Roots and Branches A celebration of campus trees - universityofpugetsound PEOPLE AND IDEAS | SPRING 2022 - University of Puget Sound
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university of puget sound PEOPLE AND IDEAS | SPRING 2022
What Artificial Intelligence
Can—and Can’t—Do
p. 8
The Upside of Envy
p. 10
A Holocaust Survivor’s Tale
p. 20
Roots and
Branches
A celebration of
campus trees
CAN ’ T R A I N O N Tina Hay, editor Circulation To change the address arches (USPS 003-932) is
OU R PA R A D E to which your copy of Arches is published three times a year by
Kristofer Nyström, art director mailed or to remove your name the Office of Communications,
Did you really graduate from from the mailing list, please call University of Puget Sound, 1500
Sarah Stall, assistant editor
Puget Sound if you didn’t 253.879.3299 or write N. Warner St. #1041, Tacoma,
graduate in the rain? The Class Sy Bean, photographer, unless arches@pugetsound.edu. WA 98416-1041. Postage paid at
of 2022 earned its street cred credited otherwise Tacoma, Wash., and at additional
Editorial Office 253.879.2673; mailing offices. Printed in U.S.A.
Sunday, May 15, at the Charis Hensley, graphic designer/ arches@pugetsound.edu; or
university’s 130th Commence- production artist Arches, Office of Communications, Postmaster Send address
ment Ceremony, where the University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. corrections to Arches, Office
Warner St. #1041, Tacoma, WA of Communications, University
temperature was cool and the
98416-1041. of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St.
rainfall was steady. But #1041, Tacoma, WA 98416-1041.
nothing could dampen the Website
spirits of our grads. pugetsound.edu/arches
THE ALUMNI MAGAZINE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND
TO THE HEIGHTS F E AT U R E S A L W AY S A L O G G E R
2 14 36
FROM THE PRESIDENT ROOTS REFLECTIONS PROFILES
Isiaah Crawford reflects on his own undergrad Musician, record store owner, industry exec, and We spotlight the 2022 Distinguished Alumni
experience and being honored by SLU. essayist Nabil Ayers ’93 is doing just fine. Award winners; Alexey Rudolph Root ’83 shines
a light on women chess champions; Neal
3 20 Berntsen ’82 takes the trumpet to new heights;
D I S PAT C H E S HIDDEN HISTORY Torey Anderson DPT’18 helped U.S. skiiers at the
Goings-on on campus and off, including the Henry Haas ’60 is on a mission to preserve the Beijing Games; Kristen Bor ’05 makes
return of the Spring Lu`au, new university lead- family history he almost never knew. “adventure blogging” look easy.
ership, a Logger American idol, and more.
37
6 CLASS NOTES
CONNECTIONS Updates, news, and achievements
Historian Adam Sowards ’95 examines from Loggers around the world.
tensions over the use of public lands.
42
8 IN MEMORIAM
Q&A Remembering members of our
Can a computer write poetry? Indeed, says Assis- community who have passed.
tant Professor America Chambers.
46
CROSSWORD
Take a tour of Tacoma!
47
SCRAPBOOK
26
Loggers share photos of their reunions,
A C E L E B R AT I O N O F T R E E S
weddings, serendipitous meetings, and more.
We take a stroll under the canopy that covers all
Loggers: the more than 1,500 trees that make
our campus home so lush and beautiful.
.
10
E X P LO R AT I O N S
Associate Professor Sara Protasi says envy gets
a bad rap. But it can be a catalyst for growth.
12
YOU ARE HERE 49
Spring on campus really pops. OBJECT OF OUR AFFECTION
What’s the story behind a student center main-
stay, that chainsaw carving of Grizz?
Vol.
arches is printed with soy Featured Contributors lives in Pittsburgh.
seal-approved inks on paper
that is certified by the Rainforest 49 Amy Downey (p. 4) has written Kelsey Davis (p. 30) is an illustrator
Alliance to Forest Stewardship for two city magazines—Boston and animator whose clients include
Council™ standards.
2
and Philadelphia—and a number Door Dash, Visit Seattle magazine,
We are located on the traditional No. of alumni magazines. She lives in
Allentown, Pa.
and Harlequin publishing.
homelands of the Puyallup Tribe. The Julianne Bell ’13 (p. 36) is the food
Puyallup people have lived on and Bill Cardoni (p. 14) is a New York- editor at EverOut.com and a free-
stewarded these lands since the
beginning of time, and continue to do
SPR I NG area photographer and shoots for
editorial, advertising, and institu-
lance writer based in Seattle.
2022
so today. We recognize that this land tional clients worldwide. Ted Anthony (p. 40) is director of Cover The iconic giant sequoia leads the
acknowledgment is one small step
new storytelling and newsroom list of the campus’s arboreal gems. Our
toward true allyship, and we commit
Cristina Rouvalis (p. 20, p. 39) has innovation, and former director of celebration of trees starts on p. 26.
to uplifting the voices, experiences,
written for Esquire, AARP, Fortune, Asia-Pacific news, for the Associat-
and histories of the Indigenous people
and Parents, among others. She ed Press.
of this land and beyond.
TO THE HEIGHTS | FROM THE PRESIDENT
Influencers and Mentors
President Isiaah Crawford was recognized by his undergraduate alma mater, Saint Louis University,
with an honorary doctorate in May. We asked him to reflect on his college experience.
student, but I had fun. I played club sports— me that I couldn’t see in myself. He had a
a lot of flag football, softball, and tennis—and belief in me that I didn’t have in myself, and
I was involved in student government, primar- he was putting his hand on my back, push-
ily with the Black Student Union. ing me forward, and doing it in a way where
I felt that he was walking with me. That is
Are there similarities between Saint Louis something I have tried to keep in mind as I’ve
University and Puget Sound? worked with students and colleagues since
Saint Louis University has a much more that moment. I certainly do believe in the
research-oriented focus now—it has evolved importance of mentors and the difference
over the years—but it has a liberal arts empha- they make, and the idea that it is impossible
sis at its heart. That’s one of the reasons that for someone to fully “know thyself ” without
the opportunity here at Puget Sound felt very the help of other people.
resonant and consistent with my own educa-
tional experience. SLU was and is very much Don’t you think that’s one of the greatest
focused on the liberal arts and supporting aspects of a liberal arts education—that the
students in their pursuit of truth and under- faculty know you? And that there are opportu-
standing, but also poses the question: What nities for mentors to shape students’ lives?
are you going to do with this education? How Absolutely. And I would say—particularly for
are you going to make a difference in the world? us—mentors can be staff and peers, as well.
