this goal include also worked to find the best outlet four-year stop in Antarctica to doubling the size of the laying hen for culled books in order to gen- do construction. There, he helped flock and preparing to raise broil- erate extra revenue for the college. erect radio telescopes designed to er chickens. He has built a new Much appreciated technical advice map the galaxy. Later, he earned hoop house to replace the chicken has been periodically provided by his Bachelors from University of coop in the winter and a portable Nancy Willard, a library consul- -Berkeley. Noah was in- shelter for grazing the fields in the tant based in June Lake. spired to return to Deep Springs summer. Additionally, the acquisi- As registrar, Gwen has after his experiences at Polyface tion of a boar named Caesar has helped relieve much of the stress Farms in Virginia. Noah felt that allowed for the impregnation of caused by transfer applications, Polyface’s innovative and sustain- two sows. One has already far- thanks to her organizational acu- able methods – exalted by Michael rowed her piglets and the other is men. You may have also seen her Pollan in The Omnivore’s Dilemma expecting later in the spring. Eight work in the monthly “News from – were worth bringing back to piglets acquired separately have the Valley” updates. Deep Springs. Noah says that not meanwhile grown prodigiously. In Gwen will be leaving in much has changed since he was a between, Noah has found time to August to pursue a Masters in city student here ten years ago, which rebuild the BH porch, re-roof the planning at University of Southern is a “testament to the staff who are dairy, and construct a vegetable California. here.” wash-station at the garden. A Word with the Professors by Thomas Thongmee 14DS

r. Jennifer Smith and D r . tended college in California, and Michele Lanan – professors have most recently been living in Dof social sciences and natural sci - Tucson, Arizona. I didn’t know ences respectively – have been set- much about Deep Springs until I tling into life at Deep Springs over read a job advertisement, did some the course of this year. By train- background research, and thought ing, Jennifer is a political scientist, it sounded too good to be true. having extensively researched the role of political parties in Europe; Imagine you had been dispatched by Michele is a biologist specializing a committee of your professional col- in the study of ant societies. When leagues to conduct research at Deep not leading challenging classes or Springs. What would you study? lip-syncing to Katy Perry, the two are also serving on ApCom. We JS: My grant proposal would J e n n i f e r S m i t h ( a b o v e ) a n d asked them both a few questions be titled “Participatory Michele Lanan(below) to learn more about them and their Democracy Under Conditions experience with the college so far. of Geographic Isolation and Gender Exclusivity: A Field Where are you from, and how did you Experiment”. I’ll need to divide come to Deep Springs? the SB into two randomly-as- signed groups to actually conduct JS: I grew up in Lexington, the field experiment, so certain Kentucky, though it felt impor- practical barriers remain to initiat- tant at the time that my family ing the first stage of the investiga- wasn’t “from” there (my mother tion. My efforts to locate a princi- is from Berkeley; my dad is from pal informant for the ethnographic Scotland). I taught most re - piece of the research have also cently at Wesleyan University been frustratingly slow, so I am in Connecticut, and before that occupying myself with participant at University of Wisconsin- observation and gradual assembly cus might include the efficiency of Milwaukee. I’ve always hoped to of background data. decision-making strategies (top- find a teaching-focused position down structures, quorum-sensing, where my range of interests would ML: I would investigate the col- consensus) and the persistence and be a strength, and I remember lective foraging behavior of ants transmission of verbal and nonver- Deep Springs from my own time inhabiting the main circle area in bal cues across multiple cohorts of with the Fiske Guide to Colleges, so order to determine how the spatial students. In a second line of in - I was excited to see the job ad. But and temporal distribution of food quiry, I would conduct a metage- the short reason I’m here is that influences the spatial organization nomic study to determine whether CurCom listed the job through of trail networks. While I was at it, the epidermal microbiomes of the American Political Science I would also investigate the collec- newly arrived first-years converge Association, and then they called tive behavior of the Deep Springs over time, and what environmen- me. Student Body and the emergent tal, social, and agricultural sources properties of their interactions at contribute most to horizontal ac- ML: I grew up in Colorado, at - the community level. Areas of fo - quisition of new microbes. A Word with the Professors, cont. ground suggest about which would the “jellylike” description of the win, and why? substrate implies a higher viscosity What are some things you enjoy doing than the atmosphere of Earth. At outside your role in the Deep Springs JS: Polar bears and sharks seem room temperature the viscosity of community? likely to have single-peaked, air is about 1.8x10-5 kg/(m*s) while straightforwardly transitive pref- water is substantially more viscous, JS: Right now I’m deeply invested erence orderings, which makes it about 8.9x10-4 kg/(m*s). Marine in whether the Kentucky basket- tempting to approach this conflict vertebrates such as sharks exhibit ball team can complete its unde- from a rationalist perspective. But a highly streamlined body shape feated season. I’m also reading that lands us in the rationalists’ that reduces friction and improves Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale and a puzzle about violent disputes: If maneuverability in this viscous en- number of philosophy-type books each contender could reduce its net vironment. Although polar bears to accompany my current “Logic” losses by negotiating a settlement in are adept swimmers, the shark course. If it had gotten cold enough advance of the conflict, why enter will have a significant advantage this winter, I would have liked to the jellylike substance in the first in terms of maneuverability in our organize some impromptu curling place? Maybe this isn’t a perfect-in- jellylike substance. Sharks also on the Upper Res. I learned to curl formation environment. Or maybe appear to have a greater mouth to living in Wisconsin, and that’s one both animals are constrained by surface area ratio, suggesting that thing I definitely miss. the socially-constructed norms in even if both animals were colliding which the shark/polar bear dyad is randomly the shark would be more ML: I enjoy playing old-time fid - embedded, in which case I predict likely to get the first bite. Depend- dle, hiking and camping, drawing, the polar bear will win. ing on the nature of our jellylike painting, and building stuff. substance, however, it is entirely ML: Our battle involves two large possible that both animals would If a polar bear and a shark were fight- vertebrates, one from a mostly ter- asphyxiate before the winner could ing in a neutral jellylike substance, restrial habitat and one from a be determined. what does your professional back- marine habitat. I will assume that

