A study in contrasts

In response to: When art historians went to war

By Richard T. Arndt ’49 *72

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

Compliments on your editorial guile in preceding the splendid article on Princeton’s contribution to the preservation, recovery, repair, and return of the art heritage of Europe in World War II with the inspiring story of ex-Congressman James Leach ’64’s planned tour of all...

Focus on weather-system stability

In response to: Temperatures rising

By Norton Jacobi ’55

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

I am appalled at the lack of depth in the position taken by Professors Austin and Happer in the debate on climate change (feature, March 17). Surely, as physicists they must be aware of and should have given consideration to the well-established principles that (1) a complex...

Providing a bully pulpit

In response to: Temperatures rising

By Robert R. Holt *39

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

Everywhere you look, and now in PAW, contrarian scientists get easy and respectful media coverage. Mark Bernstein ’83 gave Professors Happer and Austin a bully pulpit, and seems to have been taken in by them (feature, March 17). The article starts by subtly framing the whole...

Missing the main points

In response to: Temperatures rising

By Jacques Read ’57

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

Mark Bernstein ’83’s article (feature, March 17), and indeed much of what Professor Happer says, is really beside the point. Carbon dioxide is heavily absorbent between 10 and 20 microns wavelength. This is the range in which the ice crystals that form the fluffy white tops...

Rethink chastity-center decision

In response to: A lifestyle that deserves support

By Bill Markus ’47

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

How can it be that Princeton, administered almost top to bottom by women, can turn down the plea of those women seeking the refuge of a chastity center? Dorina Amendola ’02’s letter (March 17) is powerfully appealing. Is “Sex on a Saturday Night” the mandatory message that...

A welcome change

In response to: A moment with...

By Terry L. DeLong ’64

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

I welcomed the positive remarks by Joshua Bolton ’76 (A Moment with, April 7) about President Bush’s approach to national governance, in sharp contrast to the daily barrage of divisive, derisive, misleading, and inaccurate statements coming from the Obama administration.

An unwise appointment

In response to: In Brief

By T. Burnet Fisher ’46

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

I wish to express my embarrassment that Princeton University is providing a podium from which a self-proclaimed communist, Van Jones, can pour his “destroy America because it is evil” message into malleable young minds (Notebook, March 17). Unfortunately, most of them have...

Errors in reporting ranks

In response to: When art historians went to war

By George B. Chapman ’50 *52 *53

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

This World War II vet could not refrain from correcting the double error in the caption to the “Monuments Men” photo in the June 2 issue. Ernest DeWald *14 *16 wears the insignia of a lieutenant colonel, not a lieutenant. (That error is corrected in the text.) Perry Cott ’29...

A long wait

In response to: Home

By Ron Halpern ’71

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

After nearly 40 years, I’ve finally actually enjoyed (almost) reading an issue of PAW (April 7). For one thing, in the letters section, several writers, including older alums, suggested, albeit much too genteelly, that despite his Princeton degree, Andrew Schlafly ’81 is an...

Far from 'postracial'

In response to: Home

By Stephen E. Silver ’58

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

I am sorry to be writing to you at such a late date, but I’ve been away for several months and am just now catching up on my oId PAWS. The issue on race (Jan. 13) was mind-boggling. Nothing has brought home to me more forcefully that America does not have a race problem, but...

The start of the P-rade

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

John Hutton ’82 painted this scene in gouache of the start of the P-rade after ­returning home from attending the 60th reunion of his father, John W. Hutton ’50. The artist, an art history major at Princeton, is chairman of the art department at Salem College in Winston-Salem,...

Jim Leach '64's crusade

In response to: Uncivil society

By Randolph Hobler ’68

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

With respect to your cover story, “Reaching for Civility” (PAW June 2), however laudable Jim Leach ’64’s effort is to restore civility to political debate, what is infinitely more important is the content of the debate, not the manner in which manners are missing. The most...

Leach's legislative legacy

In response to: Uncivil society

By Burr Loomis ’61

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

I have never been able to understand PAW’s love affair with Jim Leach. You have always treated him as one of our finest, a true example of Princeton in the nation’s service. But his greatest accomplishment in his 30 years in Congress was as co-author, with former Sen. Phil...

Clarifying a court ruling

In response to: Uncivil society

By Nels Runger ’53

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

Mark Bernstein ’83’s interview with Jim Leach was well done; I wish Leach success in his attempts to bring civility into political discourse. My one quibble with the report was Bernstein’s reference to “the recent Supreme Court decision striking down limits on corporate campaign...