That speaks very clearly to what we do here— What we’re looking to do at Puget Sound
as well as the idea of educating and informing is establish a full-bore mentorship program,
You were raised by your mother, aunt, and the whole person. which will also include our alumni, such that
grandmother, and they all stressed the impor- every student who would want to have one
tance of a college degree, didn’t they? Later, when you were finishing your doctorate could have an alumni mentor. We’re really
Yes. Some of my earliest memories are the at DePaul and thinking you wanted to go into investing in the concept of mentorship and
admonitions that “you will be going to col- clinical psychology, you had a mentor who believe the impact it will have on the develop-
lege.” That was their singular focus, and they steered you toward an academic job instead. ment of our students will be immeasurable.
worked very hard to create the opportunity for You’re referring to Leonard Jason, one of my
me to go to college. I grew up in a house of primary professors in graduate school. I was Saint Louis University just awarded you an
books, as my family loved to read. When I was thinking I would work in a psychiatric hospital honorary doctorate. What would you say you
very young, my mother and I would read the or community mental health center. I was not gained from your undergraduate experience
dictionary together. [laughs] We would start thinking about a traditional academic appoint- there?
at “A,” and we would read and define words ment as an assistant professor. An opportunity I really do believe that this life that I have
together. became available at Loyola Chicago, down the been so very privileged to live is a result of my
street from DePaul, and Professor Jason wanted mother, my grandmother, and my aunt—and
What kind of a student were you in college? me to apply for it. I kept saying, “Dr. Jason, Saint Louis University. They believed in me;
I loved every second of my undergraduate I don’t want an academic job,” and he kept gave me a set of skills, knowledge, and values
experience. By my sophomore year, I knew I saying, “I think you really should. I think you’d to take out into the world; taught me to see the
wanted to pursue an advanced degree in clin- be good.” We went back and forth for a while good in all things and all people; and taught
ical psychology, so I was focused on doing all and finally Dr. Jason—one of the calmest guys I me to remember that you’re part of something
that I needed to do to achieve that goal. I was know—yelled at me, “Apply for the job, Isiaah!” greater than yourself. And for that, I will always
doing research in the psychology department So I did, to appease him. And here I am. be grateful.
and community-based project work with a It speaks to the importance of mentorship.
number of faculty members. I was a serious And, you know, he could see something in –Interview by Tina Hay
2 arches spring 2022
D I S PAT C H E S | T O T H E H E I G H T S
What We’re Talking About on Campus
2022 Best Value Colleges tors in higher education? Sound and the MBA, MS
list, evaluating a combina- “Don’t be afraid of it. Higher in marketing analytics, and
tion of factors including education is ready for you, MS in kinesiology programs
academic rigor, affordability, and there will be people to at PLU.
and career outcomes for support you.”
graduates. South Sound HONORARY DOCS
Magazine readers agree, HOWDY, PARDNER The university awarded
once again voting Puget Logger alumni now have honorary doctorates at
Sound the Best College in access to additional grad Commencement to two
the South Sound. school opportunities through prominent public servants:
a new partnership with Miriam Barnett recently
LU`AU IS BACK of Fulbright awards in OFFERING INSIGHT Pacific Lutheran University. retired after 16 years as CEO
In April, the Ka Ohana 2021–22, according to the President Isiaah Crawford The agreement waives of YWCA Pierce County,
me ke Aloha student club U.S. Department of State. was quoted extensively in GRE/GMAT requirements and G. Helen Whitener is
hosted the Spring Lu`au, Five more students earned an INSIGHT Into Diversity and application fees, and the first Black woman to
a celebration of Hawaiian Fulbrights this spring and Q&A with LGBTQ+ college streamlines the process for serve on the Washington
and Polynesian cultures will soon head to Germany, presidents. His advice to Loggers and Lutes applying Supreme Court and the first
through dance, in person Taiwan, and other countries. LGBTQ individuals hoping to select programs: the MPH Black LGBT judge in the
for the first time since 2019. to become top administra- and MEd programs at Puget state.
The show included five hula
dances choreographed and
performed by Puget Sound
students, plus a perfor-
mance by a Tahitian dance
troupe from Tacoma’s Asia
Pacific Cultural Center. New
this year: a country store
with beloved candies, nuts,
and juices from Hawai`i. NEW LEADERS
Sarah Comstock, who’s been
BROKEN RECORD at Puget Sound for 15 years,
Logger Day Challenge is the new VP for student
raised a record-high affairs and dean of students.
$488,985 for the university Comstock started at the uni-
in March. Nearly 1,700 alum- versity as assistant director
ni (from 69 classes spanning for student activities. The
1955–2020), along with university also named Victor
parents and friends, took Martin of Cal State Bakers-
part in the one-day online field to be VP for university
giving event, with the money relations, and Kimberly Kvaal
raised going to scholarships, of St. Edward’s University in WISDOM SHARED
learning services, athletics, Texas to be executive VP and Author Tayari Jones—whose novel An American Marriage received the Women’s Prize for Fiction
and other areas. chief financial officer. and was an Oprah’s Book Club selection—was on campus in April to give the Pierce Lecture and
to visit Professor Sara Freeman’s Seminar in Scholarly Inquiry on Justice, Arts, and Incarceration.
FULBRIGHTS ARE US FEEL THE LOVE Freeman’s 16 students—all first-years—had thoughtful questions for Jones about researching
University of Puget Sound The Princeton Review the book, developing the novel’s characters, and social justice issues. Then one student blurted
was again a top producer named Puget Sound to its out the real question on everyone’s minds: “I’m sorry, I just have to ask: What’s Oprah like?”
spring 2022 arches 3
T O T H E H E I G H T S | D I S PAT C H E S
but that’s what she got. She
made it as far as the top 56
contestants before her run in
Ask the Expert: Ben Tromly
the competion ended. Listen Understanding the War in Ukraine
to Kloetzel’s debut single,
“He Dares,” on Spotify or Putin has already
check out an exclusive per- pushed them out.
formance at youtube.com/
univpugetsound. THE ROLE OF
BIG TECH
MEANWHILE, IN ST. LOUIS Early on, tech giants
NEVER TOO LATE President Isiaah Crawford like YouTube, Facebook,
Ted Parker ’22 received his returned to his undergradu- and Twitter blocked
diploma at Commencement ate alma mater, Saint Louis Russian disinformation
in May—nearly 50 years University, in May to receive and propaganda on their
after he started. Parker an honorary Doctor of Ed- platforms. The decision
Professor of Russian and European History Ben Tromly
enrolled in 1974 and left four ucation degree, recognizing led to Russia unplugging
helps to make sense of the ongoing conflict. —Amy
years later with a job and “his commitment to creating itself from huge parts of
Downey
a wife (Lokelani Kini Parker inclusive learning environ- the internet in order to
’76)—but one credit shy of a ments for the next genera- BEHIND THE WHY an example and eventually control the information
degree. After a career in IT tion of visionary leaders and It’s complicated, but if influence Putin’s authoritar- its citizens could access.
and software development, lifelong learners.” there’s one main reason ian system? Adds Tromly: “We’ve re-
he returned in January to for the invasion, says alized how much power
take that last class. CREW CHIEF LEAVING Tromly, it’s that Vladimir ARE SANCTIONS these tech companies
After 10 years as head coach Putin sees Ukraine as be- IMPORTANT? have.”
