Letters: March 5, 1997
HONOR CODE
Paw reports that the student Honor Committee has corrected "procedural flaws" in its constitution which eliminate a student's right to be represented by a member of the faculty or administration when accused of cheating (Notebook, December 11; On the Campus, December 25). With this change, students facing suspension or expulsion may now be represented only by other students. This "reform," we are told, was prompted by a case in which a student convicted of cheating was later cleared through the efforts of an administrator, who was able to demonstrate "procedural unfairness or harmful bias" in the initial hearing. It seems that in the second hearing the administrator was thought to have "mistreated" witnesses.
Readers will understandably wonder what the ''mistreatment" was and, if there was any, why the committee allowed it. We should wonder, too, about the judgment of a committee that would exclude a class of advocates based on the perceived behavior of one. And we should wonder, most of all, about the fairness of a system that now denies accused students access to experienced and effective representation.
The decision in this case-to exclude faculty and administrators as advocates-highlights a broader issue: whether students can be entrusted with sole responsibility for disciplinary proceedings that can ruin a reputation and destroy a future. Most would assume that student control of disciplinary proceedings offers an element of protection to the accused. But experience teaches the opposite: students are often less solicitous of the rights of the accused, and more inclined to judge harshly, than their counterparts on the faculty and in the administration. And student advocates often lack the experience to do an effective job for their "clients."
Jeremy Caplan '97 writes that "the Honor Code is one of the last relics of student power." That is a good statement of the problem. It is only by looking at an honor proceeding as an opportunity to exercise power, rather than an opportunity to do justice, that one can make sense of the decision to deny an accused student the assistance of an experienced administrator or member of the faculty.
Kevin T. Baine '71
Washington, D.C.
WILSON AND RACE
The rush to label Woodrow Wilson a "racist" by present-day definition, citing isolated quotations and without studying the social temper of his times, is unseemly (Letters, January 22). A good deal of disinterested scholarship needs to be done before judgment is passed-not, of course, an approach that would fit the social temper of our times.
Should the charge of racism be fully sustainable, Wilson might still in principle have been a supporter of affirmative action-a policy based on, and aimed at, the promotion of racial discrimination. Not so Abraham Lincoln. In one of his debates with Stephen Douglas, Lincoln announced that "I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races . . . there is a physical difference between the white and black races that I believe will forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality."
Wilson the putative racist a supporter in principle, Lincoln the emancipator opposed! How confusing it is to rush through history sprinkling judgments based on the beliefs of the present, whatever they happen to be.
Walter Guzzardi '42
Charlottesville, Va.
NARRATIVE HISTORY
Professor James M. McPherson's article on the decline in writing history for lay people is important and timely (paw, January 22).
Last year, I became interested in the history of Britain in the 50 years leading up to World War I. My idea was to learn how the world's foremost power could fall victim to such a shattering catastrophe as the Great War, and to see whether there were any useful parallels with our own nation's situation as the world's foremost power a century later.
My neighborhood Barnes & Noble superstore had a whole shelf of books on Victorian England-its sexuality, morals, economics, women-but no overviews for the general reader. The New York Public Library's offerings consisted mainly of 30-year-old tomes that not only focused on the era's "elite white males," but made figures like Disraeli and Gladstone seem dull. The only thing even close to what I was looking for was written by one of Professor McPherson's "amateurs," but this entertaining and readable account of the naval arms race between Britain and Germany was too narrowly focused for my purpose.
If academics' scorn for popular history continues, as Professor McPherson implies that it has, it will be a long time before I find the book I'm looking for.
Alan Flippen '84
New York, N.Y.
I agree with Professor McPherson's view of the failure of the academic historical profession to address the general public. But it is strange to see a member of Princeton's history department saying this, given the department's role as the American bastion of the French Annales school, which fought against narrative history and biography and sought to turn history into a category-ridden social science. The department continues in this vein, even though the best prospect for a young historian today is writing books for a general audience rather than pursuing a teaching position in a very tough job market. An annual list circulated by the department shows that, at least in European history, nearly all the dissertation titles of its new Ph.D.s reflect the jargon-ridden Annales line. McPherson's effort to reform the profession ought to start at home.
Norman F. Cantor *53
New York University
New York, N.Y.
CARMODY AND CARRIL
Peter Delacorte '67's article on the men's basketball team included an uncharacteristically rude and inappropriate attack on Bill Carmody, Princeton's new coach (Sports, January 22). Commenting on an early season loss to Bucknell, Mr. Delacorte writes, "Would a Carril team ever have lost a 19-point lead? To anyone?"
