World and I Magazine Table of Contents

August 1991 Contents


The Infrastructure Crisis AMERICA’S CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE: LOSING WEALTH THROUGH THE CRACKS · Introduction · Confronting the Crisis Samuel Schwartz and Clark Wieman America is living precariously on the foresight of past planners and engineers. · Repairing the Fragile Foundations Joseph M. Giglio Thoughtful public works planning and investment benefit all Americans. · The Key to Economic Growth David Aschauer Investing in public works in crucial for maintaining America’s standard of living, growth, and international competitiveness. · The Case for Privatization Robert W. Poole National and state policy must cope with the mismatch between infrastructure needs and limited resources. · The Global Difference Edward V. Regan Americans should make note of the stitch in time approach that other countries take to national infrastructure. · Financing Our Public Works A Forum ANALYSIS Lessons of the Recession Daniel J. Mitchell Although economists are almost always at variance, most would concur that the resurgence of regulation, a sudden rise in oil prices, and a record tax increase have contributed greatly toward the ending recession. · France Marks the Mitterrand Decade Harvey B. Feigenbaum While de Gaulle was a man of fixed goals and a specific vision, Mitterrand has proved to be a man of limitless flexibility. COMMENTARY · The Momentum of Transformation in Central Europe Donald Jameson If Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary can work together, they may realize a long period of democratic rule coupled with relative economic stability. · An Open Letter to the New Drug Czar Mark A.R. Kleiman and Rebecca M. Young Focusing policy on protecting people and institutions rather than fighting chemicals would be a good place to start in rethinking the drug control effort. · New Priorities in Refugee Care W.R. Smyser Despite the new focus on taking care of potential refugees in their own countries, international caregivers must not overlook individuals who may have a genuine need to flee. MUSIC · Unsung Schreker Lawrence O’Toole Viennesse composer Franz Schreker stuck to his tonal guns while Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern were reaching for dissonance. Today people are listening to him again. · The Rebirth of English Music Robert R. Reilly English music has a peculiar, not to say idiosyncratic, history. Its best inspiration comes out of the beauties of the English countryside, says our critic. DANCE Eliot Feld and the Shifting Paradigm Doris Hering Choreographer Feld has been a long time in the wings as successor to Balanchine and Robbins. Is he ever going to make it center stage? THEATER Restructuring Lithuanian Theater Nicholas Rudall An energetic American director is introducing capitalist ways into the theater world of Lithuania. So far, pretty good. POETRY Wild Roses, Words, and Catacombs B.K. Ngabwe Passionate and deep thoughts on language, love, and death. ARCHITECTURE Deauville’s Mighty Timbers Marcus Binney France’s most fashionable seaside resort features mock Tudor as its preferred style—old but very new. DESIGN Luscious Lalique Judith Bell Talk about objects d’art—Lalique’s designs revolutionized decorative arts. You can see why. PERSPECTIVES Rauschenberg and the Big Qeustion Eric Gibson The National Gallery is giving the biggest exhibit ever to a living artist. But does he really merit this honor? ART Five Thousand Elegant Years of Art Scarlet Cheng China has produced a wealth of rich and strange art down through the millennia—two hundred superb works are on view at the Smithsonian’s Sackler. Liubov Popova: Art into Life Jason Edward Kaufman It’s been almost seventy years since she died, but at least the West is discovering Popova’s really revolutionary work. FILM The Way of the independent David D’Arcy The lot of the independent filmmaker is not an easy one, but there’s always the dream that Hollywood may co-opt him. PHOTOGRAPHY Remembering the Iron Curtain Mavis Guinard Life behind the Iron Curtain was stifling, boring, and harsh. If you doubt it, check out these photographers. INTERVIEW Michael Medved: Distinctions with a Difference Lissa Roche PBS film critic Michael Medved discusses, among other things, the difference between Henry and Jane Fonda, Jimmy Stewart and Tom Cruise, and Hollywood and America. PASTIMES London Bookshops: Biblophile’s Paradise Herb Greer In London you will find some of the rarest reading in the world. HEALTH The Golden Hour Sherry Von Ohisen When medical trauma strikes, the