A GRANT FOR GOOD of men’s and women’s crew, ing part of Russia. “There’s Foreign companies closing
Tanya Erzen, director of Aaron Benson MAT’23 is this Russian imperial up shop in Russia will lead SUPERPOWER
crime, law, and justice stepping down. He’ll stay at idea that these are ‘one to massive unemploy- STATUS
studies, is leading a project the university to pursue a people’ who have been ment—but will it stop the In an imperial war—one
to restore opportunities for Master of Arts in Teaching. divided,” says Tromly. “The war? Probably not anytime instigated to expand,
incarcerated women that narrative is that Ukraine soon, explains Tromly: “It’s rather than defend, a
COVID-19 disrupted. The SPECIAL PROFS has been pried away from easy to say that sanctions country’s borders—
project has won a $109,000 Provost Laura Behling Russia and corrupted will severely damage the there’s a need to uphold
grant from the National announced five endowed by Western powers.” Russian economy, but their the notion that nations
Endowment for the Human- professorship appoint- Although the war started purpose—longer term—is are equal and borders
ities. ments to begin in the when Russia annexed harder to define.” In fact, are firm, says Tromly.
fall. Prithi Joshi (English) Crimea from Ukraine in the sanctions may even That’s why the United
SHE’S OUR IDOL was named Susan Res- 2014, one motivation to strengthen the regime’s States and its allies have
When Zia Kloetzel ’25 post- neck Pierce Professor of invade Ukraine could be political beliefs, since gotten involved. “What’s
ed a cover of “Sixty Years” Humanities and Honors; a reaction to Ukraine’s Putin already blames the been really interesting
by Sophia James to her she’ll develop and expand decades of independence West for the war. As for in all of this,” he says,
curricula in decolonizing from the Soviet Union. the yachts being seized? “is that the U.S. has
and diversifying books for Having a more democratic Tromly says the oligarchs gone back to a sense of
young children, books as neighbor might feel like a don’t have as much power its role in the world—to
human artifacts, and more. political threat: Could the as the rest of the world help maintain world
Suzanne Holland (religion, Ukrainian government set thinks; in many cases, order.”
spirituality, and society) was
re-appointed to the John
B. Magee Chair in Science
and Values, continuing to Matthews (business and new courses and hire senior a Dolliver Professorship
Instagram account, she nev- cultivate links between leadership) was re-appointed faculty members. Justin focused on the intersection
er expected an invitation to Puget Sound and the local the George Frederick Jewett Tiehen and Ariela Tubert of the humanities and
audition for American Idol— health care community. Jeff Professor; he’ll help create (philosophy) will jointly hold artificial intelligence.
4 arches spring 2022
D I S PAT C H E S | T O T H E H E I G H T S
Ready, Hup!
After 32 seasons, head swim coach Chris
Myhre is officially leaving the pool.
Chris Myhre was 6 the first time he jumped into
the former Wallace Pool on campus, coaxed off
the high board by his mother with the promise of
a root beer milkshake. He kept swimming through
college in Hawai`i, but by the time he returned to
Washington to start his first teaching job at a high
school in Shelton, he was ready to move on. He
only begrudgingly agreed to fill in when the swim
coach quit—and soon discovered he had not just
a knack for coaching but a passion.
Myhre returned to Puget Sound in 1990 as
head coach of the women’s team and took over
both programs in 1994, succeeding the legend-
ary Don Duncan. He also has served as aquatics
director, managing the aquatics center’s staff
and programs, and teaching courses in first aid
and CPR, swimming for fitness, and physical
education.
Myhre coached 71 NAIA All-Americans, 21
NCAA All-Americans, and 11 individual NAIA
national champions, and was named NAIA Coach
of the Year in both the men’s and women’s divi- competitive, but it was clear he cared about us,” at Kalamazoo College, as his successor. What’s
sions. But it’s the relationships developed over says Ava Williams ’13. “He brought a lightness, next for Myhre? Maybe travel, maybe working on
the years that Myhre holds close. “When it’s all joy, and care to swimming that I try to carry with his golf game (which he describes as “abysmal”).
said and done, that’s what you take with you,” he me to this day, in and out of the pool.” But for the moment, he’s taking it all in. “I feel
says. Myhre retired at the end of the academic so blessed to have had this career, at this place. I
For many former swimmers, Myhre’s impact year, and the university announced the hiring of couldn’t imagine it going any other way.” —Karin
went beyond his coaching. “Coach Myhre was Jay Daniels, head swimming and diving coach Vandraiss ’13
O H , S N A P !
Commencement Walk... Sit... Stay Are dogs May Day Puget Sound rocks every season, but Reaction Time A fusion reactor at Puget Sound?
allowed to participate in Commencement? Asking there’s something special about the freshly cut Yes, thanks to an interdisciplinary team of stu-
for a friend. @dolly_vii_diaries grass and bright blue skies of May. @wds2009 dents and the physics department. @el.slatty
spring 2022 arches 5
TO THE HEIGHTS | CONNECTIONS
A Complicated History
In his newest book, historian Adam Sowards ’95 examines the long-running tensions between environmen-
talists and industry over public lands in the West.