Competing for a Rhodes

In response to: In pursuit of the Rhodes

By John Logan ’66

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

As the former Princeton Fulbright program adviser, I have a question: Is it possible that our students’ success in the competition for Rhodes scholarships in comparison with that of applicants from Yale (Notebook, May 12) is simply a fact of numbers? By which I don’t mean...

Saving art treasures

In response to: When art historians went to war

By William T. Mann ’63

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

W. Barksdale Maynard ’88’s article (feature, June 2) was an interesting contribution to the ongoing saga of works of art lost and found as a result of World War II. The role of Princeton art experts as “Monuments Men” was especially gratifying. It seemed strange to me that...

Debating corn syrup

In response to: Study of high-fructose corn syrup stirs critics

By Ken McCarthy ’81

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

About the furor over psychology professor and eminent neuroscientist Bart Hoebel’s comparison of the effects of high-fructose corn syrup versus sugar and water on weight gain in rats (Notebook, April 28): I seriously doubt the objections to Professor Hoebel’s science reflected a...

Pay for professors

In response to: In Brief

By Aaron Alter *77

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

In reading the May 12 Notebook section, I was more than a little amazed by the sentence: “The average salary for full professors at Princeton increased just 0.4 percent this year (from $180,300 last year to $181,000), reflecting a trend of low salary increases for university...

A generous example

By Clint Montague ’09

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

I recently had an experience with an alumnus whose generosity stands as an example of how we all should hope to be as members of the Princeton alumni community. I was traveling to Paris to visit my sister who was going to school there, and was scheduled to depart after one week....

Correcting a class year

In response to: Where town meets gown

By Herb Hobler ’44

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

There was one incorrect item in the May 12 cover story, “Where town meets gown.” While I suspect most of us in ’44 would welcome Nick Katzenbach to our rolls, Nick was in ’43, not ’44. Still, many of us knew him during undergraduate days and beyond during his stellar career.

In defense of Van Jones

In response to: Home

By Tim McKee ’92

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

Regarding Van Jones’ appointment as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow (Notebook, March 17): Given the state of the economy and climate, it’s almost laughable that some Princeton alumni (letters, April 28) consider “radical” Van Jones’ idea of creating a domestic job corps to...

A climate response

In response to: Debating climate data

By William Happer *64, Robert Austin, Szymon Suckewer

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

A letter of April 28 in PAW, and a longer version posted at PAW Online,   purport to correct “serious errors” in the March 17 article “Temperatures Rising” by Mark F. Bernstein ’83. The signatories say: “Perhaps the most egregious error is the statement that ‘human activity has...

Ex-president's thanks

In response to: Reliving a war

By Tex Farrington ’42

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

Our Class of 1942 has copied any public figure mentioned in our World War II book and the new audiobook (Alumni Scene, Feb. 24). Thus, a letter and an audiobook were sent to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. I wrote that proclivity for jumping out of airplanes on...

From the Archives

In response to: Home

By Peter Demaree Sr. k’39

Published in the July 7, 2010 issue

The baseball player on the left in the April 28 From the Archives photo is my father, Dr. Richard Howard Demaree ’39. He was a star pitcher; his nickname was Farmer. He passed away in 2001.

Clubhouse is 'iconic'

In response to: Historic building to be history

By Robin Stennet ’01

Published in the June 2, 2010 issue

I was saddened to read of the impending demolition of Osborn Clubhouse (recently the Third World Center) with little more than a passing nod to its role in Princeton minority life (Notebook, April 28). The article and perhaps the University seem not to consider Osborn as...

A shortsighted decision

In response to: Historic building to be history

By Drew Carneal ’60

Published in the June 2, 2010 issue

Most institutions would fight to preserve this handsome building so redolent with the traditions of the place. To me, and I think to a lot of people, it is “iconic” both for its architecture and its meaning to generations of Princetonians. This is an “of the moment” and...

Voting for trustees

By Carlos Niederstrasser ’94

Published in the June 2, 2010 issue

It is once again time to vote for Princeton alumni trustees. It is wonderful to know that alumni are represented on the board of trustees of our University. Unfortunately, I find myself facing the same dilemma as in all previous elections — I have no reasonable basis for...

