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Discussion of Italian pavements the focus of Barbieri  Endowment lecture

A discussion of tiling theory was afoot at a recent lecture, “Art and Geometry of Italian Pavements,” presented by Judith Moran, associate professor of quantitative studies and director of the mathematics center.     Moran’s talk focused on great tile artists of the medieval period and explained how the beauty and meaning of their work relates to forms of mathematic symmetry. By counterpoint, she explained, some beautiful modern forms of tiling have no symmetry at all. The lecture was a Cesare Barbieri Endowment for Italian Culture event.   “It was illuminating,” says John Alcorn, program director of the Barbieri Endowment. “This sort of meeting of the arts and sciences represents liberal arts at its best.”      Alcorn says in a typical year the endowment supports about one dozen such events.

SUCCEEDING		Steve Elmendorf '82
		Chief of Staff to House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt talks post-9/11 politics

“My boss always says ‘Politics is a substitute for violence,’” says Steve Elmendorf ’82. As chief of staff to House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri), Elmendorf has been described by Roll Call magazine as “Gephardt’s principal link to the vast political machine on which the party relies,” and since 1994 has been named by that publication as one of Washington’s 50 most important staff members. In his 20-year political career, Elmendorf has ascended to a prominent position, leading a staff of 40 for the man many expect to run for president in 2004, while gaining an acute appreciation and respect for the differences that are resolved every day in Washington.

“People have different views, but the great thing about our system here is that we resolve all of those conflicts peacefully, reasonably, and fairly. In many other societies in the world, they don’t do that,” he says. “People may not realize how hard everybody works here to resolve these differences and that 98-percent of them, in both parties, are doing this for the right reasons. While I don’t agree with a lot of the people on the Republican side, I think in most cases they’re acting out of heartfelt belief.”

Elmendorf, a member of St. Anthony’s Hall, acquired some early political training at Trinity as president of the inter-fraternity council—a post he has described as “very good experience in terms of coalition building, politics, and dealing with people who don’t like you.”

He recently returned to Trinity to give his fraternity’s annual Clement Lecture, entitled “American Politics in the Post 9/11 World.” Since September 11, he says, “it’s been an extraordinarily challenging time. You just never know what’s going to happen. I think it has sort of reoriented voters’ priorities, rightfully so, and it’s added a high degree of uncertainty to everything.”

Being part of history

Elmendorf, who majored in history in part because “it’s important to know what happened and why it happened in the past,” says he intends to stay in politics as long as he can.

“The great advantage of what I do is that it’s interesting, it’s fun, it’s different, and it’s never boring. I’ve been here for some very big things,” he says, pointing to 9/11 and the impeachment of former President Clinton as two examples. “There’s a lot of history going on here.”

Clyde McKee, professor of political science, remembers Elmendorf from the front row of his “American National Government” course. “He had a sort of insightful skepticism, and was, at some points, a bit of a cynic, but in a constructive way,” McKee recalls. “He would ask questions that were challenging to the authors we were reading. It impressed me that he was willing to take on the authors.”

The liberal arts in politics

“Politics, at the end of the day, is all about assimilating information,” says Elmedorf. “It’s all about assimilating it and disseminating it. You’re gathering information and then you’re sending it out somewhere else, or articulating it some other way, or trying to change the way it’s viewed. It’s not particularly concrete, and you’re not producing widgets, and you’re not producing a budget. It’s not like the private sector, but it’s all about sharing information and figuring out how that information is perceived. A liberal arts education is a very good basis for that.”

                                                                                                                          – Michael Bradley