golden hour begins: MedEvac flight crews know saved seconds means saved lives. FOOD Costa Rican Cuisine Kay Shaw Nelson Innovative cooks and little-known foods add up to culinary adventures in Central America. PROFILE How the Peace Corps Saved My Life Charles R. Larson On the thirtieth anniversary of the Peace Corps, a writer reflects on his experiences as an early volunteer in Nigeria. GARDEN Small Gardens: Think Big Virginia Greiner If your backyard paradise is a tight fit in plain view, here are a few ways to make it look big and feel private. AT THE EDGE · Genetic Engineering’s Brave new World Gall Dutton Researchers are cautiously accelerating the natural development of plants, animals, and microbes, and it appears that if the new strains escaped into the wild, they wouldn’t cause havoc. · Massively Parallel Computing Sudip Dosanjh, Carl Diegert, and William Camp A new computer design promises profound advances beyond the present generation of super computers. · Energy Crops for Biofuels Janet H. Cushman, Lynn L. Wright, and Kate Shaw Research now under way aims to make cultivated trees and grasses on important source of fuels for transportation and electricity generation. · Penicillin Allergies May Not Be Forever Marjorie Centofanti Eighty percent of those who think they are allergic to penicillin probably aren’t. That’s because the allergy, one of the most common drug sensitivities, may not last a lifetime. NATURE WALK Givers and Takers of Light Craig F. Bohren Clouds are intrinsically neither bright nor dark, but scatter sunlight toward or away from the observer in endlessly variegated patterns. SCIENTISTS: PAST AND PRESENT Minding the Botanical Drugstore Joseph E. Brown Eloy Rodriguez studies plants of the desert and forest to find new cures for old maladies. SCIENCE ESSAY The Wild Side of Fat Caroline M. Pond Some wild animals naturally become obese for at least part of their lives. Can we learn their secret for combining fatness with fitness					FEATURED BOOK COMMENTARIES: Frank Chin’s Donald Duk · Introduction · Excerpt · A Kinder, Gentler Frank Chin Amy Ling Through this novel, a more mellow, mature author begins to make his peace with the demons of his past. · The Real Versus the Fake Shawn Wong Frank Chin explores the realm of real history versus fake stereotype. · ‘I’ve Been Working on the Railroad’ Sue Fawn Chung Donald Duk’s dream sequences teach the vital but neglected history of the Chinese role in building the transcontinental railroad. · The Spring of Chinese American Letters Scarlet Cheng Several new voices present the Chinese perspective on the immigrant experience in America. REVIEWS · A Magical Mystery Romp A Review by Richard Howard On the Road to Baghdad By Guneli Gun This phantasmagoria of myth and adventure is a Turkish delight of the liberation of the soul. · A Mirror of Plays, A Play of Mirrors A Review by Frank Menchaca The Last Days of William Shakespeare By Vlady Kociancich A Latin American country’s plan to liberate its culture begins as a farce—and ends in political terror. · Computing the Future A Review by George Gilder Technology 2001: The Future of Computing and Communications Edited by Derek Leebaert. 2020 Vision: Winning in the information Economy By Bill Davidson and Stan Davis Virtually every institution in modern industrial society will be transformed within a decade by microchip supercomputers and fiber optics. · Straddling the Cultural Divide A Review by Joan Mooney The Clay That Breathes By Catherine Browder These travelers never lose their feeling of difference. · Hollywood Gothic A Review by Mark Schaffer Flicker By Theodore Roszak A film buff unwittingly uncovers the secret history of the movies. · Finding Peace A Review by George Garrett The Foreseeable Future By Reynolds Price In these stories peace replaces war, family love overcomes troubles, and dreams light the way into the foreseeable future. · A Magellan of the Interior A Review John C. Tibbetts Houses Without Doors By Peter Straub Repressed evil inevitably surfaces to threaten our well-ordered, “normal” world in Peter Straub’s thrillers (includes author interview). BOOKS FROM ABROAD The Real Romanian Revolution A Review by Virgil Nemoianu Levantul (Levantine realm) By Mircea Cartarescu Female in Rosu By Mircea Nedelciu, Adriana Babeti, and Mircea Mihaies Istoria literaturii romane (A history of Romanian literature), Vol#1 By Nicolae Manolescu Literary imagination is unleashed in a medium that until two years ago was subjected to heavy censorship. EVALUATING THE THATCHER ERA · The Fall of Thatcher Alfred Sherman Central