Alumni Magazine Winter2003 Paper Trails ANDREW SILK’S LEGACY I L.A. STORY: JOHN CARROLL I DAVE BARRY’S RULES A Natural Fit There was a time when prominent newspaper journalists were associated with large universities with graduate programs, like Columbia, Missouri, Northwestern, and Syracuse. Times have changed. As Dennis Stern ’69 points out on page 38, there is increasing specialization in the newspaper business. Haverford is not about specialization. In the true spirit of liberal learning, the College does not offer a major in journalism or communications (nor do Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore, for that matter). There are no journalism courses. Even so, Haverford has produced what seems to be an inordinate number of journalists for a college its size. Haverford prepares students for a lifetime of asking questions, a lifetime of thinking analytically. Haverford and journalism are a natural fit. Haverford also delivers exposure to Haverford alumni who’ve gone on to Jill Sherman careers in journalism. The Silk Journalism Panel (see p. 27), is the annual Vice President for on-campus opportunity for the bi-college community to meet Institutional Advancement and hear from journalism’s front lines. Stephen Heacock Editor, Executive Director of There’s also some history. Felix Morley ’15, left the editorship Marketing & Communications of the Washington Post, where he’d won a Pulitzer Prize for Tom Ferguson editorial writing in 1936, to serve as Haverford’s sixth president. Production Manager, Class News Editor Haverford alumni have claimed four Pulitzers in the past 20 Brenna McBride years: David Wessel ’75 in 1984; Dave Barry ’69 in 1988; Staff Writer Roy Gutman ’66 in 1993; and Jack Rakove ’68 in 1997. Hilary O'Sullivan The person who perhaps best represents journalism on campus Office Manager Felix Morley today is director of athletics and associate dean Greg Kannerstein Acquire, LLC (1894-1982) ’63. Greg uses skills he honed as a newspaper reporter in Graphic Designer Philadelphia and Montgomery, Ala., to bring us “Scoreline.” While his care- Contributing Writers fully crafted prose keeps the Ford faithful apprised of athletic endeavors, he Dave Barry ’69 Edgar Allen Beem also provides rich reminders of Haverford’s history, traditions, and its con- Jude Harmon ’03 nections to the world beyond 370 Lancaster Avenue. Greg’s guidance has Steve Manning ’96 Garret McVaugh ’04 helped dozens of Fords get started on their newspaper careers. Still others Bob Mong ’71 work for magazines, broadcast media, and other outlets. Michael Paulson ’86 Joe Quinlan ’75 Are newspapers still relevant in this age of the Internet and 24/7 cable Louise Tritton news access? I hope the stories and profiles we’ve gathered here help Virtual Communications answer that question. The common thread of a Haverford education pulls Committee Norman Pearlstine ’64, Chairman them all together. In David Wessel’s words, Haverford affords students Editorial Advisory “confidence, it trains them to ask good questions, it fosters critical thinking. Committee Haverford is the best journalism school there is.” Violet Brown Emily Davis ’99 J. David Dawson Delsie Phillips Jennifer Punt Willie Williams Stephen Heacock Executive Director of Marketing & Communications Haverford College Marketing and Communications Office 370 Lancaster Avenue Haverford, PA 19041 (610) 896-1333 ©2003 Haverford College The Alumni Magazine of Haverford College Winter 2003 23 PaperFEATURES Trails 16 Crusade for Truth The Boston Globe breaks one of the 27 most significant stories of our time. by Michael Paulson ’86 23 Taking the Lead in L.A. John Carroll ’63 brings quiet leadership DEPARTMENTS to the Los Angeles Times. The View from Founders by Joe Quinlan ’75 2 3 Main Lines 31 A Legacy in Print 27 6 Reviews The Silk family and its tradition of journalism at Haverford. 8 Notes from the by Brenna McBride Alumni Association 9 Ford Games 31 Good News How the Dallas Morning News is working 13 Faculty Profile in a crowded media environment. 43 Class News by Bob Mong ’71 60 Moved to Speak 34 Paper Chase Nicholson Baker ’79’s quest to save old newspapers. by Edgar Allen Beem 34 38 Paper Trails Notes from the workplace. Paper 38 Trails Haverford Alumni Magazine is printed four times a year: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Please send change of address information to: Haverford College in care of Jeanette Gillespie, 370 Lancaster Avenue, Haverford, PA 19041, or via e-mail: On the Cover [email protected]. Photography by Acquire, LLC. C Haverford Alumni Magazine is printed on recycled paper. The View from Founders by Tom Tritton, President On Cooperation Most of us enjoy the spirit of com- ments (e.g., astronomy, geology, religion, petition we have with other colleges and uni- art history, among others) that a small versities. Regular readers of this magazine school might be unable to sustain without will immediately recognize our indecorous