 Letters
It might sound ridiculous, but “potty
parity” is an issue…
| E-letters
I-House
praise
I am very excited to learn from the May UCHICAGO.EDU
e-bulletin that the U of C trustees have approved a $21
million I-House renovation (see “Chicago
Journal”). I briefly stayed in I-House in 1991
as a first-year Ph.D. student in molecular genetics and
attended many meetings and activities there during my five
years at Chicago. I-House made me and many international
students very proud of Chicago’s role in international
academic exchange. I sincerely hope the University leadership
will pay more attention to the importance of I-House in
student life and let it play an even bigger role in attracting
international students and promoting international exchanges.
Guoping
Shu, PhD’96
Johnstown, Iowa
Life begins
@ 26
Re: the May UCHICAGO.EDU
e-bulletin link to a survey on the age at which Americans
believe people are officially grown up (see "Citations").
A friend of mine has held that view for many years. Invariably
persons who approach him to speak about major changes in their
life-direction turn out to be precisely 26. This even happened
when someone recognized him while they were swimming in the
Connecticut River. Maybe it helps that this friend is a clergyman
of some public visibility.
John
Gueguen, PhD’70
Urbana, Illinois
A
rush to panic?
Regarding the May UCHICAGO.EDU link to the story on the Oriental
Institute scholars’ response to the looting of the Baghdad
museums (see “Chicago
Journal”), it would be interesting to know how many
of these persons—if any—supported the Bush “war”
against Iraq that precipitated the looting.
Butler
Shaffer, JD’61
Burbank, California
The
University is NOT well served by panicky, emotion-filled
fantasy stories about events in Iraq. The Magazine
should be ashamed of itself for failing to confirm the facts
of this “looting” before rushing into print
with this hysterical story. It didn’t require the
skills of a sophisticated investigative reporter to find
that the vast majority of these “looted” items
were removed to be securely hidden and stored by museum
employees.
Richard
L. Ptak, MBA’78
Amherst, New Hampshire
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Brief beef
The letters are too long.
Larry Lowenthal, AB’64
Cooper City, Florida
Tangent
fans and pans
“Unexpected
Expertise” strongly evoked memories of what my graduate
training in geography in the late 1950s and early 1960s under
the tutelage of Gilbert White [SB’32, SM’34, PhD’44],
Chauncy Harris [PhD’40], Norton Ginsburg [AB’41, AM’47,
PhD’49], and others was all about.
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Survival
tactics
The article “Survival
of the Richest” by John Easton (April/03) makes some
interesting points, both with respect to the interaction of medical
technology with personal behavior as well as the influence of
social status and education on health.
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Unclouding
the issues
Gerald Graff (“Clouding
the Issues,” April/03) is a beacon of light regarding
the problems in higher education. I wish someone could be as lucid
and perceptive describing the problems in and solutions for primary
education.
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Patent
profit?
In the article “An answer to the stem-cell debate?”
(“Investigations,”
April/03), the last paragraph states that “the research
was funded by the National Institutes of Health, and Huberman
and his crew have applied to patent the new technology.”
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Color-blind
policy
Regarding President Randel’s column “Greater
Than Zero Is What Justice Demands” (February/03),
I urge Chicago to judge students as whole people. The demographic
categories that 17-year-old applicants fit into are significant
and help you learn about them, but not as much as their essay,
interview, and the rest of their application.
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Cockroach
note breeds another
Re: The letter from Neil Fiertel,
SB’64, on “Cockroaches
as heavy breathers” (April/03): In 1945, as WW II
was coming to an end, the section of the University of Chicago
Toxicity Laboratory I worked in as a “research assistant
in anatomy” was switched from evaluating potential poison
gases, protective ointments and clothing to doing some early
research on insecticides such as DDT. The work on poison gases
and insecticides was funded by and operated for the Chemical
Warfare Service.
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Condoms
and AIDS
Robert Doane (“Letters,”
April/03) asserts that “dependence on the condom may
be a principal factor in the spread of AIDS.” Condoms
are a principal factor in the reduction of the spread of AIDS.
According to the World Health Organization (http://www.who.int/reproductive-health/rtis/male_condom.html)
the latest research has shown two things to be in evidence.
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High cost
of athletic support?
After reading Carrie Golus’s “College
Report” in the February/2003 issue, I was so angry
that I put the magazine down, waited a week, and then re-read
the piece again just to make sure I had read it correctly.
The mere notion that academic standards at the University
of Chicago are not relaxed for some prospective athletes is
just silly.
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Quinquennial
arithmetic
As a member of the Class of 1948, I write to tell you that
our reunion this June 5–8, 2003 will be our 55th—not
the 60th, as listed (“Alumni
News,” April/03). Please know that as a former proofreader,
your little typo made my day!
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Fighting
words
I was amused to read Larry Lee’s letter, “Nostalgic
Details” (February/03), wherein he applied the appellation
“pugnacious” to me and, by implication, to the members
of Phi Gamma Delta while recounting his escapades with Mitchell
Tower. It was probably transference since it more appropriately
should apply to Psi Upsilon. After all, they were known as the “jock”
fraternity as we sadly discovered after each intramural encounter
with them. We did earn some vindication when, under the leadership
of the late Solon Cousins, AM’51, the Phi Gams ran away with
successive Quality Cups at the Inter-Fraternity Sings.
Nicholas J. Melas, PhB’46, BS’48,
MBA’50
Chicago
More
on Suicide Terrorism
How I should have liked to attend Professor
Robert Pape’s workshop last October when he presented his
working paper on suicide terrorism’s rise (“Investigations,”
December/02). The article states that “the terrorist groups’
goals were to gain control of their perceived national homeland
and to eject foreign military forces from that territory.”
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Defining
democracy
Contrary to the statement in the letter of Burton M. Leiser (February/03),
it is not true that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East.
“Democracy” is a concept that implies, among other things,
separation of religion and state. Israel does not have separation
of religion and state. How long would the United States have lasted
if the Episcopal Church had become the church of the land? Not very
long, with Congregationalists in New England, Catholics in Maryland,
Quakers in Pennsylvania, and so on.
Until members of all religious groups are
granted equal rights, it is hard to see how Israel can ever
exist in peace.
Mark Borinsky, PhD’72
Baltimore
Calling
Alums of Asian Descent
The College Programming Office is proud
to announce that the University of Chicago now has a mentorship
program for undergraduate students of Asian descent.
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The University of Chicago
Magazine welcomes letters
on its contents or on topics related to the University.
Letters for publication must be signed and may be edited
for space and clarity. To ensure a range of views and
voices, we implore readers to keep correspondence to 300
words or less. Write:
Editor, University of Chicago Magazine,
5801 S. Ellis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
E-mail: uchicago-magazine@uchicago.edu
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