Placebos • Soap-Opera Impresaria • Fracking january-february 2013 • $4.95 In Fashion Katiti Kirondé, designer SeekingSeeking 31 31 great great leaders… leaders... motivatedmotivated to tackle to tacklebig challenges big challenges facing facing communities around thecommunities world around the world with witha successful a successful track track record record of 20-25 of 20-25 years years of accomplishmentsof accomplishments in their in primary their primary career career recognizingrecognizing the the value value of of engaging re-engaging with with Harvard Harvard to prepareto prepare for their for their next next phase phase of life’s of life’s work work The AdvancedThe Advanced Leadership Leadership Initiative Initiative is a year is aof year education, of education, reflection, reflection, and student mentoringand student led mentoringby a unique led collaboration by a unique collaborationof award-winning of award-winning Harvard faculty Harvard from acrossfaculty professional from across schools. professional The program schools. is Thededicated program to iseducating dedicated and to deployingeducating a new forceand of deploying experienced, a new innovative force of experienced, leaders who innovative want to address leaders challenging who want to global address challengingand national global problems. and national Inquire problems. now for Inquire 2013. now for 2014. VisitVisit the the website website toto be inspired by the possibilities: advancedleadership.harvard.eduadvancedleadership.harvard.edu oror email email the the program fellowship manager: director: [email protected] [email protected] harvard university advanced leadership initiative 1301_AdvancedLeadership_Harvard.indd 1 11/26/12 9:45 AM Untitled-1 1 11/30/11 2:27 PM JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2013 VOLUME 115, NUMBER 3 FEATURES 24 Forum: Fracking’s Future The natural-gas boom brings immediate economic benefits and gains in controlling greenhouse gases—along with environmental risks and MARK KELSEY longer-term climate-change challenges page 57 by Michael McElroy and Xi Lu DEPARTMENTS 2 Cambridge 02138 28 Vogue Meets Veritas Communications from our readers— Harvardians’ imprint and thanks to contributors to our pages on fashion design, retailing, 9 Right Now modeling, and more Housing costs and immobile labor, coop- by Craig Lambert erative cuckoos, reengineering the lens 12A New England Regional Section 34 Vita: Irna Phillips Winter events, young social entrepreneurs Brief life of soap opera’s single pursuing their passions and values, mother: 1901-1973 and an elegant vegan bistro HARRISON JIM by Lynn Liccardo page 40 13 Montage Modern mosaicist, brotherly love, sneaky 36 The Placebo Phenomenon short stories, a composer of “highly Ted Kaptchuk studies how to “transform the art of medicine pigmented emotions,” brutish beginnings into the science of care” in Colonial America, petrochemical landscapes, and more by Cara Feinberg 62 The Alumni An intrepid birdman, a physi- 40 Rethinking the Walls cian’s reflections on medicine’s An unusual contemporary art collection in evolution, and Harvardians an unexpected place in the new Congress 68 The College Pump 4 John Harvard’s Journal A Tennessee (Williams)– 6 (Mother) Teresa communion, Allston development on a more modest scale, sober and the splenetic Gore Vidal financial outlook, an urbanist who rides the ride, envisioning the capital campaign, when students 76 Treasure Julia Child, still looming large were kept cool, campus green gains, a vice president for strategy and programs, social innovation in the 69 Crimson Classifieds community, the Undergraduate deals with doubt, On the cover: Katiti Kirondé ’79 at the Fashion Lab at Fisher College. football’s high-scoring but nonchampionship Photograph by Stu Rosner STU ROSNER season, and a dominating squash duo page 16 www.harvardmagazine.com LETTERS Editor: John S. Rosenberg Senior Editor: Jean Martin Managing Editor: Jonathan S. Shaw Cambridge Deputy Editor: Craig Lambert Assistant Editor-Online: Laura Levis Cesarean sections, soda social science, cheating considerations Assistant Editor: Nell Porter Brown Art Director: Jennifer Carling Production and New Media Manager: Mark Felton HAILING THE HUMANITIES My brother, the distinguished medieval Associate Web Developer: What a great, much-needed article philologist Richard O’Gorman, once went Stephen Geinosky by Helen Vendler (“Writers and Artists looking for a summer job while in graduate at Harvard,” November-December 2012, school. The interviewer asked him what he Berta Greenwald Ledecky page 27). The subhead, “How to welcome was studying. “Old