dividing the tasks. This approach makes so lack of restraint in boasting about this much sense and adds so much to the expe- College. Numerical counts are especially rience here that I’m surprised more places attractive when displaying our competitive- don’t emulate us. Maybe our Quaker roots ness: the number of books in the library; the provide better lubrication for successful SAT scores of our students; the quantity of interaction than those with lesser origins! and Alterity.” This multidisciplinary course computers on campus, etc. Less quantita- Tri-college cooperation is also impor- focuses on classical perspectives on language tive, but no less appealing, are the famous tant. Although Swarthmore is a bit further and meaning, and examines case studies of and accomplished alumni whose stories we away than Bryn Mawr, we all nonetheless interpretation that embody, amplify, or chal- love to recount in our publications. This realize that there are big gains to be made lenge these concepts. The course gives spe- president is also prone to crowing about the through collaborative projects. We do so cial emphasis to the ethical dimensions of scholarly awards, prizes, grants, papers, in Magill Library via a single electronic card the reader’s experience, as students are invit- books, and other accolades garnered by the catalog for the three collections; in aca- ed to ponder literary critic Hillis Miller’s faculty. And of course, who can resist the demics through a unified tri-college online hopeful admonition that “literature is the outcome of athletic competition as a surro- course listing; and in technology by sharing most serious and responsible form of writ- gate for determining the better school on a high-speed Internet pipe for all our data ing,” for it often seeks to serve “the democ- any given day (FYI: Haverford has won the and networking with the outside world. racy to come.” coveted Hood Trophy for four straight years). Blue Bus service was escalated a couple of I’ll confess that I have a hankering to Beguiling as statistics, figures, records, years ago to facilitate student movements teach a course some year on science fiction, victories, and related competitive compar- among the three campuses. We also real- possibly with an emphasis on biology and isons might be, in the cold light of reflection ized—and it seems so obvious in retro- life science in the SF literature. In the spir- most of us also realize the enduring value of spect—that it is more efficient to move one it of cooperation, English Professor Maud cooperation. Franklin Roosevelt had it about faculty member than 15 students, so we McInerney (herself a medievalist) and I have right when he said: “Competition has been trade course assignments with faculty on discussed doing this course collaboratively shown to be useful up to a certain point and the other campuses to enrich student expe- and even have developed a few surreptitious no further, but cooperation, is the thing we rience with new professors (I think of it ideas for the content and syllabus. Do you must strive for today.” Or as the Beatles put irreverently as “Swaps with Swat”). suppose that the College’s Educational it: “All you need is love.” Faculty members with complementary Policy Committee will approve? Academic cooperation abounds. Most interests commonly teach courses jointly. Assuming that comparisons are useful, recognizable to alumni (and equally attrac- We also have some interesting juxtaposi- I’ll close by noting that, whereas in com- tive to prospective students) is the long- tions of administrators with faculty, who col- petition we seek to gain an advantage over standing collaboration with Bryn Mawr laborate on imaginative courses that would someone else, in cooperation we work College. It seems nothing short of miracu- be much more difficult for either party to together. Admittedly, each approach has an lous that the two colleges manage such a create alone. One example that comes to appropriate time and place. Yet, there is a thriving cooperation without contracts, mind is Athletic Director Greg Kannerstein flavor of equity about cooperation that is memoranda of understanding, or other legal ’63 and History Professor Alex Kitroeff, who at once both very Quakeresque and very niceties. Without the slightest doubt, each teach “Sport and Society,” which examines Haverfordian—the right kind of train- of our well-earned distinctive characters is the evolution of sport during the 19th and ing/education for students working on not in the least bit threatened by close part- 20th centuries. As you might imagine, the “peace and global citizenship” or “inte- nership. We have multiple models: joint course is immensely popular since it deals grated natural sciences” (or for that mat- departments (e.g., French, Career with the intersection of social change, spec- ter for those simply planning to get along Development) where a single unit serves tacle, and high performance.