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Furman REPORTSBookmarks: Featuring summaries of recent publications by Furman writersCrossing the blue-red dividePRESIDENT OBAMA and Mitt Romney couldprobably learn something from these guys. Betteryet, Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid. EvenJohn Boehner and Nancy Pelosi — althoughgiven their genders (and Furman’s housing rules),that might be a stretch in this case.Still, if 2013 Furman graduates ThomasHydrick, executive director of CollegeRepublicans, and Ben Saul, president of CollegeDemocrats, can become friends and roommates,maybe — just maybe — there’s hope for thegridlock, hostility and inter-party bickeringthat mars today’s political landscape from theSouth Carolina state house to Washington, D.C.Can’t we all just get along? Two Phi BetaKappa Furman gentlemen from the PalmettoState have shown it can be done.In past years on campus, relationshipsbetween groups of opposite political persuasionshad not always been particularly cordial. Saulnoticed the tension as early as his freshmanyear, and has been praised for his efforts tobring groups together to co-sponsor eventsthat promote an exchange of ideas.Since 2011, the College Democrats andCollege Republicans have joined to organizeprograms and panel discussions concerning issuessuch as the federal budget, school safety, andU.S.-Mexico relations, which featured formerMexican president Vicente Fox. And whetherthey’ve meant to or not, through their bipartisanexample Hydrick and Saul have served as modelsfor everyone on campus.Although they won’t have each other tobanter with next year, they’re ready for theNorth Village geothermal project nears completionTHE $4.92 MILLION North Village geothermalproject, which will provide a new method forheating and cooling the on-campus apartmentcomplex, is scheduled to be virtually completeby the end of August.A geothermal heating and cooling systemuses the water stored amid the earth’s constantunderground temperatures to heat residencesin the winter and cool them in the summer.“Normally a heating and cooling systemexchanges heat by using air,” says Jeff Redderson,head of facilities services. “Instead we’re usingthe earth, pumping water through wells andreleasing heat to and from the ground.”Furman received a $2.5 million grant in2009 from the U.S. Department of Energyto pursue the project. The university matchedthe grant. The system features 24 heat pumpsand 20 wells for each apartment building.Each well is 517 feet deep.Along with improved energy performance,the geothermal system will eliminate theuse of outdoor condensing units, reduce theuniversity’s carbon footprint and cut back onnext steps in their lives. Hydrick, a history andpolitical science major from Columbia, plansto pursue a Master of Philosophy degree inhistorical studies at England’s CambridgeUniversity, then enroll at Vanderbilt UniversityLaw School. Saul, a Greenwood resident focusedon poverty studies, is spending the summerworking for the Office of Rural Outreach at theU.S. Department of Education. In the fall he’ll bea graduate fellow with Furman’s Richard W. RileyInstitute, working at Scott’s Branch High Schoolin rural Summerton, S.C., part of the state’s“Corridor of Shame.” He plans to attend graduateschool and become an educator.maintenance needs. The mechanical equipmentcould last up to 20 years, with the wellsexpected to have a lifetime of 50 years.One building already on the system hasreported a 32 percent reduction in kilowatthours monthly. The project is expected to savethe university more than $2 million over thenext 20 years.All but one building in the complex willbe on the new system by the end of August.North Village consists of 11 buildings andaccommodates 1,020 residents.JEREMY FLEMINGCATHERINE CLAIRE LARSON ’98,Waiting in Wonder: Growing in Faith WhileYou’re Expecting (Thomas Nelson, 2012).The publisher says, “With Waiting in Wonder,readers are guided through the weeksof pregnancy with devotions for reflectionand guided questions for pondering deeperinto their experiences both spiritually andphysically. Each devotion includes scriptureand journaling space for writing personalthoughts, prayers, dreams, even love lettersto the growing baby.” Larson livesin Ashburn, Va., and is the author of AsWe Forgive: Stories of Reconciliation fromRwanda. Visit catherineclairelarson.com.HEATHER WILLIS ALLEN ’95 andSebastien Dubreil, Alliages culturels:La société française en transformation(Heinle Cengage, 2013). Allen has taughtFrench at the University of Wisconsin since2011. This university-level textbook aboutcontemporary French culture enrichesstudents’ knowledge of France and Frenchsociety in the 21st century through theanalysis and interpretation of textualartifacts, while simultaneously developingtheir advanced linguistic abilities.CHRISTOPHER BUNDY ’88, Baby,You’re a Rich Man (C&R Press, 