Features
Hurlyburly in the Crum
Doings foul and fair were afoot in Crum Meadow during the first three evenings of May. Strangely costumed figures vaguely reminiscent of ancient Scotland—their skin painted in ornate black patterns—moved around a flaming campfire replete with cauldron at the center of Crum Henge’s stone circle. Standing pillars and mighty trees were witness to passionate encounters and whisperings of murderous plots. From their lair on the creek, a ragged, crook-backed trio hobbled forth, staring with empty eyes into the distance, muttering in low tones filled with the threat of dire deeds to come, then pointing with craggy fingers at those who crossed their path. Features
At the Heart of Honors
For honors examiners who are also honors graduates, the end of the academic year is an especially poignant time. We asked 11 of them to reflect on their experiences. Features
Disease Detective
By Robert Strauss
It was mid-April at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), just about the time to start breathing a little more easily now that the flu season had passed without any big problems. Then there were reports of two apparently unrelated cases of children in California falling ill with an odd strain of influenza. Features
The Liberal Arts Engineer
By Carol Brévart-Demm
The second floor lobby of Hicks Hall, home of the College’s Engineering Department is a bright and friendly place. Light cascades from a wall-sized window onto a loose arrangement of plants, old instruments, and antique equipment. Between classes, animated groups of budding engineers cluster around a large table, socializing with classmates, friends, and professors; doing homework; eating lunch; or relaxing. Two young men are stretched out on a pair of long leather couches, fast asleep. They seem to be smiling as they nap. In a department legendary for its rigor, little of the stress associated with being an engineering student is in evidence here.
How can this be? What makes Swarthmore engineers so darned happy? Related Article
Collection
- The Class of 2009’s Perfect Day
- Creating Communities That Care
- Honorary Degrees for Campbell ’69 and Hormel ’55
More collection articles from this issue
Faculty Expert
Krystyna Zywulska
By Barbara Milewski
Assistant Professor of Music
Krystyna Zywulska is best known as the author of Przezylam Oswiecim (I Survived Auschwitz), a candid and moving account of life and death in Auschwitz-Birkenau. Published in Poland in 1946, Zywulska’s memoir represents one of the earliest and most significant contributions to Polish literature on the Holocaust.
Books + Arts
First Time Novelists Touch the Heart
Two first novels by Swarthmore women are a joy to read. One is set in rural Moundville, Ala., in summer 1917, and the other at an historic resort in New Hampshire’s White Mountains.
In My Life
Tragedy, Triumph, and a Boy’s Baseball Dreams
By Stephen Gessner ’66
When I was a child in New York, my life—and, it seemed, my entire family’s life—revolved around the Brooklyn Dodgers. I had memorized the starting batting order, including their batting averages, which were updated every day in the newspaper.
