Recent works by alumni and faculty

Feeling the heat of climate change
As the editor of E/The Environmental Magazine, the nation’s leading independent magazine about the environment, Jim Motavalli ’75 (CLAS) has traveled the world to write stories about how humans affect the environment. Four years ago, he and a platoon of writers went out to prepare a special edition of the magazine with evidence that climate change is not just a theory.

The collection of stories—which included tangible examples of global warming, rising pollution, relocation of animal species and changing landscapes—has now been expanded and published as Feeling the Heat: Dispatches From the Frontline of Climate Change (Routledge). The book is edited by Motavalli, who previously wrote two books about alternative transportation.

“We used to think no matter what we did to the oceans, it wouldn’t make a difference because the oceans were so vast,” Motavalli says. “People thought the same thing about the atmosphere. That’s why it’s hard for people to adjust to the idea that we are definitely affecting it. That’s the conclusion of an overwhelming number of climate scientists.”

Feeling the Heat describes how melting polar ice caps are resulting in rising water that threatens to inundate populated islands in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. There are also descriptions of how poor environmental laws in Asia yield a constant toxic cloud during the summer, causing lung damage to people in the region as well as to distant lands after prevailing winds send the polluted air to other parts of the globe.

Motavalli says part of the difficulty in controlling damage to the climate is that national economies around the world are driven by burning coal and oil to fuel transportation and business. This has resulted in lagging support by nations, including the United States, to meet reduced pollution levels set by the 1997 U.N. Framework on Climate Change, known as the Kyoto Protocol. Ultimately, he says, not controlling environmental damage may be more costly.

“The economic effects of catastrophic climate change are far worse than the effects controlling it will have,” he says. “It’s just a delayed reaction.” — Kenneth Best

Mickey Mantle: Baseball Hall of Famer
Howard Weinstein '75 (CLAS).
(Rosen Publishing Group)

Writing about larger-than-life heroes is difficult enough. When it is your personal childhood hero, the task is even more daunting. Weinstein, a native New Yorker, successfully captures the glory and tragedy of Mickey Mantle, the Oklahoma miner’s son who was raised by his father to be a baseball player and who became one of the greatest of the New York Yankees. Writing as part of a children’s book series on Hall of Fame players, Weinstein’s book is a clearly written, quick-moving account of Mantle’s struggle with great expectations, record-setting accomplishments on the field and his sometimes tragic personal life. There are lessons to be learned by young readers from the Mantle story, which also includes a glossary of baseball terms and historic photos from his career. — KB

Future Street
Marilyn Harris '72 (SFA)
(Wrightwood Records)

Harris’ latest CD of jazz songs is dedicated to Hale Smith, UConn emeritus professor of music, who remains an influence on her music. Future Street has a bit of something for anyone who enjoys a classic jazz vocal style supported by talented musicians who can dig into any tune and make it their own. Harris wrote 11 of the 12 songs and also provides the lyrics for Smith’s “Ain’t Got Nothin’ on You.” The tunes are an eclectic offering of straight out swing, ballads, cabaret and even a bit of Latin beat. Harris provides great energy throughout the disc, and producer Mark Wolfram has lent a critical touch to bringing in just the right highlights for horns and duets—including his own turn on vocals. Listening to Future Street makes the listener think that he or she is sitting inside a jazz club late at night. — K.B.