Bridgewater Review, Vol. 28, No. 1, June 2009
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Virtual Commons - Bridgewater State University Bridgewater Review Volume 28 | Issue 1 Article 1 Jun-2009 Bridgewater Review, Vol. 28, No. 1, June 2009 Recommended Citation Bridgewater State College. (2009). Bridgewater Review. 28(1). Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol28/iss1/1 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. VOLUME 28 NUMBER 1 JUNE 2009 Bridgewater Review BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE The First Building at Bridgewater State College painting by Mary Crowley “The first building to be erected specifically for normal school work in America was built at Bridgewater in 1846. The years of experiment were successfully passed. A total of ten thousand dollars was raised, one half of that sum by public subscription, and the remainder from state funds. Col. Abram Washburn donated a lot of land one and one-quarter acres and George B. Emerson of Boston provided the furnace for heating the building. It was a small, wooden, two-story structure containing a large schoolroom, and two recitation rooms in the upper story, and a Model School room, a chemical room, and two anterooms on the lower floor.” —Special Collections. VOLUME 28 NUMBER 1 JUNE 2009 TS N TE N CO Bridgewater Review INSIDE FRONT COVER ON THE COVER The First Building Mercedes Nuñez, at Bridgewater State College Professor of Art: RANDOM PREOCCUPATION, Tu Leyenda. INSIDE BACK COVER Additional works by Professor Nuñez, Bridgewater State College’s entitled, Random Preoccupations are First Dorm on pages 15–18. 2 Editor’s Notebook Grandma and Grandpa EDITOR Michael Kryzanek Michael Kryzanek Political Science 3 College Presidents and the Road ASSOCIATE EDITORS to Success and Failure: William C. Levin Getting What We Want and Need Sociology Stephen J. Nelson Andrew Holman History 7 What Type of American Are You? Universal, Cultural, Civic and Commercial EDITOR EMERITA Accounts of American Identity Barbara Apstein Jordon B. Barkalow BOOK REVIEW EDITOR 11 Corporal Punishment Charles Angell English and the Case for Policy Action Emily M. Douglas DESIGN Donna Stepien 15 Random Preoccupations Mercedez Nuñez FaCULTY PHOTOGRAPHS Gary Stanton 19 America’s Role in the World ___________________________ Jason Edwards The Bridgewater Review is pub- lished twice a year by the faculty 23 Our Wings: Aviation Science of Bridgewater State College. and College Learning Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not Andrew Holman necessarily reflect the policies of the Bridgewater Review or 26 Cultural Commentary Bridgewater State College. Letters The Number of War Dead to the Editor should be sent to: William C. Levin Bridgewater Review, c/o Editor, Department of Political Science, Bridgewater State College, 28 A Contemporary Poetic Play Bridgewater MA 02325 Stephen Levine ___________________________ Articles may be reprinted with 30 Seeking for a City permission of the Editor ©2009, Gwen Ifill:T he Breakthrough: Bridgewater State College Politics and Race in the Age of Obama ISBN 0892-7634 Charles Angell 32 In Memoriam Henry Shaffer Editor’s Notebook Grandma and Grandpa It is said that life is a series of stages, periods of change parents have everything covered. What that means is and transformation that direct and shape the human trying to get used to all the new fangled devices that are experience. My wife Carol and I are now entering one of out there now to make life with baby easier – the baby those stages—grandparenthood. Our daughter Kathy monitor ( now with camera, not just sound), the stroll- and her husband Jim brought into the world Grace Irene ers that are ready for any road challenge, and all those Sabo on June 4th. Grace weighed 9 pounds and was 21 car seats, jumping seats, eating seats and play time inches long. Grace has deep seats. Parenthood was blue eyes and those classic a lot less complicated Polish-American chubby back in the day. cheeks. Mother and Father What grandparent- and Grace are all doing fine, hood also does that except for the usual parental warms the heart is sleep deprivation. But it is the bring you even closer grandparents who are also to your children and doing fine, without the sleep their spouses. Sure deprivation. they ask you to baby Everyone that we talk to says sit, so they can keep pretty much the same thing- their sanity for an being a grandparent is the best evening or a weekend. stage of your life, with the But it is the holidays accent on life, new life. There of course is a bit of ego and birthdays that become special as the baby has the involved as the baby