Is the Summer Over?

Yes, indeedy, here it is August 12th, and I seem to have let the blog go on vacation--it's been wandering about the Cape trying to find shelter from the myriad thunderstorms that have plagued New England this July and August. But it's back, and if not tanned, at least relaxed.

The first order of business is to announce Clark's Memorial Service for Winston, which will be Wednesday, September 10, at 4:00 pm in Tilton Hall at the Student Activities Center. Ginger reports that Debbie Napier will be sending up more photos soon, and we will have a jazz combo to precede and follow the service, as well as provide, perhaps, some musical interlude. The department will be gathering on August 22nd to plan what we'd like to do for the service. Any suggestions would be welcome!

Just to make it clear to all those who may have been confused by the tragic circumstances last May, the department didn't know until just before Graduation that Winston had taken his own life. Some of you may have wondered why we didn't bring that up right away; the answer is that we didn't know until later--until just about the time that the Worcester Telegram & Gazette was preparing to reveal it. We weren't keeping anything from any of you; we simply didn't know ourselves and were as confused for a time as anyone else. If there were any hard feelings on the part of any of our students--both majors and non-majors who have taken Winston's classes--we apologize.

In any case, if you have any remembrances or comments you'd like to make for the memorial issue of the English Times now in preparation, send it to the department.

By the way, Fern points out that there is a nice comment by Winston's Worcester neighbor T. Sutton Jr. posted on Eric Gordy's blog (some of you may remember Eric from last year here at Clark).



More later on the service--and more on the end of the year festivities as we approach a new semester.



--Jay

More Winston Pics

Jane Androwski sent over these pics from the March 29, 2007 Difficult Dialogues panel discussion on the film What Makes Me White by Aimee Sands. Here's Winston:

And here's Winston and Betsy:

It's been gratifying to read all the remembrances present and past students--both undergraduate and graduate--have been sending in to the department. In the meantime, we adjust and continue, though with flashes of "deep funks," as Meredith says.

I hope all of you are enjoying your summer--as unpredictable as the weather has been.

--Jay

More About Winston

Just this morning, Winston's younger sister, Debbie, sent these photos to Ginger. I presume they are his family; she didn't send any identifications.



And these are an even younger Winston, when his family called him "Tony":







We all still mourn his passing, but we've been collecting and talking about our reminiscences of his too-short time here at Clark.

Consider this an open thread:

--Jay

Winston Napier: In Memoriam

Normally, a post at this time of year would have lots of photos of our graduating seniors at Spring Fling and Graduation, but I have to postpone sharing that joy in order to perform a more solemn task: to celebrate Winston's life at Clark. As most of you know, he passed on Sunday morning, May 18th, just hours before Graduation. Here's Ginger's letter to all present English majors and alums:

May 19, 2008

Dear Clark English majors and graduate students,

On behalf of the department’s faculty and staff, I’m writing you with the sad and shocking news that Professor Winston Napier passed away yesterday morning. Sometime in the past few weeks, he had suffered a head trauma which led to bleeding in the brain. He was taken to the hospital and operated on, but the doctors were not able to save him. We all mourn his passing and cherish the legacy of rigorous intellectual inquiry and good humor that he left us.

I visited Winston at the hospital on Friday, and he said two things that I’d like to share with you. He was concerned about the library books in his apartment. He wanted to be sure those books were returned to Goddard Library to the students could have access to them. He also reflected on his years at Clark and commented, “What a lot of fun it was, what fun.” If he had an impact on your life, you also enlivened him in the classroom and the hallways of Anderson House, affording him tremendous pleasure with your insights and ideas.

Because we have not yet been able to locate any relatives and the Clark community is dispersed for the summer, we are postponing a memorial event until the fall semester. In the meantime, we encourage you to write about your memories of Winston – a teaching moment, a humorous conversation, an insight, what you feel – in an e-mail and send it to Jennifer Plante (jplante@clarku.edu) and Betsy Huang (bhuang@clarku.edu). They will collect your reminiscences, and in a “virtual” memorial service, we will gather them in a special edition of The English Times.

