As a former member of the Chicano Caucus, I would like to address several misconceptions found in Nicholas Confessore '98's piece on improving race relations (Opinion, January 28).

First of all, the Chicano Caucus does not conduct initiation ceremonies. Like any other support group on campus, the Caucus is an organization created to help empower its members during their years at Princeton. Also, contrary to Mr. Confessore's assertion, we do not hold a "separate graduation ceremony." Like all other students, we participate in Princeton's graduation ceremony. We do, however, host a brunch for all Chicano graduates and their families, and we call it the Chicano Caucus Graduation. It's an event similar to those held by academic departments; its purpose is simply to recognize the individual efforts of graduating Chicanos.

Allow me to share a personal reminiscence about the Chicano Graduation and its importance. When I graduated from Princeton, my Polish grandfather flew out from Chicago. I will never forget walking him into the Chicano Graduation brunch at the Chancellor Green Center. This was the first time I had ever shared with him my other culture, and when the name Joe Hernandez-Kolski was called, it was my grandfather who cheered the loudest.

Joseph Hernandez-Kolski '96
Los Angeles, Calif.

Nicholas Confessore's piece on race relations got my juices running. Forty-five years ago, I, too, was a senior in the politics department, but back then there were no race relations to improve. Of course, I was white, as were the other 700-odd members of our class except for two who were black (and invisible). There were no brown or yellow students, and of course no women.

Despite our racial homogeneity, there was a palpable divide in our ranks. Sixty per cent of the class was on the private-school onward-and-upward track. They all bickered and joined eating clubs. The rest of us were from public high schools. Our tracks were, thankfully, more diverse. Still, many of us were eager to get into the "best" club we could and assimilate, if possible, to take advantage of the social and career opportunities a Princeton diploma offered.

I was a member of the one club, Prospect, that was member-run, on a co-op basis. We hired two cooks and did everything else ourselves, such as serving meals and washing dishes. You didn't exactly bicker to get into Prospect, which welcomed anyone not attracted to the traditional eating clubs. Our dues were also the cheapest.

I applaud the diversity of today's Princeton and urge Mr. Confessore not to take the eating clubs too seriously.

Bryan Jones '53
El Granada, Calif.

Grade inflation

Please tell me your article about grade inflation isn't true (Notebook, March 25). Ten years after graduating from Princeton with mediocre grades, I earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago. Its business school had a policy of limiting A's and B's to, respectively, 5 and 15 percent of the total grades given out. Because my employer was subsidizing my tuition, my boss received a copy of my grades -- an arrangement that made me regard anything less than an A as unacceptable. As a result, I graduated in the top 5 percent of the class and learned a great deal more than I would have if good grades had been freebies.

Alumni would be a lot prouder of Princeton if it challenged students rather than accepting the genetically bright and passing them through on a cloud. I love Princeton but am embarrassed by its give-away grading system.

Don R. Beasley '53
Bala Cynwyd, Penn.

Firestone's 50th

I am preparing an exhibit to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Firestone Library. Firestone opened its doors in September 1948. I would like to hear from those able young men who moved all those books from storage into the new building that summer, and from any who remember what it was like to use the new library that fall. They can reach me at Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ 08544 (fax: 609-258-2324; e-mail: mmsherry@princeton.edu).

Margaret M. Sherry
Reference Librarian/Archivist
Princeton, N.J.

Joe Brown

Your editor's note in the March 11 Letters identifies sculptor/boxing coach Joe Brown as an honorary member of the Class of 1942. That recalls an article in the Fall 1996 Princeton With One Accord on A. Scott Berg '77's lecture, "Princeton in the Nation's Cinema." The story identifies Joe E. Brown, the comic actor who in his role in Some Like It Hot said he was a Princeton man, as another honorary member of 1942. Did '42 make both Joe Browns honorary members? If so, there's a class with class!

Bernie Ryan, Jr. '46
Southbury, Conn.

Editor's note: For the record, it was just the sculptor. Also on this matter, Win Short '41 called to identify the third person in the photograph we published: he is Pierre G. "Pete" Powel '41, who served as a model for Brown and who left Princeton in his junior year. He died in 1981.

TV and the Academy

Elaine Showalter's trumpeting of prime-time is so much ado about nothing ("TV and the Academy," December 3). Television does have its place, but in many ways it's the 20th-century version of "The Emperor's New Clothes": very little is there. A primary goal of television is to engage us relentlessly, regardless of the shallowness of content. Many of us have become behaviorally programmed to the point where we cannot turn the television off, much less look away from its flickering screen. The public now discusses the lives of the celebrities and fictional characters on TV with an intensity and fascination once reserved for family and friends. In many cases we know these people better then we do our next-door neighbors. Professor Showalter admonishes us that if we are not earnestly watching television now, we had "better start watching." I instead encourage her to turn her back on TV and spend prime-time walking her block, seeking out conversations with neighbors. Her heroic enthusiasm for television invites skepticism on my part; it's a peculiar habit I picked up during my college years.

Raphael (Rocky) Semmes, Jr. '79
Alexandria, Va.

Neither Elaine Showalter's article nor the February 11 letter of Kate and Robb Williams '89 emphasizes what many of us who've worked in TV believe needs stressing. Of course television is important, because it's so much a part of today's social fabric. But it mustn't be confused with education, literature, or culture. It is an advertising medium first, last, and always; so organized by the needs of advertising that it's as stylized as Haiku. It's presented in rigid 30-, 60-, and 90-minute segments divided by discrete periods of advertising messages. Dramatic shows are designed with the requisite cliff-hanging curtains to carry viewers through the commercial breaks. The conceptual thinking, writing, and production is so specific to the medium that comparison to anything else is irrelevant.

Samuel W. Gelfman '52
Los Angeles, Calif.

Malcolm Diamond

Re your February 11 obituary on Malcolm Diamond: among his many gifts to Princeton, Professor Diamond was the first master of Stevenson Hall, whose founding in 1968 provided a constructive focal point for the social and political debates then raging on campus and across the country. He was at the center of these events, teaching, guiding, and arousing his students throughout -- a role he sustained even as he approached his death. I am grateful to have known him.

Peter V. Baugher '70
Wilmette, Ill.

Tigertones memorial concert

We wish to inform PAW's readers about a benefit concert the Tigertones are planning with the Yale Whiffenpoofs and the Harvard Krokodiloes. It will take place on Sunday, May 3, at Carnegie Hall, in New York City. The three groups are joining in support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) as a result of a tragedy last April in Florida, when an an alleged drunk driver killed the Tigertones' music director, Richard Modica '99. The performance is dedicated to Rick's memory. Tickets can be reserved by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. For information about MADD, call 203-389-3595.

Brian Goehring '98
Greg Paulson '98
Princeton, N.J.