The University of Chicago Magazine December 1995To write us directly, click here for our e-mail form: uchicago-magazine@uchicago.edu.
Your readers might be interested to know that a Chicago alumnus (me!) has been hard at work behind the scenes on the cover story from your October issue ("Digital Vision"). I'm a founder of Kaleida Labs, Inc., which is producing the multimedia software (called ScriptX) used to develop Crazy for Ragtime. Kaleida Labs is a joint venture of Apple and IBM. Crazy for Ragtime is the first major title to be developed with ScriptX, and we have had a great time working with Robert Winter's team!
Erik Neumann, MBA'84Are you serious? I know that the University of Chicago is not noted as a center for musical creativity. But it certainly is a center for human intellectuality. I would not expect the next musical gem to emerge from the University of Chicago culture; but, by the same token, I would not have expected to see the idiotic article "Digital Vision" given space in the University of Chicago Magazine.
It read like hype for the new technology and for the people who can afford it and have bought the idea that the computer is the way to go when it comes to musical creativity. It may be news to you, but the ability to create music has not changed. Computers or not, musical creativity is still a lonely, difficult, infinitely rewarding Art!
Barry Taxman, AM'50All of us in evolutionary biology at the U of C were proud of the results of the recent survey of doctoral programs, where the U of C was ranked at the top in ecology, evolution, and behavior.
Your report on this ranking ("Chicago Journal," October/95) implied that it was based only on the excellent work and reputation of the Department of Ecology and Evolution. Actually, the top-notch ranking reflects outstanding faculty research and graduate programs in three departments (Ecology and Evolution, Organismal Biology and Anatomy, and Geophysical Sciences), formally united in the Committee on Evolutionary Biology. Leading programs in vertebrate paleontology and evolution (Organismal Biology and Anatomy) and invertebrate paleontology and evolution (Geophysical Sciences) certainly contributed to the U of C's high mark.
Paul SerenoIt was disturbing to read the fawning interview given to Mr. John K. Wilson ("Chicago Journal," October/95). There were and are many Chicago alumni and faculty who have spoken out against political correctness, but who remain unmentioned. One such was the late James S. Coleman of the Department of Sociology, who received the Sidney Hook award of the National Association of Scholars for his efforts at combating political correctness. His talk, "On the Self-Suppression of Academic Freedom," reprinted in NAS's Academic Questions, is a thoughtful exploration of the PC issues. I am disappointed that apparently the editor does not consider a controversial issue such as PC to require some kind of ideological balance.
Mr. Wilson's editorship of the newsletter for the misnamed Teachers for a Democratic Culture, an organization known for denying the existence of political correctness, needs to be squared with his present admission that PC really exists. His rather feeble tu quoque defense--namely, that PC really exists, but conservatives do it too--is laughable because there are hardly any conservatives in academia able to deny academic freedom to anyone. A quick check of the political affiliations of some former university presidents, e.g., Donna Shalala and Sheldon Hackney, suggests that the political affiliation of most university leaders is, at least, liberal.
Those who doubt the severity of the political-correctness problem might consider the existence of speech codes, sexual- harassment "guidelines," required courses in multiculturalism and gender feminism, and required freshman-orientation programs that showcase exclusively the views of the liberal left at hundreds of colleges and universities across the nation.
Contra Mr. Wilson, however, the real reasons members of the academic left are "so poor at expressing [themselves] in public" are because they are unable to function in the larger society's ideologically diverse environment and because their case is in fact quite weak.
It is somewhat comforting to read that Mr. Wilson is sure "that in a debate on the merits, [his] views will be the most persuasive"; somewhat comforting, because perhaps he really means to make his case using only logic and evidence--an attribute not generally characteristic of those eager to dismiss their opponents as racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. But only somewhat comforting, because of his smug self-assurance that he and he alone possesses the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Robert Lerner, AM'82, PhD'84I can see the scene now: A bunch of you are sitting around the office, and somebody says, "I bet you can't write a piece about Chicago football without mentioning Jay Berwanger!" Somebody else says, "You're on!" The result, of course, was your article in the October issue ("Legends of the Fall"), and somebody won a dinner at Morton's or whatever else is chic today. I can't imagine any other reason.
As the highly paid Maroons coach who succeeded Alonzo Stagg, during practice sessions Clark Shaughnessy would sit in a folding chair in the middle of the grass behind the Field House, for an hour or so, and then vanish. Sometimes a high school punk, me, would show members of the varsity how to hold a ball for a pass, or explain that a punt was made with the side of the foot, not the toe. Meanwhile, in a far corner of the field, there'd be Jay Berwanger, in business suit, porkpie hat, and topcoat, coaching the freshman squad. Numbering no more than 20 or 25, they regularly thrashed the varsity, because they had been coached.
It turns out that where Coach Shaughnessy had vanished to all those chilly afternoons was the practice fields of the Chicago Bears, where he was teaching the T-formation to George Halas and the "Monsters of the Midway." Football, pro and college, has not been the same since.
For the record, Jay Berwanger was a running back who electrified Maroon football for three years in the late '30s (headline in the Daily News, "Berwanger 21, Illinois 14") and was the first winner of the Heisman trophy. He wasn't a broken-field runner like Red Grange, but could cut back into a hole like lightning, and had one good blocker, whose name was maybe Horvath.
I feel better.
Edward Muir II, AB'47, AM'47Although the story didn't mention Berwanger, AB'36, the Maroon star has been featured in many Magazine articles over the years--and scored his share of bylines during a stint as the Magazine's sports editor.--Ed.
In the October/95 editor's notes, mention is made of the so-called Dvorak keyboard. Readers may be interested in this invention of August Dvorak, Lt. Cmdr., USNR (1942-45), and sometime university professor.
In 1948-51, I was enrolled as a student at large at the University. Mornings, I was assistant to Dr. Warren Seyfert, Lab Schools director, who suggested that I investigate expanding the typewriting offering in the language-arts core course for upper-school students. So I undertook to learn the Dvorak keyboard. I had learned to type in an upstate New York school, near the site where in 1868 Christopher Latham Sholes devised his so-called "standard keyboard."
The Lab Schools possessed a rather large number of Dvorak typewriters. I tried several, experiencing grave difficulties on all. Speed was not my goal--accuracy was. I failed miserably in my numerous endeavors (with and without spectators). I kept recalling the placement of keys in the two keyboards, sadly realizing that I was hopelessly mixed up and not likely to find my way into the clear.
The director suggested that I teach typing with machines possessing the standard keyboard. Another teacher, a Miss Nell Merrick, employed the Dvorak from the outset. The director was happy; parents were happy; students didn't really care. I went on my way, not exactly rejoicing!
Walter J. MooreTo write us directly, click here for our e-mail form: uchicago-magazine@uchicago.edu.