We realize this news may be difficult to process. The Dean of Students, Denise Darrigrand, has offered the services of her office if any of you feel you’d like to talk through your feelings (ddarrigrand@clarku.edu). She will make grief counseling available to any of you who feel you need some help with this. If you’d simply like to talk with a member of the English department, feel free to contact your adviser or a faculty member of your choice. Those of you who are enrolled in a spring course from Professor Napier will be receiving a separate e-mail from Dean Wright or myself with instructions as to how we will handle your grades.

In the meantime, let us hold Winston in our hearts and be grateful for the time we had with him.

Sincerely,

Virginia Vaughan, Chair

We have been receiving tributes from various people, and the Department is going farther than what Ginger suggests above to compile a memorial book containing statements, photos and the like. If you would like to submit a reminiscence, use the links above.

David Pugh (07) has a tribute and comment thread in his blog, Pataphysical Collage, which posts a great photo of Winston.

Thanks for Steve DiRado of Clark's V&PA for the magnificent image of Winston.



--Jay

The Economics of Academia: Getting By with Ridiculous Gas Prices

I filled up my gas tank today, hitting $30 and nearly had a heart attack. I drive a 2000 Honda Civic with a small tank (10 gallons, I believe) and never thought I would see the day where I broke $25 filling up. I remember the days (here's where I get to sound like my grandparents, reminiscing of the good ol' days) when gas prices were $1, and then $1.05. That was the summer of my junior year in high school, 2001. At that time I had a 1986 Firebird Trans Am, which only cost $15-20 to fill, and I thought nothing of driving to New Hampshire every week to visit some friends.

Now, I grimace every time I have to make a trip outside my normal routine.

What's a student to do?

All of us in academics can truthfully say we do not do it for the money. This rings even more true for students, and in light of the rising gas prices, I did a sort of experiment to try and stretch our gas dollar even further. I hope it helps you in some way.

At about 55 mph, your engine is running at its most efficient level, giving you the most mileage out of each gallon of gas. Anything over this (or under, as is the case for city driving) and you lose efficiency. Obviously, one cannot go 55 mph down South Main unless one wants to attract unwanted attention and a hefty speeding ticket. But on the highway, it is feasible to cruise at 55-60 mph in the right hand lane, and it's actually worth it.

Every week I have the same travel routine, and so two weeks ago I put this to a test. When I was on the highway, I kept my speed at about 70-75, which is still considered "slow" in Massachusetts. By the end of the week, I had logged 296 miles on my tank of gas. Considering that my car is estimated at achieving 33-35 mpg with a ten gallon tank, this is less than optimal. I'm not great at math, but that sounds like I only got about 29mpg for that week.

Last week, I had the same travel routine, but kept my speed at 60 mph on the highway, and stayed in the right hand lane. That week, I got 356 miles to my tank of gas, making my mileage at about 35 mpg.

What's the big picture? What are the gains or losses? Well, if we go under the assumption that I should be getting 33mpg, and we take the difference in mileage for the two weeks (296 vs 356), the picture becomes clearer. The first week's mileage was 60 miles less than the second week, and using 33mpg as our base figure, that means that on the first week, about two gallons of fuel was wasted. At $3.25 a gallon, I wasted $6.50. What did I gain from the higher speed on the first week? About 5-7 minutes on my commute. For me, that's simply not worth $6.50.

