Bridgewater Review, Vol. 25, No. 2, December 2006
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Bridgewater Review Volume 25 | Issue 2 Article 1 Dec-2006 Bridgewater Review, Vol. 25, No. 2, December 2006 Recommended Citation Bridgewater State College. (2006). Bridgewater Review. 25(2). Available at: http://vc.bridgew.edu/br_rev/vol25/iss2/1 This item is available as part of Virtual Commons, the open-access institutional repository of Bridgewater State University, Bridgewater, Massachusetts. VOLUME 25 NUMBER 2 DECEMBER 2006 Bridgewater Review BRIDGEWATER STATE COLLEGE Wyoming Sunset. Howard London I was mesmerized by this sunset scene. The landscape lasted like this only for a few minutes, and the peculiar combination of awe and serenity they evoked for a few minutes more. I am happy to have this picture forever. The picture was taken in Yellowstone National Park with a Nikon SLR D50. —Howard London is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. VOLUME 25 NUMBER 2 DECEMBER 2006 TS N TE N CO Bridgewater Review INSIDE FRONT AND BACK COVERS ON THE COVER Photographs Dream Weavers Howard London Three color photographs, each 9" x 3" by Mary Dondero, 2 Editor’s Notebook Assistant Professor, Art Super Coach—Superbowl Department. Excerpts from Michael Kryzanek four portfolios of Professor Dondero’s artwork are on 3 Building Leaders for the Future pages 15–19. Women in the Middle East Deniz Zeynep Leuenberger EDITOR 7 Come Saturday Morning Michael Kryzanek At Bridgewater State College Political Science Joseph H. Huber with Jamie L. MacKool ASSOCIATE EDITORS 11 Fitting in to Fieldwork Patricia J. Fanning Ninth Grade Mudslinging Sociology and Going the (Ethnographic) Distance Andrew Holman Jodi H. Cohen History EDITOR EMERITA 14 Excerpts Barbara Apstein From Four Portfolios Mary Dondero BOOK REVIEW EDITOR Charles Angell 19 Faculty Profile: Mitch Librett English Experience Counts in the Criminal Justice Department DESIGN Patricia J. Fanning Donna Stepien Stanton 21 Faculty Profile: Michele Wakin FACULTY PHOTOGRAPHS Understanding Homelessness in America Gary Stanton Andrew Holman ___________________________ 24 Cultural Commentary The Bridgewater Review is pub- The Many Secrets of Joe Gould lished twice a year by the faculty Patricia J. Fanning of Bridgewater State College. Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not 26 Poems necessarily reflect the policies of John Mulrooney the Bridgewater Review or Bridgewater State College. Letters 28 Cultural Commentary to the Editor should be sent to: Who We Are: Some Thoughts about Making Bridgewater Review, c/o Editor, Department of Political Science, and Remaking History at Bridgewater State College Bridgewater State College, Andrew Holman Bridgewater MA 02325 ___________________________ 31 Of Colonists and Others Articles may be reprinted with Mayflower: A Story of Courage, permission of the Editor ©2006, Community and War Bridgewater State College Charles Angell ISBN 0892-7634 Editor’s Notebook Super Coach—Superbowl Bill Belichick has taken the New England Patriots to Like most coaches, three Superbowl championships in the last four years, a Belichick spends hours feat never accomplished in the history of the National going over game films Football League. Belichick is considered a football to acquaint himself genius; a workaholic who always has his team prepared with the opposing for games and possesses an innate ability to attack team, but he views the the weaknesses of the opposition with offensive and footage in a matter akin defensive “schemes” that translate into victory. When to a math instructor or he leaves football, Belichick will be remembered in the “Jonathan Wiggs—The Boston Globe” economist ( his major same breath as Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, and in college), developing Don Shula. a predictive model that he employs during the game. Belichick values the importance of not making on field But besides being a fan of Bill Belichick, I am a political decisions that are the product of hunches or the latest scientist who in recent years has taught courses in ex- fads within the coaching profession. Rather, Belichick ecutive decision-making and political leadership. What meticulously studies the odds of calling a particular play I have found is that governmental officials and political based on mathematical models that show what works leaders can learn much from the way Bill Belichick runs best under set conditions. the Patriots and wins Superbowls. Although Belichick likely thinks of himself only as a football coach, he Finally, Belichick sees football as a team sport, not a is a superb model for studying decision-making and collection of egos bent on advancing their own careers leadership. and enhancing their capacity to cash in on lucrative en- dorsements. Politicians and governmental officials could First and foremost, Belichick is an excellent judge of learn a great deal from Belichick’s team approach where talent, a critical ingredient in