BY M I C H A E L W E I N R E B
While growing up near Seattle, Adam
Sowards ’95 wasn’t exactly a lover of the out- “I started to really would be a good option to manage this as a
national monument.’” After the Obama
doors. In fact, when he enrolled in an environ-
mental history course during his junior year at
recognize the administration protected that land, the Trump
administration scaled back those protections
Puget Sound, he was driven more by the insis-
tence of his advisor, Bill Breitenbach, that he
uniqueness of before the Biden administration restored them
“with important managerial input from the
diversify his coursework as a history major the West.” tribal people of that region,” Sowards says.
than by the prospect of actually learning about Sowards is also hopeful because the current
the subject. And then, in about week three, things that I’ve been interested in for close to heads of the Department of the Interior and
inspiration struck. “All of a sudden,” Sowards 30 years now.” the National Park Service are both Native
says, “all the history I thought I knew looked An Open Pit Visible From the Moon tells the American. “There are ways to learn from the
different when I looked at it from this differ- story of the push and pull during the 1960s past and make improvements and try to rec-
ent angle.” between extractive industry and environmen- tify some of those wrongs,” Sowards says.
That course, taught by former Puget tal activists over the Glacier Peak Wilderness “Public lands are a great experiment in democ-
Sound professor Andrew Isenberg (now at the Area of Washington’s North Cascades. Making racy. It’s often an experiment that fails, but it
University of Kansas), combined with another Public Lands, Sowards’ fifth book, expands his has the potential to really see great elements of
course Isenberg taught about the history of work by tracing the larger history of conserva- our nation’s civic life at work.”
the American West—as well as classes taught tion on public lands. It explores the history of Since announcing his departure from Uni-
by Nancy Bristow—didn’t just wake Sowards those lands and how the agencies that govern versity of Idaho, Sowards has been teaching
up to new possibilities. They inspired his them, like the National Park Service and U.S. classes online while he figures out what comes
entire career. Forest Service, were shaped by activism and next. And all those years after taking those
With his focus on the intersection of the political concerns. courses at Puget Sound, Sowards found him-
history of the American West and the history As for the future of those lands in the self coming full circle when his old professor,
of the environment, Sowards, now 49, went midst of the effects of climate change and the Nancy Bristow, used An Open Pit Visible From
on to Arizona State for graduate school. Until ever-present tension between industry and the Moon in a class she taught about 1960s
recently, when his wife took a new job in environmentalism? history—and asked her former pupil to Zoom
Western Washington, Sowards was a history “My pessimist side says we might be in for the class discussion. “I’ve always said she
professor at University of Idaho. And in April doomed given the political polarization in the was the best classroom teacher I’ve ever seen,”
2022 alone, he saw the publication of both a United States and with climate change,” Sowards says.
brand-new book—Making America’s Public Sowards says. “It can feel impossible that these Attending Puget Sound, Sowards says,
Lands: The Contested History of Conservation on lands can be managed either for the greatest remains one of the best decisions he ever
Federal Lands—and the publication in paper- democratic or the greatest ecological good. made, as it literally shaped his career—and
back of his previous book, An Open Pit Visible But my optimist side says that public lands are made him appreciate the outdoors in a way he
From the Moon: The Wilderness Act and the a place where a more equitable relationship never had before. At Idaho, he taught a pro-
Fight To Protect Miners Ridge and the Public with lands and people could exist.” gram called Semester in the Wild, which
Interest, which won the Hal K. Rothman prize Sowards points to a section in his book involved spending time at the 2.4-million-acre
from the Western History Association. about Bears Ears National Monument in Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness,
Before taking those courses at Puget Sound Utah, where a group of indigenous tribes the largest contiguous wilderness in the lower
(where he also competed on the track team), pushed the government to have it recognized 48 states.
Sowards says, “I don’t think that I had thought as a national monument. “The public land “I think college is good that way, because it
a whole lot about being a westerner, or a system hasn’t always treated indigenous people hits you at a time in your life where you’re
northwesterner. I started to really recognize well,” Sowards says. “So you have this inter- open to having those sorts of discoveries,”
the uniqueness of the West and its historical tribal coalition come together and come to the Sowards says. “And it certainly worked that
experience and its landscapes, which are the federal government and say, ‘We think it way for me.”
6 arches spring 2022
OUTDOOR LE S S ONS “Public lands are a great experiment in democracy,” Adam Sowards ’95 says. Shown here: Zion National Park in Utah. spring 2022 arches 7
TO THE HEIGHTS | Q&A
The Nature of Artificial Intelligence
Assistant Professor America Chambers talks about how she taught a computer to write poetry—and how
we’re a long way from computers taking over the world.
BY J O N N Y E B E R L E
America Chambers, assistant professor of
mathematics and computer science, studies “You don’t need to and an exemplar of people from different
fields coming together.
how computers interpret text and teaches her
students how to build algorithms that can
worry that comput- Are you at all concerned about artificial
comprehend written language. ers will kill you. You intelligence getting too smart?
Not at all. I gave a presentation for parents
How did you first become interested in should just worry on this topic recently, and I said, “You don’t
computer science?
I ended up in computer science entirely by about your data need to worry that computers are going to kill
you. You should just worry about your data
accident. I went to college to study math
and education. I took an education class my
and privacy.” and privacy. I really like teaching Introduction
to Computer Science, because after that class,
first semester where my professor read us an students realize computers are actually really
excerpt from a book called Computers in the and wonder, How did I do that? How did I dumb. So you’re fine. You’re not safe from the
Classroom about a high school computer sci- understand what this person was saying? How other humans using computers, but you’re safe
ence class. At the time, I thought that sounded did I know that this friend would like this book? from the computers.
like the kind of hands-on teaching I wanted Your brain is amazing. I could spend the rest
to do. I always tell my students that I failed of my life researching the most basic task your What do you hope students gain from your
my first midterm, but afterward my professor brain does, trying to get an algorithm to do classes?
asked me to be a tutor because I understood the same thing. There are two things I hope students take away.
what it was like to struggle. I think that invita- The first is a larger historical perspective on
tion was why I stuck with it. Recently, you published research where you what we’re learning. The second is critical and
trained a neural network to write Homeric logical thinking skills. It isn’t enough to know
What brought you to Puget Sound? poetry. Can you talk about that project? that an algorithm works. I want you to under-
We were in Southern California at the time. That came from a student, Annie Lamar ’19, stand the way of thinking that led someone to
My husband wanted to start a church, and we who was a classics and computer science major. create that algorithm. Computers are capable
spent two years researching various cities. We She came to me with the idea of training an of so much, and they have the potential to
had two friends who were pastors in Seattle, artificial intelligence to write Homeric poetry. shed new light on every area we shine them
and they told us about Tacoma—they said She served as the domain expert from a classics on, if you approach them with an understand-
it’s diverse, it’s growing quickly, and it has a perspective, bringing in all this detailed knowl- ing of their strengths and limitations. I’m
university. So we actually decided to come edge about ancient Greek and about style intrigued by those possibilities, and I hope
to Tacoma before we had jobs. Then a few and meter, and I came alongside to provide students are, too.
