I'm going to call this the Optimism Issue.
Having made such a declaration, I immediately balk and wonder, “Does that suggest our other issues weren't optimistic?” Surely not. Any publication that regularly profiles people devoted to ideas, inventions and solving problems is inherently hopeful. But the combination of articles in this issue, coming at the end of a bitter and truth-challenged election campaign, in the midst of a severe financial crisis, was especially welcome. I am encouraged by the selflessness and generosity of spirit exemplified by the people in these pages, and I am thankful we have them.
Let's begin with Jenna Davis. Here is a woman whose research is all about crappy details. Literally. A civil engineering professor, Davis led a group of students to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and spent months analyzing bathroom behavior and other factors that contribute to staggering disease and death tolls among young African children. They want to determine what information might help people in households where sanitation is lacking and where drinking water can be deadly.
Studying toilet habits was not top of mind years ago when Davis was contemplating the wide world of research options she might explore. And I doubt the inelegant nature of her scholarship makes for easy dinner conversation. As she notes in Robert Strauss's cover story, “shit isn't sexy.” And yet, considering the potential benefits, her work is nothing short of heroic. It may ultimately reveal answers that could help save tens of thousands of African children.
Then there is Forrest Church, '70, a minister whose sermons and writings have inspired people for decades. Confronted with his mortality because of esophageal cancer, he rejected the natural inclination to feel victimized by the dread disease. Rather than lament his “bad luck,” he found solace in the notion that being alive to enjoy even one day on Earth requires overcoming astronomical odds. His essay on the small blessings usually overlooked is a wonderful tonic for the culture of entitlement we too frequently enable. And a restorative message as we enter the holiday season.
We find courage and compassion in equal doses in the story of filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, MA '03, MA '04. She has spent years documenting life in troubled countries like Afghanistan and Iraq where a litany of miseries is compounded by violence. The subject matter may be grim, but there is a hopefulness about these tales as well, borne from a belief that we can make things better.
There is always plenty to fret about. We won't shy away from those tough stories about hard times. But pardon me for a moment while I wipe the frown off my face and unfurrow my forehead. We won't solve all of our problems, but it's good to know people are out there trying. Call me an optimist.