effective decision-making everyone is on the same page; there are no mavericks and leadership. Successful presidential administrations to break down unity and weaken focus; and the goal is have usually been ones that attracted the best and K always clear and concise with few extraneous diver- E brightest and knew when to change the political “play- sions to take the collective eye off the prize. Belichick’s ers” when necessity dictated. Belichick not only has the Patriots are not flashy, just a bunch of excellent role ability to make astute decisions about drafting young ZAN players who perform their jobs with efficiency and men fresh out of the college game, but he also has a keen dedication. When the Patriots won their first Superbowl insight into when veteran players have lost the physical KRY in 2002, after the nation was reeling from the 9/11 L and mental skills to keep their jobs on the team. He E tragedy, the team came out on the field as one unit, not may surprise some football pundits with his person- as individual players. Limiting the excesses of ego, being HA nel picks and he may appear ruthless when he sends a C flexible and innovative and accenting the importance of veteran on his way, but it is clear that he knows how people working together toward a common goal are key MI to build a winning team and more importantly sustain components of Bill Belichick’s approach to football. a winning team. Winning the Superbowl is certainly not the same thing Secondly, Belichick has brought a kind of scientific ap- as running a country or a state, and football, despite proach to coaching professional football, an approach the numerous military analogies, is not even close to that too often is missing from governmental decision- waging a real war. I am sure that Bill Belichick has no OTEBOOK making. Unlike Belichick, politicians are captives of interest in being a president or governor, but presidents ideology and partisanship, rather than rational analysis and governors should look to Bill Belichick as one of the ’s N and self-criticism. Belichick, on the other hand, has been premier decision-makers and leaders of our time. shown to be a devotee of a mathematical prognostica- TOR tion system called sabermetrics, which seeks to predict —Michael Kryzanek, Editor I the most effective choice of options to achieve an objec- ED tive, in this case determining when to run for a first down, deciding when to kick a field goal, and planning how to properly break down an opponents game plan. Building Leaders for the Future Women in the Middle East Deniz Zeynep Leuenberger Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Congress and President George W. Bush clashed over the Emirates and is also the name of the largest of the transfer and President Bush stated his intent to veto any country’s seven emirates. It is a city of white sand and bill blocking the plan to allow management by Dubai high-rises, of turquoise beaches on the Arabian Gulf, Ports World. On March 9, 2006, Dubai Ports World an- and of parks with fountains and green spaces. The nounced its decision to hand over management to an streets are quiet in the early mornings, with a few, non- American entity. national workers laboring on the constant construction of build- ings and roads. White, concrete tents, placed occasionally along the water front, shield families from the sun. Emirati women in black abayas and men in im- maculate white traditional dress walk amongst foreign nationals in modest Western dress. WOMEN AS GLOBAL LEADERS In March of 2006, red and blue conference flags flapped on the avenue in front of the Emirates Palace Hotel, a luxury resort of architectural splendor and the venue for a gathering sponsored by Zayed University, a govern- ment funded college for women with campuses in Abu Dhabi and in Dubai. Women from eighty-seven countries gathered in Abu Dhabi for the As the Sheikha speaks to an auditorium full of women second annual Women as Global Leaders. Over one-thou- on March 12, 2006, her role as world leader and as a sand-two-hundred delegates attended. Presentations model for Middle Eastern women is made visible in the were made by world leaders such as Jordanian Queen admiration of young women in the audience. In many Rania al-Abdullah, former President of Ireland, Mary ways, Sheikha Lubna Al-Qasimi represents a unique role Robinson, U.A.E. Minister of Economy, Sheikha Lubna model for Muslim women. She is the Chief Executive Al-Qasimi, award winning journalist, Linda Ellerbee, Officer of Tejari, an information technology firm, as and British attorney and wife of British Prime Minister well as the Minister of Economy, and is the first woman Tony Blair, Cherie Booth. The conference theme was to hold a senior government position in the United Arab “Communities in Transition”. Emirates. She also worked for the Dubai Ports Authority prior to her promotion to her senior government post In the months prior to the Women as Global Leaders by the late Sheik Zayed.