When Heathrow International Airport closed due to bad weather a week before Christmas, it posed quite a dilemma for 18 students, their professor and a staff member, Brian Rainville, who were stranded in Berlin at the conclusion of a D-Term course. The group was supposed to transfer flights in London.

One of my theories about great colleges is that they must include a few “magnificent crazy zealots.” Too many MCZs, and the institution could implode. Too few, and the school has a tendency to settle for good instead of great. The MCZs are the professors and coaches who refuse to accept constraints … whether they be resources, attitudes, “turf” or time … in their pursuit of excellence.

"It seemed a little magical to me,” was how the late Dr. Carl C. Gamertsfelder ’35 described the nuclear reaction that took place at the University of Chicago on December 2, 1942.

Jeff Seaberg heads up the children’s theater program in Danville, CA, and was director of the campy Danville classic, “Wigged Out,” for many years. During the school year he runs an after-school program called Theatre Performance Workshop, which ends with performances. He has up to 50 kids in each class in what he calls “controlled chaos.” He writes the plays for the group and publishes them as an inexpensive resource for other after-school programs. He says he’s improved his skills at populating his stories with interesting characters, better dialog and good plots.