Letters - February 9, 2000
I was pleased to see that the masters of the residential colleges received overdue recognition in paw for their dedication to their work and their involvement in the residential life of freshmen and sophomores (Cover story, December 1). The article overlooked the fact that each master oversees a college staff consisting of a director of studies, a college administrator, a college secretary, and several assistant masters, in addition to the undergraduate RAs and MAAs mentioned in the article. These individuals devote long hours and also make a tremendous impact, both directly and indirectly, on the lives of freshmen and sophomores. Without them the residential college system would simply not function.
Peter Bogucki
Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Affairs
School of Engineering and Applied Science
Princeton, N.J.
Readers of paw should not be misled by the letter of B. J. Duffy, Jr. '41 (December 1) stating that the Hiroshima bombing was "not necessary. Japan was ready to surrender . . . "
Because surrender was a disgrace in the Japanese culture, they fought to the death throughout the Pacific. In the desperate suicidal defense of Okinawa, for example, 110,000 Japanese died, with the last survivors performing hara-kiri or destroying themselves with hand grenades. In early June 1945 the Japanese government called up one million additional men for the purpose of repelling an invasion. Concrete fortifications eight to 10 miles deep were being constructed on Kyushu and Honshu. As a consequence and because of repeated refusals to surrender, Generals Marshall and MacArthur decided on a massive invasion of the homeland, commencing December 1, 1945.
After many warnings that the few Japanese cities that were still untouched would be devastated if they did not surrender, the atomic bombs were dropped in hopes they would shock the enemy.
The most telling evidence to me that the bombs were necessary was the fact that the three military members of the Supreme War Direction Council, the highest-level body in the Japanese government, all voted to continue the war even after the second bomb destroyed Nagasaki and Russia had entered the war. Finally, the emperor, in an unprecedented move, ordered surrender.
After the war, Japanese army officers told visiting Americans that they intended to fight to the last Japanese if invaded. The bomb was a terrible weapon, but it allowed the Japanese to surrender with honor.
Edwin W. Bragdon '43
Weston, Mass.
Almost every year for the last 38 years our crowd has returned to Tigertown for a football weekend. A year ago we looked forward to being at a game in the new Princeton Stadium. However, we were surprised to find that our seats were on the visitors' side and in the "nose-bleed section." One of the crowd quipped, "Peanuts, popcorn, oxygen mask!" It was the first time we had ever been seated on the visitors' side.
I later learned that the reason for this was that the new cheap ticket prices resulted in people who live in the Princeton area (both grads and nongrads) buying season tickets in droves; almost all seats on the Princeton side were occupied by season ticket holders.
We thought that the low ticket prices were just a one-year scheme to introduce people to the new stadium. However, the cheap ticket policy continued, and this year our crowd was again seated on the visitors' side. If this ticket policy continues, it appears that only people who live in the Princeton area and buy season tickets will have the privilege of sitting on the Princeton side, while the alumni who live farther away sit on the visitors' side with the sun in their eyes.
Frankly, it appears that Princeton is more interested in filling the most seats rather than in accommodating the alumni who really support the university as well as its football program.
Edward R. Doughty '62
Linwood, N.J.
It is very significant that Mr. Jim McLaughlin informed us in the last two sentences of his recent letter (November 17) that "alumni class priority seating is now located on the east side." He then goes on to say, "This adjustment will provide better seat locations for alumni and help us create an atmosphere unmatched by anyone in the Ivy League."
To put my class and other alumni on the visitors' side is outrageous and is clear evidence the man lacks sensitivity and creativity. I attended the Yale game, and it was very obvious there were many empty seats on the Princeton side. I hope we can find someone to do a better job for loyal alumni.
Clinton G. Weilman '47
Greenwich, Conn.
While reading Steven F. Wang's letter (December 15), I was reminded of a parallel happening, also in 1971. As an assistant dean of the faculty, one of my duties then was to assist and acclimate the postdocs spending a year at Princeton from the Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc nations. Among my charges were two Russian civil engineers who wanted above all to go to California. Their IREX stipend was not intended to include continental travel, but we managed to scrape together enough for two round-trip tickets on Greyhound to San Francisco with occasional stopovers. Their funds allowed a diet of mostly peanut butter, bread, and apples. I alerted friends and cousins along the way to prepare for unexpected visitors.
The only impediment to making this trip was a strong complaint from my weekly caller from the F.B.I. who checked on the movements of all the Eastern Bloc exchange fellows beyond 40 miles. The trip to California was not forbidden, but it would be a terrible inconvenience to alert the F.B.I. at every point of the itinerary.
With cooperation from all parties, the trip took place. On their return to Princeton, both Nikolai and Shamil were so moved by the experience they reported: "We have seen this country-the good and the bad, the rich and the poor. How can we ever tell our wives and families what has happened to us here? We have not only learned about your country but also about our country from your libraries and your press. We will never be the same."
When they left to return to the Soviet Union, they asked me not to write them letters, but to send Christmas cards. I cherish the thought that some of the seeds of Glasnost were planted in Princeton and on that Greyhound bus in 1971 to germinate and bloom in 1989.
Ellen Hoke
Charlottesville, Va.
Contrary to Alvin Nix '76's beliefs (Letters, December 1) regarding the inherent differences between the civil rights movement and the Hip-hop movement (and it is a movement), there are similarities. Both strive for community empowerment, self-determination, and a positive outlook on life through the revealing of injustices in our society.
He wrote, "All one has to do is compare the text of Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech with the lyrics of a hard-core rap song, expletives included, and the difference is quite clear." First, let me quote one of the first songs to put Hip-hop on the map, Grand Master Flash & The Furious Five's "The Message": "A child is born with no state of mind/Blind to the ways of mankind/God is smilin' on you/But he's frownin' too/Because only God knows what you go through." This song was one of the first rap songs to reveal the poor state of ghettos in America in the early '80s.