Michele examines a frozen spring at the lake corrals, not a neutral jelly-like medium. Learning from Telluride by Tom Miller DS04

he transition from being a stu- our age, including dealing with dent at Deep Springs to life in lawyers and university administra- theT outside world is hard. How does tors and managing the investment one preserve or recreate the sense of a large endowment. of community found at the college? In summer of2015 , Telluride And how does one begin to honor is expanding its Sophomore Seminar the commitment incurred at Deep (TASS, for short), to a new site at Springs to live a life of service – even (in addition to before one has chosen, let alone em- maintaining existing sites at Indiana barked upon, a particular career? University and the University of For myself and many other Deep Michigan). TASS, founded in 1993, Springs alumni, involvement in the is an academic summer program Telluride Association has been part for rising high school juniors, with of the answer to both of those ques- recruitment targeted towards stu- tions. It has given us an opportunity dents of color. The TASS semi - to stay both in touch with each oth- nars, taught by university faculty, er and involved in running Nunnian have a focus on African-American/ educational projects. Peterson, Charles Grimes, and Africana studies. Kufre Ekpenyong Founded by Nunn in 1911 Justin Kim have also taught semi - DS09 will be a TASS factotum at to bring together graduates of his nars for TASP. After graduation, the Michigan location this summer. “primary branches” throughout the many college alumni have worked The opportunity for ex- western United States, the Telluride as TASP factotums; this summer, panding TASS brought with it the Association is the college’s older Pablo Uribe and Tanner Horst, challenge of improving recruit- and only remaining Nunnian sib- both DS12, will do so. ment to get a larger applicant pool. ling. Today the Association is an Other Deep Springs alum- Beyond the usual targeted mailings, educational non-profit, run by a ni have joined the Association as Telluride members and volunteers large volunteer board, that sponsors members (roughly equivalent to used social media and reached out free academic summer programs for trustees) as I did in 2007, one year personally to high school guidance high school students and scholar- after graduating from the college. counselors; in the end, they suc- ship houses for both undergraduate Telluride currently has a total of ceeded in attracting a record num- and graduate students at Cornell eighty-eight members, mostly in ber of just under four hundred ap- University and the University of their twenties or thirties. Of these, plications for fifty-four places. As Michigan. fourteen are Deep Springers, all but Deep Springs also works to attract Deep Springs and Telluride one having joined in the last ten more applicants from groups his- currently enjoy informal but strong years, frequently with no prior expe- torically underserved by or excluded personal links on the basis of rience of Telluride’s own programs. from educational institutions, there shared values like service and de- Telluride has allowed us to continue are promising opportunities for dis- mocracy (values sometimes inter- our experiential Nunnian education cussion and cooperation. preted in stimulatingly different in a range of spheres familiar from ways). Four alumni of Telluride’s Deep Springs – recruiting and read- summer programs for high school ing student applications, interview- In addition to his eight years as a mem- juniors (known as TASP, for short) ing and hiring faculty, and evaluat- ber, Tom served as President of the are currently enrolled as students ing participation in a self-governing Telluride Association from 2012-2014. at Deep Springs, and recent Deep residential community – as well as Springs faculty members like Katie others not usually open to people Long Weekend in the White Mountains by Isaac Price-Slade DS14