months later, someone forwarded me the job the computer science knowledge. We trained
posting from the computer science depart- a neural network by having it read 27,000 How do you spend your time when you’re
ment here. lines of The Odyssey and The Iliad. Then we not on campus?
ran it through some models to see if it could I have two small kids, so I spend a lot of my
What is natural language processing, and generate the same kind of poetry. Annie even time reading children’s books and drying tears.
why does this area of research interest you? brought in ancient Greek experts and asked When I do get some time for myself, I like to
Natural language processing is the intersection if they could identify which lines were the read. I really enjoy science fiction and fantasy.
of written text and artificial intelligence. It’s original text and which ones were written by I could read that all day and be content. I even
all about trying to build algorithms that can the AI. What we found was that long pieces of have a page on my website (pugetsound
understand and generate text. It’s so interest- text started to turn into gobbledygook, but if .edu/alchambers) called Sandbox, where I post
ing, because the mundane things your brain presented with a single line, it becomes much book recommendations. I recently read The
does every day are so difficult for a computer harder to distinguish between the human and Murderbot Diaries series, which are quick reads
to do. Sometimes you have to just sit there the computer. It was a fantastic collaboration and very funny.
8 arches spring 2022P OE T, OR COM P UT E R ? Assistant Professor America Chambers and a student trained a neural network to write poetry in the style of The Iliad and The Odyssey. spring 2022 arches 9
T O T H E H E I G H T S | E X P L O R AT I O N S
The Virtues of Envy
Envy may be one of the seven deadly sins, but it can be a catalyst for growth,
according to Sara Protasi, associate professor of philosophy.
BY S A R A P R O TA S I
Envy is a powerful emotion, condemned
across cultures and religions, and accused of
rooting the most horrific crimes, from Cain’s
“Envy is a pain- of examples of friendly rivalries—athletes
who are friends but who are also constantly
competing against each other and, presumably,
fratricide against Abel to the Jewish genocide.
Malicious envy motivates people to plot and
ful perception envying the person who would win a race or a
tournament.
scheme, to steal and sabotage. Despite envy’s
dark and dangerous side, however, it can be
of another per- Unfortunately, improving one’s lot is
sometimes impossible, and emulative envy
an emotion whose power can be harnessed for
self-improvement. son’s superiority. cannot always arise. That’s when inert envy
occurs. A typical example is “baby envy,” felt
Think about an intense episode of envy
you may have felt—and yes, you probably did
feel envy at some point in your life, even if
Their success by people who want to have children but
are infertile and are incapable of rejoicing
with their pregnant friends. This envy isn’t
you don’t like to think about it! Chances are
that you felt that the person you envied was
reminds us of malicious, but it leads to feelings of sadness,
self-loathing, and detachment from the envied
better, more fortunate, or more advantaged
than you in some way. Their superiority was
what we could other.
While envy reveals a dark side of human
about something you really cared about: a
trait, such as beauty, humor, or intelligence, have been, had, nature—our tendency to covet other people’s
possessions and talents and cast an evil eye on
or an object, such as a job, an achievement,
wealth, or social status.
Envy is a painful perception of another
or achieved.” them—it also shows a more luminous one:
our tendency to improve ourselves and strive
for excellence. But how can we resist envy’s
person’s superiority; their success, Aristotle dark temptations and channel its luminous
tells us, feels like a reproach to us. It reminds and which brings him to scheme and weave energy? First, we should reject the stigma.
us of what we could have been, had, or a web that ultimately ruins not only Othello Envy is a normal, human passion. It’s crucial
achieved. When the distance between us and and his loved ones but also his own life. Then to feel it, acknowledge it, and investigate its
the envied feels unfillable, that’s when the nas- there’s aggressive envy, a dangerous type that origins, not deny it and let it fester. Envy has
tiness arises—we become hostile and aggres- involves cheating or taking credit for talents of signaling value: It tells us what we care about.
sive toward the other person. It’s too hard to a rival; it’s the envy felt by someone who feels When we are mindful of our envy, we might
admit that they may have worked harder or confident that they can pull the envied down discover interesting things about ourselves!
studied more than we did and thus deserve to their level. Politics is a context where many Then, we should frame our current inferiority
their better position, so we tell ourselves and rivalries are dealt with, not through hard work as temporary and develop a growth mindset
others that they did something wrong. We try and self-improvement, but by smearing the (“I might have lost this race, but I might be
to bring them down, sometimes literally, as opponent. able to win the next one!”). Finally, we should
in some sports competitions where rivals are Spiteful and aggressive envy are what think of the envied as a model to emulate, not
tripped, or worse, as in hate crimes. deservingly give envy its bad reputation. But a target to destroy. After all, for envy to even
But envy is not always this nasty. As I envy is concerned with a perceived inferiority arise, they cannot be too different from us.
explain in my book (The Philosophy of Envy, with regard to an important good or goal, and What did they do better? How can we learn
Cambridge University Press, 2021), envy is that is probably why we evolved to feel it: It from them?
a lot more complicated and interesting than matters how we stack up to others, especially Envy’s painful pangs can make us focus
that. in a situation of scarce resources, when only on what matters and on how to achieve it—if
There are at least four different kinds of some people can get a limited good. Thus, only we let them.
envy. There is spiteful envy, when we feel envy can be functional, because it may lead us
completely incapable of improving our station. to emulate others and improve ourselves. Call A version of this article was first published in the
That’s the envy that Iago feels toward Othello, this emulative envy. Sport provides a wealth online magazine of the Institute of Art and Ideas.
10 arches spring 2022I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y K R I S TO F E R N Y S T R Ö M spring 2022 arches 11
TO T H E H E I G H T S | YO U A R E H E R E 12 arches spring 2022
MUS IC IN T HE AIR Our favorite open-air concert tradition returned in May. Pops on the Lawn features student musicians and invites campus members, neighbors, and guests to gather on Karlen Quad to enjoy the music. spring 2022 arches 13
14 arches spring 2022
NABIL AYERS ’93 HAS ENJOYED SUCCESS AS A MUSICIAN, RECORD STORE OWNER,
RECORD COMPANY EXECUTIVE, AND ESSAYIST. HE HAS COME A LONG WAY SINCE HIS
UNIVERSITY OF PUGET SOUND DAYS, WHEN HE SAYS HE "BARELY HUNG ON ACADEMI-
CALLY" BUT THRIVED IN MANY OTHER WAYS.