Second, I'd like to quote one of my favorite recent groups, Mos Def and Talib Kweli's Black Star, and the song "Knowledge of Self (Determination)": "Cause and effect/Affect everything you're doing/That's why I got love in the face of hate/That's why I got knowledge of self (determination)."
I teach Hip-hop culture to middle school students in Los Angeles. Hip-hop is a way of life for many of us, which inspires us to view the world in new and exciting ways. The artists whom I share with my students (the Roots, Black Star, Common, etc.) have an understanding of history and a positive view of the future. Martin Luther King, Jr., stated that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," and I believe that Hip-hop is a voice that will continue to be used to combat injustices all over the world. Hip-hop is not merely an American fascination but a tool that is being used by the youth in places like Russia as well as other places in the world.
Joe Hernandez-Kolski '96
Los Angeles, Calif.
While we may think that the debate over diversity in recent issues of
paw doesn't really concern us so much as a bunch of curmudgeons who attended
Princeton in the 1930s, I would like to rub my class officers' collective
noses into the themes chosen for our 10th and 15th reunions.
While I had a generally terrific time at our 10th reunion, I was quite appalled by the "Jungle Jive" theme. At first it seemed rather innocent and, at best, completely inane. However, when the African drums and dance troupe came out for the P-rade, I had a visceral reaction. Running into several African-American classmates, I expressed my outrage at the racist, primitivist spectacle being put on and confessed my own lack of understanding of what their Princeton experiences must have been like.
So, you can imagine my dismay when I discovered that the theme for our 15th reunion is "Tails of the Arabian Nights." Have any of my class officers ever heard of Edward Said '57 or Orientalism? What will the theme of the next Reunions be? How about "Aryan Nations"?
I was planning on attending Reunions and was looking forward to the alumnae rugby game, but I have decided to attend a rugby tournament in Canada instead.
Erika Wolf '85
Rochester, N.Y.
I agree with Joshua L. G. Gunsher '98's letter (December 1). The slash mark flies in the face of the Latin, as if Princeton women need to remind the world that they're there, which they obviously don't.
Virtually all dictionaries and style manuals prescribe alumni when referring to males or both sexes.
In working with a variety of colleges and universities on admissions and development publications, I come across all kinds of inventive styles, some good, some definitely out of the mainstream.
Hampshire College, out of the mainstream in a positive sense, was started by the presidents of four other notable institutions (Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and the University of Massachusetts) as a school for self-motivated students who shape their own programs. Hampshire has invented the term alumns. And, alum (without the n) now appears in certain dictionaries revised since about 1993. It's listed as a shortened version of alumnus or alumna, or both, having entered the language way back in 1930.
Douglass Forsyth '60
Baltimore, Md.
In further tribute to J. W. Smith, let me recall warmly that his course on Plato, and especially his final lecture, embodied for me the quintessence of a liberal, ceaselessly inquiring, Princeton education. Our class arose as one in a standing ovation as he finished his lecture with characteristic power and flourish! It was a truly thrilling experience which I always carry with me and for which I remain deeply grateful.
Boyd E. Hornor III '59
Fair Oaks, Calif.
Marco Sorani '91 argues that because human embryonic stem-cell research might bring health and happiness to some people, it must be allowed (Letters, November 3). In other words, the end justifies the means.
I disagree. If something is inherently evil-like deliberately killing an innocent human being-no praiseworthy goals can justify that act. The Tuskegee experiments, in which people were deliberately allowed to suffer from untreated syphilis, were immoral even if the goal was some important medical breakthrough. The experimentation conducted on prisoners in World War II was immoral even if the goal was finding cures or understanding human physiology.
If some scientist had extracted Mr. Sorani's stem cells when he was an embryo, that would have been immoral even if it led to a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Happily, Mr. Sorani escaped that fate. He ought not to deny his younger brothers and sisters the same basic respect.
Walter M. Weber '81
Alexandria, Va.
If William Pott '99 was correct in his letter (October 20) and the university has actually spoken in favor of the removal of a number of the Washington Road elm trees-regardless of the purported traffic-related benefits of such removal-a grave mistake has been made.
I distinctly remember arriving on campus as a freshman in September of 1986, awed and inspired by the long parallel rows of trees that greet visitors after the relative ugliness of Route 1. The trees bespeak a certain ambiance that is only found in university towns. Whether fully adorned in the spring or stripped naked in the late fall and winter, they are Princeton's majestic red carpet, and should be preserved at all costs.
Brett T. Goodman '90
Verona, N.J.
Please correct me, but it's been a spell since we played the Naval Academy in football. With the grand stadium in place now, should we not apologize and revive what I understand had been a great rivalry?
Lamar K. Adkins '87
Dallas, Tex.
Water polo has come to life in your letters column, and I would like to add a little more history. My father, Lansing Holden '19, and Elliot Springs '19 swam on the water polo team. One year when they were drowning Yale, the match was about to be forfeited by Yale from exhaustion when a novel solution was arrived at: Princeton lent Springs to Yale. The match continued to conclusion, and in a burst of good sportsmanship Yale awarded Springs a Yale "Y" for having played for them in a Big Three match, and a certificate to prove he had earned it.
Both men trained to fly at Princeton and became aces in World War I. In the '60s I visited Springs at his home, and he took me to his basement rec room, festooned with memorabilia, to show me photos of my father and him on the Princeton team and of himself with the Yale team. He said he thought he was the only man to have ever been awarded a Princeton "P" and a Yale "Y" in the same sport in the same year .
Lansing Holden '51
Sedona, Ariz.
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