2013).This novel, illustrated by Max Currie,follows the story of Kent Richman,a down-on-his luck, B-level variety staron Japanese television who is forcedto go into hiding when he becomes thetarget of an escaped prisoner. Kent windsup at a Buddhist retreat where, the publishersays, he embarks on “a journey ofmishap, paranoia, desperation, and selfdiscoverythat leads to an illuminatingshowdown as he attempts to right thewrongs of his past. Rich Man offersa unique look into contemporary Japanand the ubiquitous struggle for a placeto call home.” Bundy teaches writingand literature at the Atlanta campusof Savannah College of Art and Design.Visit christopherbundy.net.VICTORIA JACKSON ’81, Is My Bow TooBig? How I Went from SNL to the Tea Party(White Hall Press, 2012). The WashingtonPost once said of the former “SaturdayNight Live” star, “If you opened her head,it would be filled with cotton candy.” ButJackson has taken full advantage of herdaffy comedic persona, and her autobiographydescribes how she went froma “Bible-believing, piano-playing, TV-freehome in Miami” to Furman on a gymnasticsscholarship, and eventually to showbusiness fame. It was on the Furmanstage, she once said, that she realized themagic of making people laugh, and inthe years since she’s done just that. Morerecently she’s achieved prominence as apolitical pundit and “Tea Party Princess.”Visit victoriajackson.com.LINDA HEATWOLE JACOBS ’74,Jackson Hole Journey (Camel Press, 2013).The fourth novel in the author’s YellowstoneSeries is now in paperback after firstbeing released as an audio original in 2010.A finalist in the 2011 Spur Awards fromWestern Writers of America, Jacobs offersa coming-of-age story about two brotherson a dude ranch whose rivalry comes toa head when a beautiful Italian immigrantarrives on the scene. The book is setagainst the backdrop of the 1925 GrosVentre landslide disaster and subsequent1927 flood. Jacobs, who worked as ageologist for 30 years, lives in New Mexico.Visit readlindajacobs.com.GAYLE LEWIS CARSON ’68, Wyndsover Wylusing (Tate Publishing, 2013).A dying grandmother, Martha Rutledge,decides to reveal her family’s history toher granddaughter. The story begins inthe late 18th century at the court of MarieAntoinette, whose second son, Louis-Charles XVII, is smuggled into the UnitedStates. From there the book follows thelife of the lost Dauphin, his connection tothe modern-day Rutledges, and the familymystery that spans two continents and fivegenerations. Carson, a former teacher andbusiness owner, lives in Mount Pleasant,S.C. She based the story on a tale hergrandmother told her.JACK McINTOSH ’52, Don’t Kill ALLthe Lawyers — I’ll Give You a Short List(McIntosh, 2012). From his childhoodin Charleston, S.C. — where he says heshared a bedroom with a ghost — to hisadventures in the military and law schooland, finally, as a small-town lawyer, theauthor has collected a host of stories anddeveloped plenty of wisdom. He shares hisinsights and humor in this book, illustratedby award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail.National Public Radio’s Dick Estell featuredthe book on his “Radio Reader” programin March. Estell said, “Jack tells us thatlawyers can be stuffy AND funny, andhe writes about his experiences in wordseven I can understand. He should beproud of this book.”FROM FACULTY/STAFFSAMUEL IRVING BRITT, The Childrenof Salvation: Ritual Struggle in a LiberianAladura Church (University of SouthCarolina Press, 2012). The Aladura Church,with nearly one million adherents worldwide,combines traditional Christian liturgy,a theology of the spirit, and creative ritualstrategies and social practices. Aladurafaith practices emphasize the role of theprophet/healer, who embodies virtue(spiritual power) and guides the faithfulalong a journey of ritual struggle towardsalvation. Britt explores the relationshipbetween worldview and ritual action inthe church, as well as the influence ofNigerian and Liberian traditions in shapingits character. In doing so he provides thefirst in-depth study of an African InitiatedChurch in Liberia. Britt, a 1973 Furmangraduate, is the Gordon Poteat Professorof Asian Studies and Religion and chairof the religion department.GAIL S. McDIARMID and MarilynS. McGee, Running for Home (SundogEnterprises, 2013). McDiarmid is an assistantin the Furman sociology department.Her sister, and co-author, have spent yearsobserving and writing about the gray wolfin the Northern Rockies. Their story, foryounger readers, follows the adventuresof Chinook the wolf, Wapiti the elk andMochni the raven. The authors ask,“What happens when an indigenousanimal, missing for more than 70 years,is restored to its natural habitat?” Theillustrations by Durwood Coffey featurehidden animals for readers to discover.Both authors are on the advisory boardfor the National Wolf Watcher Coalition.24 FURMAN | SPRING 2013FURMAN | SPRING 2013 25