issues that figure in Margaret Thatcher’s fall from power include complacency, rising welfarist and statist forces, failure to achieve economic objectives, imposition of the poll tax, privatization, flaws in the National Health Service, and disagreement over the European Community. · Privatization of Great Britain: Motives, Methods, and Lessons David Bernstein To the surprise of left-wing critics, privatization in Great Britain was a political as well as economic success. The feat required the use of subtle political strategies that should be a model for privatizers around the world. THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOVIET UNION · Introduction Morton A. Kaplan Three articles in a recent issue of the Independent Newspaper from Russia illuminate transitional features of the dissolution of the communist system in the Soviet Union. · Soviet Economy Heads Westward Vitali Naishul A thoughtful analysis, the author claims, shows that the Soviet economy is not in too bad shape. · The Truth and Nothing But… Alexei Savchenko Official historiography has left the Soviet people entirely ignorant because this history is false. The truth is, the author claims, that Russia was invaded by an alien, evil force, whose aims were achieved by cruelty, lies, meanness, and treachery. · KGB in the Age of Perestroika and Glasnost Yuri Vlassov Even now, according to this letter by a People’s Deputy and opponent of the Communist Party, the KGB continues to interface in his personal life. ESSAYS · Magic in the Land Lincoln Allison People increasingly look to “nature” and to landscape to provide for important spiritual needs. But the nature of those needs and how they can best be provided for are complex issues. · Advanced Disillusion The Writing of History Linda Simon In writing history we must consider the context of the lives that were lived, a context that includes all human endeavors and surroundings. Students, however, tend to summarize and quote experts, rather than analyze and venture opinions. · The New Women Playwrights Enoch Brater Lillian Hellman was the only major female playwright on the Broadway stage of her era: the early thirties through the late fifties. But in the seventies and eighties there came a wave of adventurous young women playwrights; their work represents a new dramatic moment and an attempt to be heard. · The Values of Freedom Anthony Flew The fundamental kind of freedom, Flew claims, is rooted in the very quality of being human, and it is this essential feature of our humanity that makes possible freedom from totalitarianism and freedom from the general bureaucratization of the world. · Hawthorne and Bellamy Two Views on Man and Society Milton Birnbaum Both Hawthorne’s Blithedale Romance and Bellamy’s Looking Backward describe the author’s reactions to a utopian experiment; their different conclusion regarding the concept of utopia spring from their different views on human nature and society. CROSSROADS · Either side of the Vardar Ethnic Tension and Cultural Change in Southern Yugoslavia Jeffrey and Nancy Folks On one side, ethnic division threatens to tear Yugoslav Serbia and Macedonia apart. On the other, diverse cultural groups grapple with their differences and common desire to move from a traditional to a modern way of life. · The Poetry of Kurdistan Language Embodies Kurdish National Unity Joyce Biau Iraq’s war of genocide has brought global attention to the Kurds, one of the oldest peoples in the world. Although they remain homeless—a nation without territory to call their own—their culture has been preserved through language and oral tradition. HERITAGE And Our Mouths Shall Shew Forth Thy Praise Evensong with a Men and Boys Choir Christ Ann Merrill The Episcopal evensong service corresponds to the natural waning of the day. Its liturgy is sung rather than spoken, and the service draws a loyal group of the faithful who believe that beauty is an integral part of worship. FOLK WISDOM Two Magic Birds Part Two Jan Knappert In the first of two Bantu tales, Mamasilo learns the danger and rewards of dealing with magic birds. In the second, the horned father learns not to marry his daughters foolishly. PEOPLES · Kings of the Road Machismo and manila’s Jeepney Drivers Herminia Q. Menez Sometimes lewd, sometimes profane, the decoration of Filipino jeepney taxis is one loud, humorous comment about virility, sexuality, love, and religion. · To Seek Their Own Living The Women of Kelantan, Malaysia Douglas Raybeck Kelantanese women meet their husbands as equals in the quest to create, maintain, and support a family.