ROOTS
REFLECTIONS
BY N A B I L AY E R S ’ 9 3
P H O T O S BY B I L L C A R D O N I
I
n 2006, 13 years after I graduated from University of Puget Sound, I was invited to speak to the university’s Business
Leadership Program. The moment I received Professor Jeffrey J. Matthews’ invitation, I considered what my presen-
tation might look like. At the time, I co-owned Sonic Boom Records, a chain of stores in Seattle; I ran my own record
label, The Control Group; I toured the world playing drums in my band, The Long Winters; and I worked as an A&R scout
spring 2022 arches 15INDUSTRY VETERAN Nabil Ayers ’93 moved from Seattle to New York in 2008 to be U.S. head of the British record com- pany 4AD. In January, he was named U.S. pres- ident of Beggars Group, which owns 4AD and other indie music labels. 16 arches spring 2022
for Epic Records. It’s not that I questioned my do what I loved, and not be pinned down with Greenwich Village to the relatively bland Salt
own success, but I was surprised that Professor a real job. I explained that my goal had been Lake City when I was 10.
Matthews—from whom I’d never taken a to play drums in a band, and that the record In my interviews, I was told—as if it was
class—recognized it. In my mind, the only store gave me both the flexibility and the con- imperative that the point get across—that
evidence of my time at Puget Sound was my nections to do so. I laid out the simple budget UPS would not prepare me for any specific
transcripts—which had definitely not earned that my business partner and I devised when we job. On the contrary, it would prepare me for
me the invitation to speak in that room. opened Sonic Boom Records, which wasn’t on life after college … whatever that meant. My
When I arrived at the student union a spreadsheet or in a fancy program—it was on SAT scores were good, my grades weren’t, and
building, I inhaled the familiar salty warmth a bar napkin. I played music videos by some of my interviews all went great. Ultimately, I was
of the cafeteria. I walked the same floors that the artists I worked with, and I explained how accepted to Puget Sound for who I was, and
I’d nervously stepped onto for the first time in I worked with them. while the admission counselors knew that, I
August 1989, and confidently strode across for During that hour, my confidence increased didn’t realize it until years after I graduated.
with each laugh, To me, college was less about classes and
with each round more about socializing with smart, motivated
of applause after people. More about taking advantage of the
a music video, many nonacademic opportunities on campus
I SPENT MY COLLEGE YEARS w it h t he low
chat ter about
to discover who I was and who I wanted to be.
There were times when I’d do anything to
THINKING I WAS GETTING ou r re me d i a l
record store
avoid studying. I was enthralled with the library
as a social hub, so I’d sit at a table in the busiest
AWAY WITH SOMETHING. budget, which—
no matter how
area with an open book, headphones on, and my
bulky CD Walkman next to the shiny plastic
BUT REALLY I WAS DOING ca sua l it may
have been—
jewel cases to Smashing Pumpkins’ Gish and
Pixies’ Trompe Le Monde sloppily displayed, in
WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO worked. During
t h a t h o u r, I
hopes that the scene would lead to a conversa-
tion. Danielle Fagre Arlowe ’94 and I sometimes
BE DOING, IN A SYSTEM rea lized that
despite my poor
sat in the front of the library and waged a pop-
ularity contest: Neither of us was allowed to
THAT FOSTERED AND academic per-
formance, I had
initiate a conversation, and as friends entered,
we’d see which one of us they addressed first,
ENCOURAGED IT. earned my spot
in front of those
students, and I
earning one of us a point. We still argue over
who won. Danielle is now a successful attorney,
and she remains very popular.
I
understood how
much my time n 2008, I moved from Seattle to Brooklyn,
at Puget Sound where I started a job as the U.S. head of the
had helped me legendary British record company 4AD.
the last time in December 1993. The rotunda in unexpected ways along my journey. I’ve now been there for 13 years, and I love
L
was crowded with 50 or so students who came my job more each day. In January of this year, I
to a hush after an introduction and some wel- ike many of my high school friends in was named president of 4AD’s parent company,
coming applause. My presentation began like Salt Lake City, I visited several West Beggars Group US.
this: Coast colleges. My mother had heard In 2016, I started writing. That’s what I
“I never imagined I’d be here. I graduated great things about UPS, so she arranged tell people, at least. The truth is that I actually
from UPS in 1993, four and a half years after I for me to meet with three different admission started during college, where I took three writ-
started. I got one A, one F, and my overall GPA counselors over the course of a year. I didn’t ing classes: News Writing, where I learned how
was somewhere in the middle.” brush up on current events or literature, as had to get to the point; Fiction Writing, in which
The crowd laughed uncomfortably. And as I been recommended by guidance counselors and the professor read my piece as an example of one
spoke, I felt myself not so much giving a presen- other motivated parents. But I had 17 years of that was progressing nicely (this kind of thing
tation but actually feeling engaged in the topic: stories to tell about my life—playing music since never happened to me, and it felt like a big deal);
What I’d been up to in the 13 years since I’d I was 2, working a wide range of summer jobs and Writing and Rhetoric—my favorite class,
graduated. I talked about taking a low-paying since I was 12, experiencing the culture shock with Professor Sarah Sloane, and the only class
record store job so that I could be close to music, of moving from New York City’s cosmopolitan in which I earned an A. After college, I stopped
spring 2022 arches 17writing, but I didn’t stop paying attention A Rich Education College Music Journal cover to cover, and
to my surroundings and documenting other times, we simply pulled CDs off the
them in great detail in my memory. Nabil Ayers ’93 describes his new book shelf and played them because they had a
I’d built a career in music, but I knew as “a memoir about one man’s journey to cool cover, or because they had Sub Pop
I wasn’t simply a drummer, a record store connect with his musician father, ultimately or Matador or 4AD logos printed on the
owner, or a record executive. My UPS edu- re-drawing the lines that define family and spine.
cation gave me the confidence to pivot, to race.” In this excerpt, Ayers recalls some of his Forty percent of UPS students were fra-
expand into something exciting and new. experiences as a Puget Sound student. ternity or sorority members. My childhood
I started writing short essays, and some photos weren’t of me on boats or ski slopes,
were published in outlets like The New Nirvana’s debut album Bleach was released they were of a half-Black, half-white, hippie
York Times and NPR. Soon, these essays in June 1989. Three months later, during kid with an afro, wearing raggedy clothes
became pieces of a larger puzzle. my first week of college, Soundgarden and holding a pair of drumsticks on an
This month, Viking, an imprint of released their second album, Louder Than urban sidewalk—a very happy kid, but
Penguin Random House, is publishing my Love. And that November, Mudhoney’s one who didn’t fit the fraternity mold. But
memoir, My Life in the Sunshine. The book self-titled debut arrived. “Grunge,” I I was curious enough to give the fraternity
includes plenty of fun stories about New quickly learned, was a real thing, and system the benefit of the doubt.
