JULY-AUGUST 2012 VOLUME 114, NUMBER 6 FEATURES ARRISON A Radical Fix for the Republic H 21 JIM JIM Law professor Lawrence Lessig advocates a constitutional overhaul page 38 to rescue American democracy by Jonathan Shaw DEPARTMENTS 2 Cambridge 02138 Communications from our readers 24 The Case for Compromise When continuous campaigning spills over into 9 Right Now Extractive elites and nations’ failure, gridlocked government, the public’s interest suffers cooking up new library ideas, babies vs. by Amy Gutmann and Dennis Thompson marriage 13 Montage Reggae—and racing—in film, tobacco’s 28 Forum: Voter Suppression terrible toll, morals and markets, Returns landscapes in sound, crafting video games, Partisan practices and the American franchise and more by Alexander Keyssar 20A New England Regional Section Summer events, the rewards of downsizing, 32 Owl, Pussycat and a tapas triumph Edward Lear’s lesser-known animal works, shown page 32 EGE for his bicentennial, exhibit his superb artistry ll 58 The Alumni A start-up aims sports programming at by Christopher Reed ARVARD CO kids, senior Crimson citizens, Harvard H Medalists, Overseer and Alumni OWS OF Vita: William Francis Gibbs ll Association elections, Graduate School 36 honorands, and more Brief life of America’s greatest naval architect: 1886-1967 by Steven Ujifusa 64 The College Pump Palindrome champ, murderous architects, and 38 John Harvard’s Journal NIERSITY, ©PRESIDENT AND FE the soft(er) side of Leon The 361st Commencement, in Harvard’s 375th anniver- U Kirchner ARVARD sary year, affords moments of reflection and projection. H 72 Treasure Plus, edX takes learning online, primary-care physician, Malacologist’s delight: faculty financial-planning frustrations, new mollusks, toxic and not Corporation member, conflicts of interest, the new OUGHTON LIBRARY, H 65 Crimson Classifieds Pusey minister, ballot brouhaha, Yard dining in the On the cover: Illustration by shade, the Undergraduate on the cost of perfection, Pete Ryan HARRISON JIM sibling Kiwi crewmates, and a wrap-up of spring sports page 21 www.harvardmagazine.com LETTERS Editor: John S. Rosenberg Senior Editor: Jean Martin Managing Editor: Jonathan S. Shaw Cambridge Deputy Editor: Craig Lambert Associate Editor: Elizabeth Gudrais Senator Franken encore, dating data, lecture lessons Assistant Editor-Online: Laura Levis Assistant Editor: Nell Porter Brown Art Director: Jennifer Carling Production and New Media Manager: Mark Felton ART, SCIENCE, CULTURE, ECONOMICS paintings predate writing, so maybe its Web Assistant: Stephen Geinosky Thanks for the wonderful essay by E.O. portraits represented the names of people. Wilson (“On the Origins of the Arts,” There was “Running Bison” on this wall, Berta Greenwald Ledecky May-June, page 32) on Chauvet Cave. Its “Red Bear” on that wall, and “Dark Horse” Undergraduate Fellows 30,000-year-old paintings show individual- over there. Isabel W. Ruane, Katherine Xue Editorial intern: Sasanka Jinadasa istic animal portraits: a running bison (hav- If one wanted to learn the history of ing many legs), a red bear, lions, rhinos, and the ancestors, this cave showed them. Contributing Editors four horses in a Mount Rushmore-like tab- One goddess figure among many people John T. Bethell, John de Cuevas, Adam leau, but there are no people depicted, ex- would not be unusual—the Sistine Cha- Goodheart, Jim Harrison, Courtney cept perhaps for one partial Venus goddess pel is similar, with God at the center of Humphries, Christopher S. Johnson, figure on a stalactite on the ceiling. the ceiling. Maybe the Chauvet artists Adam Kirsch, Colleen Lannon, Why no people? Today our museums liked depicting people just as much as we Christopher Reed, Stu Rosner, and churches are filled with portraits of do today. Deborah Smullyan, Mark Steele people. People like depicting people. But J. Richard Gott III ’69 Editorial and Business Office then I remembered the names of great Professor of astrophysics 7 Ware Street Native American leaders—Crazy Horse, Princeton University Cambridge, Mass. 02138-4037 Sitting Bull, Black Elk. The Chauvet cave Princeton, N.J. 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VISIT HARVARDMAGAZINE.COM/EXTRAS Copyright © 2012 Harvard Magazine Inc. 2 July - August 2012 LETTERS Wilson writes, “The novelist says ‘Does thing in common: none is from Minnesota. that work?’ and the scientist says ‘Could NOTICE TO READERS One writer even accuses those of us out here that possibly be true?’” One might add that President drew faust has requested who voted for him of playing a joke on the an economist says, “I see that works in real- space for a regular column, titled “The rest of the country. Please know that many ity; I wonder if it works in theory?” View from Mass Hall,” where she can consider our junior senator a fine legislator John L. Rafuse, HKS ’81 share her perspectives with readers. Her who takes policy matters, both big picture Alexandria, Va. first commentary appears in this issue, and in detail, seriously. Indeed, we see him on page 63. vThe Editors standing in the tradition of one he hails as a Thank you for E.O. Wilson’s thought-pro- model and mentor, the late Paul Wellstone. voking essay on the evolution of cultural im- erated world is associated with reduced The writers all seem to disdain comedy as peratives in modern humans. The search for meaningful, life-affirming social and cul- a profession beneath contempt; they, and a life of meaning beyond mere survival could tural activities or education. Alexis de Toc- maybe Harvard itself, need to lighten up. fill the moral and spiritual void in modern queville cautioned against a society that Patrick Henry ’60 pulsating scientific-industrial communities invariably inclined towards majoritarian Waite Park, Minn. that value prestigious well-paying profes- tyranny that could only be mitigated by sions, monetary wealth, and ever-narrowing a cultural life of the humanities. It strikes The letters on my friend and classmate subspecialized expertise. The commoditi- me that the arts and culture are now more Al Franken ’73 perfectly exemplify the max- sation and commercialization of informa- imperiled than at any time since humans imum-vitriol/minimum-facts style that now tion and education, homogenization from were freed from the preoccupations of blankets American media. It may be “ab- globalization, and the hyperkinetic distrac- food, water and shelter for survival. surd” to two-time Republican congression- tions of digital technology and social media Joseph Ting al loser and “Contract for America” signer pose significant threats to humanity’s need Brisbane, Australia Richard P. Sybert that Franken be taken for sustained contemplation, solitude, and seriously, but Al wrote and got passed the the pursuit of meaning and non-monetized SENATOR FRANKEN, ENCORE law requiring healthcare insurers to refund worth. The three letters in the May-June issue all premiums of which at least 80 percent is The paradox remains that the instant (page 2) that castigate you for featuring Al not spent on medical care, a law that in its interconnectivity of today’s hyper-accel- Franken in March-April (page 30) have one first year is resulting in billions of dollars in The smart place to stay. ONE BENNETT ST, CAMBRIDGE / 617.864.1200 / 1.800.882.1818 / WWW.CHARLESHOTEL.COM Harvard Magazine 3 LETTERS refunds to employers and individuals.