The University of Chicago Magazine
October-December 1996
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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MAGAZINE
OCTOBER-DECEMBER 1996
Table of Contents
VOLUME 89, N0S. 1 & 2 OCT.DEC. 1996
Cover: Professor Michael LaBarbera gets ready to critique a creature. Photograph by Matthew Gilson.
The strange laboratory of Dr. LaBarberaA biologist goes to the movies--where Raquel Welch meets Brownian motion, and terminal velocity turns King Kong's fatal fall into a really big splash.
MICHAEL LaBARBERA
Strength in numbersThe University began its centennial by issuing itself a challenge. Five years and 92,000 donors later, the Campaign for the Next Century had succeeded beyond all expectations.
Ensuring the University's continued strength means placing special emphasis on the College.
MARY RUTH YOE
Whether championing mathematics education or showering hospitality on students and colleagues, Izaak Wirszup, PhD'55, has made his life's work making a difference.
WILLIAM HARMS
DEPARTMENTS
- Letters
Mikva on trial; defending the Department of Dewey; no special privileges for alumni offspring? - Events
- Chicago journal
The Department of Education considers its future; the U of C Alumni Association has a new executive director. - Investigations
Melissa Roderick on why even good students often struggle in Chicago's public schools; what mad cows and defective yeast have in common. - Class news
Read news for graduating classes in 
Poetic Justice: Sylvia Major, PhB'34, became a poet in her 50s and started graduate school at age 69, pursuing her interest in peace, civil rights, women's rights, and ecology.
Ban the Box: Jean Lotus, AB'88, edits The White Dot, a newsletter about what it's like to live without a television.- Deaths
- Books by alumni
- In the clubs
- Chicagophile
Jessica Abel, AB'91, considers some gifts that keep on giving.