York City in the ’70s, being a biracial kid bands from Seattle were playing powerful, My freshman friends and I went
with a young single mother and moving heavy, sweaty music at exceptionally high through rush, the very organized process
to Salt Lake City in the ’80s, graduating volumes and rebelliously slow speeds. in which prospective fraternity members
from UPS before living in Seattle and I’d chosen a college in the Northwest visit each house and meet its members.
touring in rock bands in the ’90s. But for a few reasons: I wanted to leave Salt Over the course of four days, each rushee
mostly, it’s about my struggle to connect Lake for a bigger city; I didn’t like Cali- spends an increasing amount of time at a
with my father, whom I’ve never known, fornia, which felt fun to visit but too one- decreasing number of houses, based on a
and the influence he’s had over me despite dimensional to call home; and I wanted mutual ranking system. I’d met a lot of
his absence. Writing this book opened up to be closer to music. Seattle simply felt people whom I really liked—people from
a wellspring of new connections—some musical, with record stores and venues Salt Lake, people who liked the same bands
familial, others simply by mutual agree- everywhere. I did and had other shared interests. And
ment—and it taught me how to blur the At UPS, I barely hung on academically. they seemed to like me. Nobody asked the
lines that define family and race. I can’t But I excelled in other ways. Tons of kids questions I feared: What does your father
wait to put it out into the world. at UPS played music, and it was easy to do? What kind of car do you drive? What
So here I am, a college graduate who connect with them in the close quarters race are you?
still makes jokes about my terrible GPA. of my freshman dorm. Both of my room- Still, I wasn’t entirely comfortable.
But one who’s thankful that UPS taught mates were musicians. Jon was a tall, quiet There’s a scene in the movie Animal House
me how to solve problems, how to think academic from nearby Kent, Wash., who in which some nonwhite men are rushing.
for myself but also consider the opinions played trombone. Luke was an energetic They’re treated well on the surface—
of others, how to operate in a group of pre-med student who had grown up in greeted with smiles and firm handshakes,
two, or 10, or 100. I spent four and a half Eureka, Calif., where he played trumpet but then they’re pawned off on the least
years thinking I was getting away with in Mr. Bungle, the band Mike Patton left desirable members of the fraternity. Was
something. But really, I was doing what I (and eventually returned to) to join Faith I that guy? It was the members’ job to
was supposed to be doing, in a system that No More just before they recorded their make everyone feel welcome, but was I
fostered and encouraged it. breakthrough album The Real Thing. truly welcome? I feared that my race and
Looking back, many of my professors I shared a weekly radio show with my socioeconomic background made me a
saw me for who I was. I didn’t understand friend Jason Livermore ’93, a handsome prime candidate to be, at best, uninvited
that back then, but they did. I took a deep jock who was on a swimming scholarship. to join a fraternity or, at worst, humiliated
dive into the elements of college that pre- Jason was a drummer who’d lived outside during the process of trying.
pared me for the life I have now. And UPS of Berkeley, Calif., and had seen punk On the final day of rush, I was asked
was right there with me, providing the shows at the legendary venue 924 Gilman back by my top two fraternity choices. But
framework, people, and the environment Street. We knew that nobody listened my second choice scared me. The guys were
that allowed me to figure it out—facili- to our show on KUPS, but we used our tightly wound and had stereotypical frater-
tating self-made opportunities for a giant two-hour shift to rapaciously explore the nity nicknames like Puddles and Chain-
step in the right direction. station’s music library and educate our- saw. The blond, buttoned-up, chisel-jawed
selves. We read the weekly trade magazine house president could never pronounce my
18 arches spring 2022name correctly. Happily, I accepted an offer a message, especially when its looseness fosters our party strategy. It was my first real job, and
from my first choice along with two dozen other an emotional connection. We, unfortunately, I poured myself into my position, leading to my
freshmen. were very tight, and while it was a ton of fun, becoming president my senior year.
Should I be in this fraternity? I sometimes there was no real passion in what we did. The president carried a big title—Eminent
thought after I joined. Sigma Alpha Epsilon After a few shows, it became time to name Archon. The title always brought me back to
fraternity was founded in 1856 in Tuscaloosa, our band. Spontaneous Funk Whorehouse thoughts about the fraternity’s early days—it
Ala. All eight of its founding fathers fought for quickly stuck, and although it stands out as felt all too close to the KKK, who used titles like
the Confederacy in the Civil War. But more one of the worst band names I’ve ever heard, it Grand Dragon and Grand Wizard to describe
often, I thought it was important to be there, did kind of fit our sound, a college band that its leadership. But the thought of me, a Black,
among a relatively mixed group of people— couldn’t decide its focus. Our music leaned white, Baha’i, Jewish son of a single mother
some of whom were Jewish, Hispanic, Indian, toward off-kilter, percussive Bay Area bands becoming Eminent Archon of a respected
Black, Japanese, and gay—helping the system like Mr. Bungle and Primus. Our friends called chapter of the biggest national fraternity … I
to evolve, rather than rejecting it based on its us SFW for short, and those who didn’t like loved it. Not only had I joined the system, I’d
history. us called us So Fucking What. We quickly beat it. My goal hadn’t been to dismantle it, but
advanced from college house parties to local to continue to push it forward.
I
’d been close with the same college buddies Tacoma bars like Magoo’s and Cheers West. At UPS, I created a new student government
for two years, so in retrospect, I’m not sure Within a few months, we recorded a five- position, overseeing the new Campus Music
why it took Jason and me so long to start a song demo, which took two full days and served Network. There were several bands on campus,
band. We had always made a point to see music as my first time recording in a real studio. I and I was given a budget to put on concerts,
together. In 1991, we walked two hours in the loved the smell of new carpet and the fact that send each band into a proper recording studio,
rain from our parking spot to see a show on the we spent more time meticulously tweaking and release a compilation tape of the recordings.
first Lollapalooza tour, with Jane’s Addiction, sounds and mixing the tracks than actually I was thrilled to hear that after I graduated, the
Siouxsie and the Banshees, Violent Femmes, playing. We had an engineer who program continued to exist and
Fishbone, and Ice-T and Body Count. We drove gave us positive reinforcement that each year a new compila-
two hours south to Portland instead of to nearby but also told us when we should tion had been released on CD.
