Taking the Road Less Traveled

One of the most difficult tasks confronting many seniors is the writing of a thesis. And while researching it can be grueling, the hardest part is coming up with a unique and interesting topic.

Some undergraduates choose to play it safe and travel the well-paved road of writing scholarly and critical theses. But some students prefer the road less traveled and dare to venture into the wacky and the unusual.

Some of 1991-92 "wacky" these include topics ranging from examining the sociological implications of children's literature to an investigation of the role of female heroines in Disney movies. With such topics, one has to wonder if some seniors did not actually have fun constructing such peculiar theses.

Anthony Gellert '92 transformed what could have been a hard-nosed economics thesis into an unconventional study of the business of taxi cabs.

"I was walking down Brattle Street in September and the idea drove right by me," Gellert says. "By that time, anything looked like a potential thesis topic."

Gellert examined the economic efficiency of a stagnant 1937 federal law that required all taxi cabs to be outfitted with medallions, a form of license. The number of medallions issued is to this day limited by the city, and therefore the number of cabs permitted remains constant.

More importantly, each medallion costs $100,000, making it impossible for the ordinary cab driver to own his own vehicle, Gellert discovered. The cab driver must pay a flat rate or percentage to the cab company just to "borrow" the car the day, according to Gellert.

In the course of interviewing cab companies like International Association of Taxi Cabs to cab drivers themselves, Gellert found two divergent opinions. Cab drivers preferred abolishing the licenses, a move which would radically lower their operating costs, Gellert says.

"But [cab] company owners definitely got touchy at the thought of losing the extra $1 billion in revenues that the medallions brought in," Gellert says.

Gellert concluded by suggesting that the $23 million dead weight loss, an economic term for wasted resources, could be avoided by getting rid of the taxi cab medallions.

Like Gellert, Margaret Feldstein '92 was inspired by her surroundings. Feldstein decided to study the social dynamics of Harvard's nine final clubs.

The joint Sociology/Visual Environmental Studies concentrator interviewed 30 dues-paying members and regular guests, and found a marked difference between the two groups' interpretation of the same social situation.

The members (men) and the guests (women) perceived the social setting quite differently based on both their role in the club and because of their gender, according to Feldstein. The majority of men found the clubs to be a place where they could "hang out with other men" and occasionally "meet women," she says.

But women perceived the clubs as an opportunity to talk with their male friends, Feldsteinfound.

Feldstein showed pictures of typical final clubgatherings to her interviewees and recorded theirresponse to the social events. She then laterexhibited the photographs at Eliot Houseaccompanied by the comments.

Feldstein adds that although the thesis wasinteresting, it was far from easy getting thestudy accepted by both the Sociology and VisualEnvironment Studies Departments.

If your thesis advisers would not agree to letyou visit all the social hot spots on campus,consider a withdrawal into a world of fantasy.Sabre S. Mayhugh '92 can tell you everything aboutmid-17th century Chinese gardens, and then showyou his own design of such a horticulturaldelight.

The East Asian Studies/Visual and EnvironmentalStudies concentrator became interested in thetopic when he began translating a book written bya 17th century Chinese scholar about beautifulgardens. Gardens at the time were a means ofescaping from the political conflict caused by thechanging of dynasties.

The book's details of the garden's design laterinspired Mayhugh to paint three detailed areas ofhis concept of the garden. Mayhugh says he wasable to produce a set of paintings which depictthree distinct natural settings.

But if ancient China and the world ofhorticulture is too tame, try the underworld ofFrench women criminals as Laura A. Dickenson '92did. The history concentrator was inspired tostudy women criminals in 20th century France bytwo seminars she attended and a book whichchallenged students to examine history alonggender lines.

"I went to France to examine early 20th centuryconceptions of female virtue and vice in theinter-war period," Dickenson says.

She was surprised to find a rise in the rate ofwomen convicted of murder since World War I. The"rhetoric motherhood"--the idea that women who hadmaternal values had more virtue--had become thelast strong barrier between women and jail,Dickenson says. "Women who could be presented asvictimized mothers tended to be acquitted," shesays.

Therefore, the rise in convictions of women wasdue to the French inter-World War belief that onlymaternal women were worthy of a acquittal, as wellas French fears of depopulation.

Besides being unusual, many wacky theses areamong the best in their department. Rebecca D.Knowles '92 recently garnered a summaranking and a Hoopes Prize for her thesis onpronouns.

"I just tell everyone it's about pronouns, butit's a little more complicated than that," thelinguistics concentrator says.