t was only when Will leaped off Camp back towards the desert Bryce was to take care of Will as a boulder, landed awkwardly, floor, and found ourselves at the I walked out to our Jeep, parked Iand sprained his ankle that I real- bottom of a gully just south of Iron near the base of Wyman Canyon, ized truly how isolated we were. In Mountain. After his fall, we moved to drive back to the college. an instant, we had discovered very Will into the shade, where he said This was alright with me, personal stakes in a logistical chal- (completely lucidly) that he’d kill except for the fact that Will had lenge that I had managed to ignore someone if he had to pay the bill for been the primary navigator the day for our first thirty hours in the wil- a helicopter. Water was consumed before, and I had very little experi - derness. How would we get back to in small sips. Bryce, the most expe- ence reading topographical maps. I the college? There was no way Will rienced outdoorsman of the group, left most of our gear with Bryce and was going to walk out. wrapped the ankle, and we hatched Will, taking just the purified water We had been following a plan. It was clear that someone we had left. After going over the Wyman Creek away from Cow was going to have to go for help. route with Will, I zipped compass, map, and pen in my hip pocket and set out toward Iron Mountain at 1:00 pm. Although Will was not in any immediate danger, I felt an ex- treme sense of urgency. I kept at as fast a pace as possible without en- dangering my own ankles. Every time I encountered some landmark from the previous day’s travels, I would write the time and place on my hand in pen. At 4:30 I arrived, thoroughly exhausted, at the Jeep. The battery was dead. Left to right: Isaac Price-Slade, William Ehlers, and Bryce Snyder, all of DS14, as they begin their hike in Wyman Canyon. I didn’t have any energy to ment that Janice and I walked into search and rescue team with addi- waste dwelling in frustration, so I the BH that night, students and tional information, and Janice ac- promptly began the long walk out staffulty were ready to act. companied the team to help them of Wyman. By this time it was get- On my map I showed navigate through the Whites. ting dark, and having consumed Janice, Noah, and Padriac exactly Falling asleep that night, I the last of my water supply hours where Will and Bryce were stuck, was amazed by how controlled the ago, dehydration was beginning to and the particulars of potential ac- whole situation felt. With the help set in. The prospect of a quick nap tion plans were hashed out as stu- of the Inyo County Search and on the side of the road was becom- dents began to organize resources. Rescue unit (and their ATVs), a ing more and more enticing, but I Lewis packed food for the would-be bedraggled looking Bryce and Will forced such dangerous temptations rescue party while others collected emerged safe and sound from the out of my mind. All I had to do was backpacking gear and notified pro- flatbed truck sometime the next make it to Henderson Station and fessors of the situation so that they evening. borrow a phone. could cancel classes if necessary. Our adventure certainly I was stumbling through a Eventually, David Neidorf came with its share of “teachable minefield of Russian Thistle and made the decision to call the local moments,” and we worked through cacti, but I knew exactly where I volunteer search and rescue team these in a community meeting the was going. After eternities, I ar- instead of a staff-led rescue mis- following week. For me, though, rived at Chef Marc Mora’s front sion. Calling in the SAR team was the most meaningful takeaway door at Henderson, and within our best option because a storm was from the experience has been a minutes, Janice Hunter came to coming. Had a large portion of the greater appreciation for this com- pick me up in the flatbed. Someone staff and student body (as well as an munity on a practical level. Deep later said that the challenge of a ATV and possibly a horse) gotten Springers work well together, a rescue mission was just what the stuck in the snow up Wyman, we testament to the vitality of our community needed, and I agree in would have created a significantly connections to one another. We the sense that the hours following more dangerous situation. Former are always ready to face adversity, my return to civilization were an ranch manager Geoff Pope, still logistical or otherwise, because we opportunity to revel in the speed residing in Bishop, agreed to fly are ready to do it together. and coordination with which we over Bryce and Will’s location in were able to mobilize; the mo- his plane in order to provide the

Left: Will, with a sprained ankle, waits for help. Above: the Inyo County Search and Rescue team arrives in their all-terrain vehicle. s the current class of second-years begins to finalize plans for the News from Recent Alumni nearA future, we decided to get into con- tact with recent Deep Springs gradu- Edited by Shelby Macleish ates to see how they’ve been spending their time. Yale continues to be the most popular choice for Deep Springers finishing their undergraduate educa- tion – currently there are ten in at- tendance. The Yale cohort has these updates to report:

Brendan Bashan-Sullivan DS10, Rhys Dubin DS11, Caleb Hoffman 11DS , Cory Myers DS10, and Ben Shaver DS10 are sharing a house in New Haven.