Seattle in order to see Sonic Youth in a smaller, change a part. In the studio, we My academic advisor, though
better venue. We sweated in a cramped Seattle were a real band. SFW pressed disappointed with my poor aca-
record store while Nirvana debuted songs from 100 cassettes and they sold out demic performance for nearly
their not-yet-released album Nevermind for a right away. Soon, SFW released four years, sat me down one day
lucky roomful of fans. a CD. We received heavy airplay to tell me how impressed he was
In our junior year of college, we finally got on the local radio station KGRG, with the Campus Music Net-
our act together and started our band. I played which had a strong signal and work and that he was submitting
guitar, Jason played drums, my freshman real listeners. me for an award. I explained to
roommate Luke sang and played trumpet and I’ll never forget the first him—unapologetically—that
keyboards, and our bespectacled, lacrosse- time I heard myself on the radio contrary to what my transcripts
playing friend Chris played bass. We covered and cranked the volume in my said, I was receiving an excellent
college-friendly party songs by Jane’s Addiction, friend’s car as we turned a corner onto campus. education at Puget Sound. I may have majored
the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Alice in Chains. Even though I knew KGRG was a small station, in communication, but my real classes were
And finally, we started writing our own music. I was famous for those three minutes. deejaying at KUPS, playing in a band, interning
It wasn’t easy. In my junior year, I’d been elected social at a record company, planning parties, and now
At night, Jason and I continued to see chairman of my fraternity, where I did more overseeing the Campus Music Network.
bands—loud, straight-ahead bands like Sea- than simply plan parties. I handled weekly That spring, I sat in a roomful of over-
weed and Mudhoney, but we couldn’t write negotiations with the dean’s office to get our achieving seniors who I assumed looked down
music like theirs. On our radio show, we con- alcohol permits signed before parties. I oversaw on me on the days that I did attend class, and I
tinued to play lazy guitar bands like Sebadoh a healthy budget. I instituted a system of creative accepted one of the university’s highest honors,
and Pavement, but we couldn’t write music accounting so that sororities could contribute to the Oxholm Award for Superior Service to the
like theirs either. Everyone in our band was alcohol purchases for the first time ever—some- University Community.
technically a good musician, which I later real- thing they were strictly forbidden to do. I hired
ized might have been a handicap: Some of the live bands and brought in fencing companies From My Life in the Sunshine by Nabil Ayers,
best bands are great because, while they might so we could expand our parties outdoors in the published by Viking, an imprint of Penguin
not be masters of their instruments, they have spring. And I listened to and represented 100 Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random
something to say. Music is a powerful vessel for people, many of whom didn’t always agree on House, LLC. Copyright © 2022 by Nabil Ayers.
spring 2022 arches 1920 arches spring 2022
FOR YEARS, HENRY HAAS ’60 DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE HORRORS HIS
FAMILY ESCAPED. NOW, HE’S MAKING SURE THE STORY DOESN’T GET LOST.
HIDDEN
HISTORY
B Y C R I S T I N A R O U VA L I S
H
enry Haas ’60 grew up in the 1940s in a refugee settlement in Shanghai, in a
single 10-by-12-foot room he shared with his parents. There was no toilet, no
running water. A simple sponge bath involved his parents going out among the
crowds to buy hot water from street vendors. Haas walked to school, where he and other
spring 2022 arches 21A 1926 photo showing
Haas’ mother, Gerda, at age Gerda Buchheim and Hans Gerda Haas’ extended
20. She had hoped to attend Haas were married in 1935. Haas’ grandparents, Max family. Of the 15 people in
a university and become Soon after, with the Nazis and Paula Buchheim, the photo, six were killed in
a teacher, but was turned closing in, Hans applied for refused to flee Germany. the Holocaust.
down because she was Czech citizenship—a move Max had served in the
Jewish. that may well have saved German military in World
their lives. War I and was sure his
veteran status would spare
him. Both were murdered
at Auschwitz.
Jewish kids learned their lessons in German turns out—first in Germany, as the Nazis came wrote, “and I hope it serves to provide a record
and English. to power, and then in Shanghai in 1943, when of a point of time in history when prejudice and
It was a hard childhood, to be sure. But Haas the Nazis ordered the Japanese to annihilate antisemitism, along with sheer madness, ruled
had no idea what his parents had gone through Jewish refugees living in that city. (For reasons this world.”
simply to get him to that point—to keep him not fully known, the Japanese never carried out Henry and Gerda began to tell their story
alive during a horrific chapter of human history. the plan.) But in the mid-1990s, when Haas together, informally, and kept telling it until
He didn’t know that his parents had fled Berlin was a Tacoma lawyer and a married father of Gerda died in 2012. A few years ago, Henry
in 1938, when he was an infant, to escape the three, he finally learned the full story of his signed up to be part of the speakers’ bureau of
Nazis. He didn’t know about Adolph Hitler. family’s escape from Nazi Germany. Around the Holocaust Center for Humanity in Seattle.
He had no idea about the fate of his maternal the dinner table, he and his wife, Kate, would Haas, who at age 84 is still a practicing attor-
grandparents, who stayed behind in Germany listen intently to Gerda’s stories. One day, Kate ney, gives a PowerPoint presentation featuring
in the hope that things would get better—and said to her mother-in-law, “I really want to write a faded family photo that includes 11 family
who would end up perishing in a concentration your story.” members who died in the Holocaust.
camp. He didn’t know that 53 other members “Who would want to hear my story?” “I realized I had a story to tell, and I wanted
of his family would suffer the same fate. “Your grandchildren,” Kate replied. to share it on a more regular basis,” he says. “I
Fifty-three. As it turns out, plenty of others, too. Kate know there are kids out there who are in the
“My parents wanted to give me the most first convinced Gerda to write an outline, same position I was, and I wanted them to hear
normal life possible as a child,” he says now of then filled in the details based on many more my story.”
T
the choice not to burden him with the reality in-depth conversations. Taking notes by hand
of his family’s experience. on yellow legal pads, Kate began to weave the he story begins before Henry Haas
It wasn’t until Haas was a teenager living notes into a narrative. Eventually, she typed was born. His parents, Gerda and
in Washington state that Gerda Haas began them into a document titled History of Gerda Hans, were teenagers in Berlin—
to tell her son, in bits and pieces, about the Buchheim Haas—Holocaust Survivor. The story not even a couple yet—when the
family’s dangerous and complicated journey opens with a message written by Gerda herself: ominous signs started.
to freedom. They had escaped death twice, it “Our story is outlined in the ensuing pages,” she Gerda worked in her father’s butcher shop
22 arches spring 2022You can also read
