Letters
Welcome to the real world, Chicago.

Methods and martinis
In an issue headlining the “critical” minds of Chicago alumni, I was amused to see Bruce Cumings attacked for a talk he gave as reported by Soo Ji Min (“Letters,” February/04). The reader of the article (“Zone of Contention,” December/03) has paraphrase and a few quotes but hardly a context to judge Professor Cumings. Historical methodology requires respect for the material to be analyzed, and as Cumings is quoted as saying, “if you don’t have that respect…then you’re never going to be able to figure out a place like North Korea.”

On another front, thanks to the Ifor an image correction. I always thought Studs Terkel (“Letters,” February/04) was a shot and a beer kind of a guy, and now I discover he is a martini drinker.

William Raymond Smith, AB'53, AM’59, PhD’61
Dillsburg, Pennsylvania

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