Procter Hall's meanings

In response to: Procter Hall

By Steve Synakowski ’75 *78

Published in the June 2, 2010 issue

The photograph of Ralph Cram’s Procter Hall at the Graduate College (Final Scene, April 7) reflects and befits this generally unknown facet of the University beautifully. The image captures the spatial and the iconic sense of the architecture remarkably well. ...

Why the change?

By David R. Wright *76

Published in the June 2, 2010 issue

I notice in the photo of the graduate dining hall that the tables have been rearranged since I attended (1966–70). They used to be perpendicular to the side walls. Why the change? I also notice that the organ console, formerly just inside on the right as one entered, is absent....

Missing an early option

In response to: In Brief

By Lynn Hogben ’77 s’78

Published in the June 2, 2010 issue

The Feb. 3 Notebook story on admission applications states that 74 percent of Princeton applicants are seeking financial aid and attributes this high percentage to the economy and to “our financial-aid message ... reaching more students than in the past.” There is probably...

Gender-neutral issues

In response to: Gender-neutral housing on its way

By John A. Pfeifer ’54

Published in the June 2, 2010 issue

Because of some temporary health problems, I was delayed in reading the March 17 issue of PAW. The experience almost gave me a fatal relapse. This was brought on by two totally conflicting decisions apparently made by people in positions of authority at Princeton. The two issues...

For the record

Published in the June 2, 2010 issue

A statement by Professor Szymon Suckewer in PAW’s March 17 article about Princeton’s climate skeptics deserves clarification. Suckewer says that his own research has convinced him that “increased CO2 levels caused by human activity have little to do with rising global...

The fruits of failure

In response to: Nothing succeeds like failure

By Stephanie Turner *04

Published in the May 12, 2010 issue

Thank you for your article on the benefits of failure (cover story, April 7). I am an English teacher in a private high school, and I am appalled by the current parenting trend of preventing failure. I now cringe to assign any grade less than a B, because I have had parents...

A higher standard

In response to: Nothing succeeds like failure

By Jim Haas ’84

Published in the May 12, 2010 issue

I applaud and admire the hard work, dedication, and passion exhibited by the scientists profiled in your story about how success is often born of past failures. I also enjoyed the splendid irony that the symbol of success chosen for your cover illustration, the Nobel Prize,...

More climate debate

In response to: Temperatures rising

By Sidney van den Bergh ’50

Published in the May 12, 2010 issue

In his article on global-warming skeptics (feature, March 17), Mark Bernstein ’83 presents a nicely balanced discussion of some of the controversies surrounding this issue. However, a more nuanced discussion of the “dire consequences” of global warming might have been helpful....

Act on clean energy now

In response to: Temperatures rising

By Kevin Raeder ’86 (Geophysics)

Published in the May 12, 2010 issue

Dr. William Happer *64’s comments have the same character as the rhetoric he attributes to anthropogenic climate-change “believers.” He does not refute the climate-change evidence that he is most qualified to refute, concerning the radiative properties of gases, but focuses on...

Cimate data contradict assertions

In response to: Temperatures rising

By Kenneth Davis ’87, professor of meteorology; Timothy Hilton ’01, Ph.D. candidate in meteorology; Klaus Keller *00, associate professor of geosciences; Sukyoung Lee *91, professor of meteorology; and Raymond ­Najjar *90, associate professor of meteorology and geosciences

Published in the May 12, 2010 issue

We are dismayed by PAW’s article covering two Princeton physics professors’ opinions concerning climate change. Professors William Happer and Robert Austin reportedly criticize climate scientists for “group think” and claim that “only a few have looked at the raw data.”   This...

Warming would test humankind

In response to: Temperatures rising

By Gregory Faris ’80

Published in the May 12, 2010 issue

As I read the article on the role of professors Happer and Austin as climate-change skeptics, two thoughts came to mind. First, it pleases me that the Princeton physics department has been supportive in spite of their dissenting scientific positions. Second, although they are...

More Tigers in love

In response to: Tigers (still) in love

By The Rev. Daniel J. Skvir ’66

Published in the May 12, 2010 issue

I have read with interest the letter dedicated to “Tigers in Love” (April 7), and heartily congratulate the Wilheims ’75 on the blissful longevity of their Princeton-Princeton marriage. At the same time, I must mention that my wife and I have laid claim to the distinction of...