French,” he answered. Undergraduate Fellows and nurture the poets and painters of the “Well, you’ll never sell that,” was the re- Cherone Duggan, Kathryn Reed future,” is arguably the least of it. sponse. “No,” Dick said, “I guess I’ll just Contributing Editors Her last paragraph sums it up for me. have to keep it.” John T. Bethell, John de Cuevas, Adam She says that those arriving at Harvard James F. O’Gorman, Ph.D. ’66 Goodheart, Jim Harrison, Courtney who are focused on the current national Windham, Me. Humphries, Christopher S. Johnson, passion for math and science will benefit Adam Kirsch, Colleen Lannon, “not only from seeing an alternative style As always, Vendler gets it right—when Christopher Reed, Stu Rosner, of life and thought but also from the sort of has she ever gotten anything wrong? She has Deborah Smullyan, Mark Steele intellectual conversation native to writers, done more than any other critic to make dif- composers, painters.” ficult poets like Stevens and Ashbery acces- Editorial and Business Office 7 Ware Street Robert E. Simon Jr. ’35 sible to ordinary readers like myself. If there Cambridge, Mass. 02138-4037 Reston, Va. are any more Vendlers out there, I would Tel. 617-495-5746; fax: 617-495-0324 Website: www.harvardmagazine.com Reader services: Explore More 617-495-5746 or 800-648-4499 Harvard Magazine Inc. Visit harvardmagazine.com/extras to find these and other KARMALOOP F President: Henry Rosovsky, JF ’57, Web Extras from the January-February 2013 issue. Ph.D. ’59, LL.D. ’98. Directors: Suzanne Blier, Jonathan L.S. Byrnes, OURTESY O C D.B.A. ’80, Robert Giles, NF ’66, Alex S. Feathered Friends Beautiful Music OLMES; Jones, NF ’82, Thomas F. Kelly, Ph.D. ’73, page 10 | See more photo- page 16 | Watch a video H Randolph C. Lindel ’66, Lars Peter Knoth graphs of tropical cuckoos } of classical musician Hannah Madsen, Tamara Elliott Rogers ’74 AMANTHA S in their native Panama Lash discussing her } F Harvard Magazine (ISSN 0095-2427) is published bimonthly and observe their bizarre composition process by Harvard Magazine Inc., a nonprofit corporation, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02138-4037, phone 617-495-5746; fax breeding behavior, as as well as the art of 617-495-0324. The magazine is supported by reader contribu- unrelated adults raise their making music. tions and subscriptions, advertising revenue, and a subven- tion from Harvard University. Its editorial content is the re- offspring together in a OSNER, COURTESY O sponsibility of the editors. Periodicals postage paid at Boston, R Mass., and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send ad- single nest. Karmaloop TU S dress changes to Circulation Department, Harvard Magazine, page 28 | Learn more about the 7 Ware Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02138-4037. Subscription rate $30 a year in U.S. and possessions, $55 Canada and Mexico, $75 Masterful Mosaics Internet company founded by other foreign. (Allow up to 10 weeks for first delivery.) Sub- page 13 | View more Greg Selkoe, M.P.P. ’05, which scription orders and customer service inquiries should be HRISTINA RIEHL; sent to the Circulation Department, Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware C } works of art created by sells “verge culture”-style F Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02138-4037, or call 617-495-5746 or 800-648-4499, or e-mail [email protected]. Single modern mosaicist } clothing aimed at the copies $4.95, plus $2.50 for postage and handling. Manuscript Samantha Holmes ’06. 18-to-35 crowd. 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 January - February 2013 Reprinted from Harvard Magazine. For more information, contact Harvard Magazine, Inc. at 617-495-5746 LETTERS like to think that an enlightened Harvard but without completely massive destruc- man pysche such as creativity and reflection will admit them. tion and enormous loss of life. The world is in pursuit of excellence in the humanities, Victor A. Altshul ’56 a much better place for “our wars.” i.e., the arts. It seems to me that the Uni- New Haven I cannot speak knowledgeably to the oth- versity should never backtrack in awarding er things that Vendler denigrates, but re- kudos to true achievers in whatever field. In her otherwise interesting article, Vendler main of the opinion that, for example, our Rather, recognition of the truly gifted “sin- implies an astonishingly conventional asser- financial systems have in the main contrib- gle scope” students should be appropriately tion, asking and answering her question: “In uted to advances in the human condition ramped up to reign as proud products of