Brendan is finishing a BA in- ar chitecture. He says: “I spent this Left to right: Christian Vlcek DS13, Lewis Ho past summer first in Istanbul, then DS13, and Matthew Zianni DS14 at the lake. backpacked through Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan draw- ing the brutal Soviet architecture a friend and mentor in Louise spend a year studying in Norway. left after the fall of communism. I Glück, who just won the National He will be working at a lab that can offer advice to any DSers who Book Award for her latest collec- researches sustainable feed for are planning to do Silk Road trav- tion. She’s advising me on my the- farmed fish. As many wild popula- els, but who would do that?” sis, which will be a manuscript of tions become overfished, Nate re- poems.” ports, it is increasingly important Caleb is taking a semester off this to find an ecologically sound way spring before returning to Yale in Pablo Uribe DS12 plans to be to raise fish in captivity. the fall to finish his degree in the a comparative literature major humanities. His summer will be with a focus on Spanish litera- Christian Cain DS09 lives in spent at Deep Springs, working ture. “Intellectually, I’ve been most Seattle, working in a job training/ on small construction projections. excited by a few education-related life-skills program called Seattle He is planning to apply to medical courses I’ve taken. I’m looking for- Youth Garden Works. As part school after graduation. ward to being one of the factota for of the program, homeless youth TASP at Cornell this summer.” run and staff two urban farms in Cory will graduate in May with a Seattle, helping to sell the produce degree in philosophy. He has tak- at local farmers markets. en a shine to New Haven and will Elsewhere, graduates have pursued work in the city for the next year different paths. Many are continu- Kufre Ekpenyong DS09 matricu- while applying for graduate school. ing their studies at other universities. lated at Brigham Young University Some have taken a gap year or three, after Deep Springs, earning a BA Bennet Bergman DS11 hopes to delving into work or travel. in art history this spring. He will graduate in December with a de- spend the summer working as a gree in creative writing. “I’m writ- Nate Sibinga DS07 has just re- staffer for the TASS at Cornell. ing poetry—very fortunate to have ceived the Fulbright Scholarship to Edward Pimintel DS09 is also at month in Tours, France learning BYU, studying biochemistry after French, and next year will further finishing a two-year mission for this effort by studying abroad in the Church of Latter Day Saints in Aix-En-Provence. Belgium and the Netherlands. Jackson Melnick DS12 is current- Tim McGinnis DS09 is current- ly studying at Brown, working to- ly at Oxford studying Economic ward a concentration in contempla- and Social History as a Rhodes tive literature. “The idea came out Scholar. Last year he worked with of putting Marx’s idea of dialectical the Wellbody Alliance in Boston. materialism in dialogue with the power of contemplative meditation; 10 Tim Henderson DS will gradu- can meditation change conscious- Ethan Reischman DS14 ate from SUNY Buffalo in May ness no matter the material situa- labors in the woodshop. with a degree in English. tion of the meditator?” Jackson also has recorded a collection of his Keenan Lantz DS11 began at - songs and formed a band called Jacob Greenberg DS12 worked for tending in the Near Eternities while helping four months as a line cook at an Chicago during the spring se- launch an audio magazine at Brown Italian restaurant in Los Angeles mester. Keenan was awarded the called Now Here This (www.no- before returning to Vassar to finish Dangerous Optimist’s Scholarship, wherethis.org). his degree. He continues to explore a two-year full tuition scholarship the questions of how one ought to for a spring transfer student who Zachary Robinson DS12 is cur- live in this world of trouble, trau- will change the world. rently at Stanford, sharing a room ma, and estrangement. “I’m appre- with fellow cowboy Abdramane ciating the irony that Deep Springs Nick Marino DS11 is currently Diabate DS12. Zach is studying left me more femme and embodied, studying Spanish and teaching mathematical and computational more caring and empathetic, and English in Buenos Aires. He will science. He hopes to graduate at more lost than before.” Jacob hopes stay in Argentina for a while be- the end of next year and to work to study in Paris this summer be- fore traveling through Bolivia or at a consulting firm. On campus, fore applying to grad programs in Ecuador, planning eventually to he is involved in the co-ed business the fall. return to the states to finish his fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi. education. Jonathan Deborst DS12 is living Lucas Tse DS12 is taking a year in Olympia, Washington with his Tanner Horst DS12 recently off school to spend more time fiancée Ginna. He currently works graduated from Bowdoin College, with family, experience more of at a food co-op, which in Jonathan’s where he majored in government/ the world, and prepare himself words “has an uncanny resemblance political theory with a minor in internally for another few fruitful to some parts of Deep Springs in ancient Greek. He will be back years of s