A soccer success

By Elton R. Petersen ’48

Published in the May 12, 2010 issue

There is quite a story re: Bob Bradley ’80, the head coach of the U.S. World Cup soccer team. PAW mentioned him recently (Tiger of the Week, Oct. 14), but for those who know soccer at the World Cup level, Bob’s elevation to that post — from his start in Princeton’s soccer...

Learning from writers

In response to: President's Page

By Tom Nagorski ’84

Published in the May 12, 2010 issue

Shirley Tilghman’s “70 Years Of Creative Writing” (President’s Page, Feb. 24) brought back fond memories from what was without question a highlight of my experience at Princeton. It wasn’t just the impressive roster of writers — Joyce Carol Oates, Russell Banks, and Edmund...

The quest for logic

In response to: A moment with...

By Franklin Monzon ’93

Published in the May 12, 2010 issue

The article on Andrew Schlafly ’81 and his misguided creation, Conservapedia (A Moment with, Feb. 24), was one of the most alarming pieces I’ve read in PAW. The final line, “Conservativism is mostly logic, and ultimately logic prevails,” is the kind of glib tautology that I...

Debating climate data

In response to: Temperatures rising

By Michael Bender, Isaac Held, François Morel, Michael Oppenheimer, Steve Pacala, George Philander, Jorge Sarmiento, Eric Wood

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

“Temperatures rising” (feature, March 17) outlines views about climate and climate change from four Princeton faculty members who are global-warming skeptics. The information in many quotes and paraphrased statements from these scientists is wrong. This letter corrects the most...

Poor coverage of climate-change issue

In response to: Temperatures rising

By Mitchell Golden ’81

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

“Temperatures rising” is a disappointing example of the poor coverage climate science gets from journalists. The evasion “Professor Happer says X” is used to avoid discussing the merits of X — often, as in this case, leaving the impression that X is true. If PAW is incapable of...

No consensus on global warming

By Jay Lehr ’57

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

At long last, Princeton and the Princeton Alumni Weekly are displaying ethical responsibility by allowing the expression of dissenting views on the theory of man-made global warming. Mark F. Bernstein ’83 did a fine job reporting the views of William Happer *64, Robert Austin,...

Questioning climate-change claims

By Charles Luger ’58

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

Professor Happer is not the only one who believes the so-called consensus on global warming is badly flawed. An Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine petition signed by 31,000 scientists (including 9,021 Ph.D.s) rejected the claim of human-caused global warming. A TV...

The next downturn

In response to: After the crash

By Larry Larkin ’61

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I was distressed to read the interviews with President Tilghman and Andrew Golden regarding the endowment fund (feature, Dec. 9). Going into the worst market decline in decades, the fund’s asset allocation was more than 70 percent in nontraditional assets, and many of these...

Van Jones' appointment

In response to: In Brief

By Charles Harper ’52

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

PAW reported (Notebook, March 17) that Van Jones had resigned [his White House position]. He resigned under pressure of the Congress for radical ideas on the environment. President Obama was pushed into agreement. Now that he needs an audience, Princeton gives him the...

Fact-checking Jones' book

In response to: In Brief

By Allan Demaree ’58

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

He urged a probe into the Bush ­administration’s complicity in 9/11. He slurred congressional Republicans with a crude anatomical epithet. The resulting flap forced him to resign as adviser to President Obama. So ­Princeton names him a “distinguished visiting fellow” teaching...

Probing gender disparity

In response to: Women lag in leadership roles

By Walter M. Weber ’81

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

Women are equal to men. But they are not the same as men. Thus, while there are of course individual variations, women and men as a whole will tend to diverge in their behavior in certain respects. The Princeton administration seems not to consider this as a conceivable...

Better medical choices

In response to: A moment with ... Talya Miron-Shatz

By Brian Zack ’72, M.D.

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

“Talya Miron-Shatz, on medical misunderstandings” (A Moment with, March 17) admirably addresses the importance of providing patients with information in an understandable format, so that they may best make decisions when “there isn’t a right answer.” Of equal importance, but...

Fellows in Africa

In response to: Princeton-in-Africa turns 10

By George Hritz ’69

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

Thank you for publishing the thorough piece on Princeton-in-Africa by P.G. Sittenfeld ’07 (Notebook, Feb. 3). I would add two points: In our interviews for next year’s fellows from the Class of 2010, two of the most highly qualified Princeton seniors applying for fellowships...

