Litigating Gay Rights • Amazon Explorer • Changing Cardiac Cures march-april 2013 • $4.95 America’s Prison Problem R R R ond eosinddo ndes idesid m m men en en t t t m m m i i i a a a a a a l l l H H H YEARS YEARYEARS S 000000 33 1 33 1 33 1 9 9 1 9 1 1 81 - 20181 -8 210 -1 201 Cambridge...Handsome brick colonial 2-family Boston...Exquisite, floor-through, penthouse condo Somerville...The Louville Niles House, turreted located a short distance to Harvard Sq. and the overlooking Boston’s Public Gardens. Exclusive 45’ 1890 Queen Anne on large lot at the peak of Charles River. Over 3000 sq. feet, 2-car garage, x 15’ panoramic roof deck. 3 bedroom/3 bath with Prospect Hill, magnificent original detail, beautifully landscaped yard, a rare offering! 2,943 sq. ft. and two large skylights. Direct elevator incredible light throughout, fabulous kitchen. www.25Longfellow.com Price available upon request access on the Flats of Beacon Hill. $3,900,000 $1,050,000 Cambridge...Queen Anne Victorian on coveted Cambridge...Desirable Avon Hill single-family Cambridge...Spectacular views of Boston/Charles side street off of Brattle. Gorgeous renovation. residence. Beautifully landscaped 6,217 sf. River from this 2-level penthouse at River Court. 6 bedrooms, 4½ baths plus a 3-bedroom, 2-bath lot with large entertaining areas. 11 rooms, 5 2 BR, 2½ BA, formal DR, wood-burning FP in apartment. 6 replaces. Garage. $3,700,000 bedrooms. Garage parking. $1,965,000 LR. Full-service bldg. near Kendall Square offers gym, pool, and 24-hr. concierge. $1,200,000 Harvard Square...Gracious Brattle Street Colonial Cambridge...Top floor 2-bedroom, 1½-bath Cambridge...Well-maintained, three-level, two- Revival. Set back on one-third of an acre, the condo. Walk score 94. 2 blocks to Porter Square. unit house, with 13 generous rooms, central air home has 5 bedrooms, 3½ baths, home offi ce, Maple oors. Granite and SS kitchen. Bow conditioning and four parking spaces, ooded and two-car garage. $2,385,000 windows. Porch & deck. $545,000 with eastern and southern light. $875,000 www.hammondre.com Cambridge, Belmont, Watertown & Somerville Residential, Commercial, Rentals & Property Management Cambridge Offi ce 617-497-4400 • Belmont Offi ce 617-484-1900 View our latest interactive on-line magazine at: www.hammondmagazines.com 130317_Hammond_v4.indd 1 1/29/13 2:57 PM MARCH-APRIL 2013 VOLUME 115, NUMBER 4 RCIHVES RCIHVES A Y Y T FEATURES 25 A Cardiac Conundrum RD UNIVERSI RD A RV The passion for procedures to fix ailing arteries and hearts—and the Ha page 44 problems of evaluating evidence and risk in making medical decisions by Alice Park DEPARTMENTS 2 Cambridge 02138 Forum: How Same-Sex Marriage Came to Be OURCE 30 S Communications from our readers Activism, litigation, politicking, and CIENCE S 9 Right Now the advent of a momentous social ZINE/ A A virulent virus, how cucum- M change in America Ca ber tendrils coil, the exact TT by Michael J. Klarman CO S advantages of exercise page 9 15 Montage Art to touch or nibble, carpenter ants 36 Vita: Alexander and a master woodcarver, pop-culture Hamilton Rice detective, how to craft cookbooks, Brief life of an Amazon explorer: 1875-1956 seeing like Sherlock Holmes, and more by Mark J. Plotkin 24A New England Regional Section ED PRESS ED Campus events, splendid gardens, at and “progressive American” meals 38 The Prison Problem Sociologist Bruce Western and his 59 The Alumni NSON/ASSOCI W students are rethinking the American way of TO Philip Slater’s fulfilling pursuit of W obscurity, Overseer and director incarceration and rehabilitation candidates, and more WINSLO by Elizabeth Gudrais page 30 64 The College Pump A wartime “Harvard 44 John Harvard’s Journal man” traced, Harvard University Press’s print and digital centennial, and Archibald “an anchoring presence” for engineering in Allston, MacLeish’s snail mail severe penalties in the College cheating investiga- 72 Treasure Notes (literally) on tion, child psychiatric emergencies, when Widener Japanese falconry welcomed Xerox, online education’s rapid evolution, 65 Crimson the remade Corporation reports, housing and retail Classifieds development for Barry’s Corner, the Undergraduate on offering counsel—and gaining confidence, and a star On the cover: Photograph by RRISON A Ed Kashi/Corbis Images JIM H JIM skier masters the giant slalom www.harvardmagazine.com page 22 Reprinted from Harvard Magazine. For more information, contact Harvard Magazine, Inc. at 617-495-5746 LETTERS Editor: John S. Rosenberg Senior Editor: Jean Martin Managing Editor: Jonathan S. Shaw Cambridge Deputy Editor: Craig Lambert Assistant Editor-Online: Laura Levis Placebos, memorable McKinlock bell, pandemics Assistant Editor: Nell Porter Brown Art Director: Jennifer Carling Production and New Media Manager: Mark Felton THE FUTURE OF FRACKING The article is an excellent overview of Associate Web Developer: Michael Mcelroy and Xi Lu’s “Frack- the potential impact of cheap, abundant nat- Stephen Geinosky ing’s Future” (January-February, page 24) ural gas in the