Some other things we can do besides this to stretch our gas dollar are the following:
-Change your oil every 3000-5000 miles
-Change your air filter twice a year, or every 12,000 miles if you do a lot of driving.
-Change your fuel filter every 30,000 miles (if you don't have your car manual), or the increment specified by your car manual.
-Keep your tires inflated at the recommended psi (you can find this on the sticker posted inside the door frame, on the latching side)

If you are mechanically inclined (or are willing to learn some of the basics to save more money), most of these maintenance things you can do yourself. Here are a few online articles to get you started, if you are interested.
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/howto/articles/43786/article.html (Air Filter)
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/howto/articles/43788/article.html (Change Oil)
http://autorepair.about.com/od/regularmaintenance/ss/fuel_filter.htm (Fuel Filter)

Even if you do not intend to do any of these maintenance procedures yourself, make sure they get done. Try the experiment I did and see what your results are. I think you will be surprised.

Cheers,
Steve

The View from Chawton: Chawton Cottage

I made the pilgrimage to Jane Austen’s home—the home in Chawton village, where Austen lived from 1809-1817 and completed her novels spanning from Sense and Sensibility to Sanditon, the work left unfinished at her death. This cottage, tiny and unassuming, stands as a testimony to Austen’s paradoxical position as a writer.  

Austen was forced to rely on the charity of her brother Edward to provide her with this cottage since, initially, her writing had brought her no income--she bore the publishing costs herself for her first novel Sense and Sensibility. In this cottage’s inauspicious front parlor, Austen penned some of the greatest fiction of the Regency period. Ironically, she chose this room for its large picture window and squeaky door that presaged visitors, so she could hide any evidence of her writing from others. In these novels, she brings to a brilliant pitch the technique of free indirect discourse, introducing a vivid interiority in her heroines, and speaks directly and poignantly to contemporary issues, such as the lack of education and vocation for women. 

Yet, Austen’s gravestone in Winchester Cathedral, like her home, small and unassuming, alludes only obliquely to her writing, mainly speaking of her piety and charity: “The benevolence of her [Austen’s] heart, 
the sweetness of her temper, and 
the extraordinary endowments of her mind obtained the regard of all who knew her and the warmest love of her intimate connections.”

Betsy's Thirty Seconds of Fame

Has is been a month since the last entry? Whew! I guess it has. Spring break is now a distant memory; Honors students are busily finishing up their theses before the early April deadline; a new supply of odious viral thingees has been transported from myriad homes back to the confines of our campus to wreak their havoc; and many students are trying to devote more time to their studies to push up those mid-term marks. We're past the back stretch, and the finish seems to be only on the horizon--but it will be here more quickly than we realize.

The occasion for this post is, in a sense, political. Many of you are aware of--and perhaps heard--Barack Obama's speech on race at Philadelphia yesterday morning, a speech that has garnered some pretty fantastic reviews across the country. Here's a sampling from Dailykos. But Channel 4 (WBZ) from Boston trumps the editorials with a quick commentary from the English Department's Betsy Huang in their feature "Religious Leaders Respond" during the 6:00 news hour on the 18th. Here's the linky. You have to search for "Barack Obama Speech" and click on the video link above "Religious Leaders Respond." She said that the crew must have chatted with her for half and hour in her office in order to get this tidbit. It's amazing how much is discarded to catch just the perfect interview line! (I know, from the few times I've mumbled through video for Clark, that it's strange to see how little makes it into the final cut.)

On another front, I talked with Claudia, and I realized that to publish her poem "Jakarta" could likely violate the copyright of the journal, so I haven't included it yet. Soon: after it's published; then we can take a look at it with the proper citation to the journal.

Finally, congratulations to all the English Writing Contest Winners! Here they are:


Announcing the Winners of the
2008 English DepartmentWriting Contests


Prentiss Cheney Hoyt Poetry Contest
First Place: Mary (Rosie) O’Sullivan
Second Place: Charity Forrester
Third Place: Robin Barron


Betty ‘79 and Stanley Sultan Short Story Contest
First Place: Tali Sachs
Second Place: Charity Forrester
Third Place: Danielle Coles

The English Department would like to thank everyone who submitted an entry. We appreciate your interest in creative writing and your willingness to share your work with us. We also would like you to know that we had a large pool of many fine entries to consider.
--Jay