Actually, complex terms like "hyper-correction"and "leveled pronouns" might confuse ordinaryreaders, but Knowles used them to effectivelybuild a thesis about everyday speech.

"Unlike languages like German or Russian,"Knowles says, "English pronouns are largelygender-neutral, which makes room for `leveledpronouns' like `you,'" meaning that their formdoes not change when used differently in asentence.

In other words, "You" will look the samewhether used as a direct object or an indirectobject in a sentence, while another pronoun like"he" would change to "him" under the samecircumstances, Knowles discovered.

Grammatical errors arise in everyday speechwhen people couple another pronoun with "you" in asentence, Knowles says. Many people incorrectlysays "He hit you and I" when the correct formshould be "you and me," she says.

Other pronouns such as "him" or "her" mustchange form according to their place in asentence. But Knowles found that people more oftenspeak in a manner that "sounds good to them" thanfollowing grammatical rules about leveledpronouns.

It was a rare senior who managed to avoidwriting a thesis and experiencing the inevitablebouts of sickness, regrettable interviews andgrumpy professors that accompany the experience.

But whatever the hardships endured bythesis-writing classmates, many thesis writingseniors say the results of their hard work areinevitably rewarding

Feldstein showed pictures of typical final clubgatherings to her interviewees and recorded theirresponse to the social events. She then laterexhibited the photographs at Eliot Houseaccompanied by the comments.

Feldstein adds that although the thesis wasinteresting, it was far from easy getting thestudy accepted by both the Sociology and VisualEnvironment Studies Departments.

If your thesis advisers would not agree to letyou visit all the social hot spots on campus,consider a withdrawal into a world of fantasy.Sabre S. Mayhugh '92 can tell you everything aboutmid-17th century Chinese gardens, and then showyou his own design of such a horticulturaldelight.

The East Asian Studies/Visual and EnvironmentalStudies concentrator became interested in thetopic when he began translating a book written bya 17th century Chinese scholar about beautifulgardens. Gardens at the time were a means ofescaping from the political conflict caused by thechanging of dynasties.

The book's details of the garden's design laterinspired Mayhugh to paint three detailed areas ofhis concept of the garden. Mayhugh says he wasable to produce a set of paintings which depictthree distinct natural settings.

But if ancient China and the world ofhorticulture is too tame, try the underworld ofFrench women criminals as Laura A. Dickenson '92did. The history concentrator was inspired tostudy women criminals in 20th century France bytwo seminars she attended and a book whichchallenged students to examine history alonggender lines.

"I went to France to examine early 20th centuryconceptions of female virtue and vice in theinter-war period," Dickenson says.

She was surprised to find a rise in the rate ofwomen convicted of murder since World War I. The"rhetoric motherhood"--the idea that women who hadmaternal values had more virtue--had become thelast strong barrier between women and jail,Dickenson says. "Women who could be presented asvictimized mothers tended to be acquitted," shesays.

Therefore, the rise in convictions of women wasdue to the French inter-World War belief that onlymaternal women were worthy of a acquittal, as wellas French fears of depopulation.

Besides being unusual, many wacky theses areamong the best in their department. Rebecca D.Knowles '92 recently garnered a summaranking and a Hoopes Prize for her thesis onpronouns.

"I just tell everyone it's about pronouns, butit's a little more complicated than that," thelinguistics concentrator says.

Actually, complex terms like "hyper-correction"and "leveled pronouns" might confuse ordinaryreaders, but Knowles used them to effectivelybuild a thesis about everyday speech.

"Unlike languages like German or Russian,"Knowles says, "English pronouns are largelygender-neutral, which makes room for `leveledpronouns' like `you,'" meaning that their formdoes not change when used differently in asentence.

In other words, "You" will look the samewhether used as a direct object or an indirectobject in a sentence, while another pronoun like"he" would change to "him" under the samecircumstances, Knowles discovered.

Grammatical errors arise in everyday speechwhen people couple another pronoun with "you" in asentence, Knowles says. Many people incorrectlysays "He hit you and I" when the correct formshould be "you and me," she says.

Other pronouns such as "him" or "her" mustchange form according to their place in asentence. But Knowles found that people more oftenspeak in a manner that "sounds good to them" thanfollowing grammatical rules about leveledpronouns.

It was a rare senior who managed to avoidwriting a thesis and experiencing the inevitablebouts of sickness, regrettable interviews andgrumpy professors that accompany the experience.

But whatever the hardships endured bythesis-writing classmates, many thesis writingseniors say the results of their hard work areinevitably rewarding