represents part of you and contin- power to make the family more of a family; that little ues the family line forward. But this matter of heritage life becomes the glue that seals the bonds of family life. is minor compared to the excitement and joy of holding It doesn’t’ get any better than that. a newborn right there on your shoulder with tiny fin- Now Carol and I are sure that being grandparents will NEK gers wrapped around your own and with that incompa- also have its times of worry and distress. Besides the rable baby scent—pure, sweet and natural. concern over our own kids that never seems to go away, YZA R Grandmothers are perhaps the most outwardly excited grandparental concern will now spread to the new kid K about the new arrival as they shop for baby clothes, on the block. Yet whatever problem may arise, it is offer sage advice to the nervous mother and look for- likely to be a minor one and will certainly be overshad- EL A ward to the opportunity to feed, bathe and yes, change owed by the unannounced hug or the little hand reach- H the diapers of their grandchild. Grandfathers are less ing out or my favorite, sitting on grandma’s or grandpa’s IC expressive about babies, but take it from me; there is an lap to read a book. Of all the stages in my life, this is the M inner pride and quiet glow that melts the heart when one that we have been waiting for. that first smile appears through sleepy eyes. —Michael Kryzanek, Editor, Bridgewater Review. Being a grandparent is all about watching a young life grow up right before your eyes without the tensions and second guessing that you experienced as a parent. OTEBOOK As many of our fellow grandparents say, being a grand- parent means all the happiness of seeing your offspring ’s N grow without the responsibilities of parenthood. It is basically a free ride full of joy minus the stress of the TOR first fall, the first fever, the first trip to school, the first I report card, and the first date. ED Probably the most difficult part of grandparenthood is trying to recall how you did things as a new parent thirty years ago. Times have certainly changed as a whole industry has evolved to make sure that baby and College Presidents and the Road to Success and Failure: Getting What We Want and Need Stephen J. Nelson In May 2003, the Supreme Court rendered its decision and non-threatening stature and politically acceptable in the two University of Michigan affirmative action bearing that all their energy and attention is invested cases. On the evening of the decision, PBS’s “Lehrer solely in sustaining their presidencies and surviving in News Hour” featured not just one, but four college and office. Presidents have to be regularly engaged in a range university presidents. They were there not simply for of problems and issues. Even if they wished otherwise, quick sound bites. For more than half the broadcast, the the realities of life inside the gates of their colleges and four probed the short- and long-term impacts of the universities confront them as leaders with highly politi- Court’s findings. The presidents pointed to a variety of cized, often divisive issues and “zero sum” decisions. In implications the Court’s decision might have for the addition, public pressure outside the gates of the acad- future of higher education. The two cases, Gratz v. emy relentlessly forces college leaders to respond to the Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger, which named Dr. Lee wider world. Bollinger because he was the sitting president at For more than a decade and a half, I have had the oppor- Michigan when the suits were filed took the university tunity to think and write about college presidency. to task for its quota systems and separate criteria for Friends and family would probably describe me as ad- minorities in both undergraduate and law school admis- dicted to my subjects and the tensions and challenges of sions. The presidents argued viewpoints that were not the presidential office and its myriad duties. I have in absolute harmony, but they agreed that the conse- dedicated a fair bit of time to considerations about what quences indeed mattered. While the nature of their the presidency is. Who are these individuals who aspire remarks was noteworthy, more poignant was the fact to or hold the presidential office? What traits and quali- that they were there in the first place in such a highly ties must they have to have if they are to succeed in the visible public forum. high-stakes world of college and university leadership? Such public prominence among college presidents is There is an often-told joke that says that the first qual- by no means frequent.