United States. The benefits was excellent. It’s rare to see such balance include job creation in the petrochemical Berta Greenwald Ledecky and information on that topic. Most writers and steel industries, the potential for en- Undergraduate Fellows provide opinion and recrimination, but little ergy independence from oil imported from Cherone Duggan, Kathryn C. Reed background on the techniques, economics, the Middle East, and currently, a greater re- Contributing Editors ecological concerns, and the near-term ne- duction in greenhouse gas emissions in the John T. Bethell, John de Cuevas, Adam cessity for that “new” resource. United States than in Europe. Goodheart, Jim Harrison, Courtney The authors made clear that we will However, I believe the authors’ proposal Humphries, Christopher S. Johnson, need improved regulation as well as an to allow the export of natural gas to take Adam Kirsch, Colleen Lannon, investment climate that fosters full use of advantage of the higher prices in the world Christopher Reed, Stu Rosner, the technology and resource, while paving markets is misguided. It is akin to out- Deborah Smullyan, Mark Steele the way for the green technologies of 2050 sourcing American jobs, which has led to and beyond. higher unemployment over the past decade, Editorial and Business Office 7 Ware Street John L. Rafuse, K ’81 and has the potential to reverse the switch Cambridge, Mass. 02138-4037 Alexandria, Va. from coal to natural gas in the generation Tel. 617-495-5746; fax: 617-495-0324 Website: www.harvardmagazine.com Reader services: Explore More 617-495-5746 or 800-648-4499 IM HARRISON J Harvard Magazine Inc. Visit harvardmagazine.com/extras to find these and other President: Henry Rosovsky, JF ’57, F; ANDF; Web Extras from the March-April 2013 issue. M Ph.D. ’59, LL.D. ’98. Directors: AZINE/ G Suzanne Blier, Jonathan L.S. Byrnes, A Coiling Cucumber Adventures in Amazonia M } D.B.A. ’80, Robert Giles, NF ’66, Alex S. page 10 | View time-lapse page 36 | Learn about the Jones, NF ’82, Thomas F. Kelly, Ph.D. ’73, ARVARD footage of the strange adventures of ethnobotanist H Randolph C. Lindel ’66, Lars Peter Knoth phenomenon of ‘overwind- Mark Plotkin as he retraces the Madsen, Tamara Elliott Rogers ’74 ing’ that occurs when footsteps of explorer } Harvard Magazine (ISSN 0095-2427) is published bimonthly cucumber tendrils are pulled. Alexander Hamilton Rice, by Harvard Magazine Inc., a nonprofit corporation, 7 Ware founder of Harvard’s Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02138-4037, phone 617-495-5746; fax UZEY; IANUZEY; MACLELLAN; 617-495-0324. The magazine is supported by reader contribu- Grill It! long-ago Institute of P tions and subscriptions, advertising revenue, and a subven- tion from Harvard University. Its editorial content is the re- page 22 | Watch chef Geographical Exploration. sponsibility of the editors. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, Mass., and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send ad- and grill master “Doc” } dress changes to Circulation Department, Harvard Magazine, Willoughby prepare a Hit the Slopes 7 Ware Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02138-4037. Subscription rate $30 a year in U.S. and possessions, $55 Canada and Mexico, $75 Thai-inspired grilled-pork page 57 | Watch a video of other foreign. (Allow up to 10 weeks for first delivery.) Sub- sauce, and learn more NCAA giant slalom champion scription orders and custoMer service inquiries should be HARON GERBODE AND JOSHUA sent to the Circulation Department, Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware S about his forthcoming Rebecca Nadler ’14 in F Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02138-4037, or call 617-495-5746 or } 800-648-4499, or e-mail [email protected]. Single cookbook. action on the slopes copies $4.95, plus $2.50 for postage and handling. Manuscript in New Hampshire. subMissions are welcome, but we cannot assume responsibil- ity for safekeeping. Include stamped, self-addressed envelope for manuscript return. Persons wishing to reprint any por- tion of Harvard Magazine’s contents are required to write in advance for permission. Address inquiries to FROM TOP: COURTESY O Irina Kuksin, publisher, at the address given above. VISIT HARVARDMAGAZINE.COM/EXTRAS Copyright © 2013 Harvard Magazine Inc. 2 March - April 2013 Reprinted from Harvard Magazine. For more information, contact Harvard Magazine, Inc. at 617-495-5746 LETTERS of electricity, causing an increase in green- that burning methane for 100 years would to our descendants. The authors may dis- house-gas emissions. Driving up domestic be an “economic and strategic boon” as if agree, but it astounds me that they think prices though export demand would leave the property of bringing on climate change the proposition so unimportant or so obvi- many New England homeowners unable to by burning the natural gas had no negative ously wrong as not to mention it—even to pay their heating bills during freezing win- climatic importance whatever.