Letters
...why not boast about Leopold and Loeb?

BLAME THE MESSENGER
Leonard R. Friedman (“Letters,” October/04) makes an apt point in comparing the content of letters to the Harvard alumni magazine with those in the Chicago alumni magazine: letters to the University of Chicago Magazine typically speak of the past, while Harvard Magazine letters comment on important current issues, national and international. However, Mr. Friedman doesn’t suggest a cause for this disparity, which I suspect is due to the content of the magazines.

Harvard Magazine almost always features a lengthy article by a member of the faculty, addressing a major issue in a serious way. The University of Chicago Magazine very rarely does so. Interested Chicago alumni may read the Harvard Magazine online at http://www.harvard-magazine.com/ and make the comparison for themselves.

It would seem that the content of Harvard Magazine influences the response of its audience. This suggests that the University of Chicago Magazine would get more serious letters if the Magazine were to publish more serious content and less journalistic fluff.

Robert Michaelson, SB’66
Evanston, Illinois

The University of Chicago Magazine welcomes letters. Letters for publication must be signed and may be edited for space and clarity. To ensure the widest range of views, we encourage letters of fewer than 300 words. Write: Editor, University of Chicago Magazine, 5801 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL60637. Or e-mail: uchicago-magazine@uchicago.edu.