Bill Carmody is a superb coach who has been doing a spectacular job in the unenviable position of following the legendary Pete Carril. Though comparisons are inevitable, Coach Carmody has consistently stated that he is not Pete's clone, and though he remains true to the principles of tough defense and a disciplined offense, this year's team has showed a varied offense and more full-court pressure.
Mr. Delacorte should remember that some of the games Princeton fans remember best from the Carril era were lost after the Tigers led in the second half. The regular-season loss to UCLA in 1969 and later NCAA losses to Georgetown, Arkansas, and Villanova all occurred as leads evaporated despite Carril's superb guidance.
Calvin W. Roberts '74
New York, N.Y.
LAID-OFF TIGERS
Van Wallach '80's "Tales of a Laid-Off Tiger" (First Person, January 22) made me think of my 15th reunion, in 1993. Amid the joys of new babies and milestones achieved, we were struck by the numbers of our own laid-off, downsized, "consultant-ized" Tigers. A few classmates barely disguised their schadenfreude, expressing relief that not everyone was part of a seemingly infinite upward cycle of professional and financial success.
Most of us, however, felt a strengthened sense of solidarity, and pride, in our class. In a "real world" that few of us could have anticipated in 1978, we have had to embrace the sometimes exhilarating, sometimes wrenching changes that characterize our working lives. The true test of success is not whether we can sail past change, but how we meet it, building upon the foundation, and the community, that Princeton and other institutions in our lives have helped provide.
Judith Feder '78
White Plains, N.Y.
TIGERTOWN ODYSSEY
Not surpisingly, in their year-long odyssey visiting Princetons across the country (paw, January 22) Ken and Garie Perry '50 missed Princeton, Montana. Accessible by dirt road, it maintains a low profile at the foot of Prince-ton Gulch, about five miles southwest of Maxville and 40 miles southeast of Missoula. I wish I could get through the snowdrifts to take a photograph of it for you.
Larry Campbell '70
Darby, Mont.
It is nice to see Ken Perry covering more ground now than he did as the shortstop for the 1950 Campus Club softball champions.
Jim Caldwell '50
Baltimore, Md.
JIMMY STEWART '32
In your December 25 cover story on Jimmy Stewart '32, the Triangle Club committee member who looks more like a movie star than Stewart is my handsome father, Charles L. Smith '32, identified as LeRoy Smith. A lifelong resident of Ithaca, New York, and now 88, my father led the Triangle Club orchestra. I have listened to one of the club's records with a vocal by Jimmy, known to his classmates as "Jim" and "J.B.," singing "Day After Day." It leaves little doubt that he was wise to pursue a career in acting.
Sheldon L. Smith '64
Austin, Texas
Editor's note: We also heard from Clayton W. Morehead '32, who points out that the man identified in the picture as "Harold Tracker" is Harold Tasker '32.
PALMER STADIUM
What should be the name of the new football stadium? Over more than 80 years, millions of spectators filled Palmer Stadium to watch the Tigers, and thousands of undergraduates competed in it. Even if a donor gave enough of the $40 million for the new stadium to have it named for him, it would seem more appropriate to call it Palmer II. "Palmer" would carry on a historic Princeton name, and "II" would befit the design of the new stadium, which has a classical feel to it. When I suggested this name to many friends, including a few Tiger football greats, they were nearly unanimous in liking it. I have been told that, lacking a major donor, the new facility might be called University Stadium or Alumni Stadium.
If the university can rename Alexander Hall's interior Richardson Auditorium, after the father of the alumnus who put up the money for its renovation, perhaps something similar could be done with the field inside the new stadium.
Herb Hobler '44
Princeton, N.J.
After watching the final contest in Palmer Stadium and recalling the glorious memories of contests past, I composed the following. Herewith my ode to this grand old arena, on the eve of her demise:
To conceive a hall of glory merits biblical
acclaim.
Old Edgar Palmer never dreamed what plea-
sures he would bring!
To cleated warriors, shields held high, as clever
Cleopatras sigh!
Absorb the carnage, cheer the fray! 'Mid hopes
today's a victorious day!
O glorious moments, when with passion gifts
great warriors claim!
The Gods tear down the glory hall, and start
another game!
Bob Peters '42
Charlottesville, Va.
WOMEN'S CENTER
The Women's Center will celebrate its 25th anniversary on April 25-26, and we are eager to hear from alumnae who were involved with the center as students. We can be reached by phone at 609-258-5565, or by e-mail at thewomenscenter@princeton.edu).
Cheri Sistek
Director, Women's Center
Princeton, N.J.