Financial-aid thanks

In response to: Tuition, fees to rise 3.3 percent; big jump in financial-aid budget

By David E. Jordan ’50

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

Reading the article on the increase in tuition and fees (Notebook, Feb. 24) inspired my first letter to PAW. The rise, to $52,180 in costs for next year, brought to mind what it cost me to attend Princeton just after the war. How times have changed! Still, financial aid remains...

From the Archives

In response to: From the Archives

By Matthew Ferguson ’96 s’96

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

Re the Feb. 24 From the Archives photo: The guys in the bottom row are, from left, Leonard Marquez ’96, Matt Ferguson ’96, Jason Penzak ’95, and Jason Todd ’95. In the top row are, from left, Charmaine Williams ’97, Blair Blackwell ’96, Melinda Sims (née Hough) ’95, and Jordana...

For the record

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

An Alumni Scene photo caption in the March 17 issue incorrectly reported the names of some winners of the Class of 1976 Green Business Plan Competition. From left in the photo are Faaez ul Haq ’12, Dalia Nahol ’10, Michael Smith ’10, Maurie Carr ’10, Fahad Shams GS, and Jacob...

Campus legends, old and new

In response to: An hour-long view of paradise

By Donald H. Lindsley ’56

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I enjoyed the article on Orange Key (cover story, Nov. 18), but must point out that if some campus myths are now cloaked with “according to legend ...”, new myths are replacing them. Last April I took granddaughter Kate to visit campus. Our tour ended at Frist Campus Center, and...

Linking to a 'birth' class

In response to: An hour-long view of paradise

By Ronald E. Barks ’60

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I was fascinated to read the Class Notes from the Class of ’38 in the Nov. 18 issue and realize that they represent events in a class of alumni who graduated the year I was born. What an interesting insight into the University and history they represent! I plan to write to John...

Wanted: Repair for Band jacket

In response to: Yo, Band!

By George Hackney ’57

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

Reference the photo of band members on the cover of the Nov. 4 issue, there appears to be a hole in the jacket pocket of the band member holding the trombones. What an embarrassment! With a multibillion-dollar endowment, we can’t repair it or give the kid a new coat?

Reading in print still enjoyable

By Michael L. Sena ’69 *72

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

It is one of my (perhaps many) quirks that I thumb through periodicals to which I subscribe from back to front, tearing out the articles of interest for later reading and discarding the carcass in the paper-recycling bin. With periodicals that I keep for reference, like Harvard...

Modifying the Gospel message

In response to: Loving one's neighbors

By Jamie Spencer ’66

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I have to disagree with Christopher Webber ’53, who rather contemptuously rejects Robert Wright ’79’s definition of what Jesus meant by neighbors (letters, Nov. 4). Wright says he meant only Jews. Webber says no way: He meant all of us. Well, before he starts citing the various...

Hirings raise questions

In response to: In Brief

By C.E. Tychsen ’43

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I was shocked to see Van Jones was hired as a visiting fellow (Notebook, March 17). He was not fired from the Obama administration merely because of his political activities, but mainly because he told a bald-faced lie about 9-11. He said the Bush administration had planned it...

More than an activist

In response to: In Brief

By Fred Holzweiss ’54

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

It’s interesting to note what wasn’t said in the March 17 In Brief item on Van Jones. It says he is to become a visiting fellow and is called “an environmental activist.” It wasn’t mentioned that he also has been identified as a Marxist, Leninist, Maoist, Communist,...

Climate sensitivity and the status quo

In response to: Temperatures rising

By Chris Morris *78

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

Climate change is not a debate; it's a value – indeed, a responsive sensitivity to the environment that can only make the world a better place, spurring energy independence as a bonus, against which any fanatical objection undermines dreaming, loving, and a universal quest for...

Keep a close watch

In response to: In Brief

By Sam McKinstry ’60

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I am appalled at the decision by Princeton to assign a position at the University to such a polarizing figure as Van Jones (Notebook, March 17). This man was removed from his “czar” position in the Obama administration because of his radical political agenda. Jones is an avowed...

Reflecting changing times

In response to: Slow progress for faculty-diversity efforts

By Norman Ravitch ’62

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

The article entitled “Slow progress for faculty-diversity efforts” (Notebook, Jan. 13) shows that in nine years minority faculty has risen from 13 percent to 16 percent of the faculty, while female representation has grown from 21 percent to 25 percent of the faculty. This...

No qualifications for appointment

In response to: In Brief

By William Hannum ’54

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

PAW notes that Van Jones has been hired as a visiting fellow in the Program in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy (Notebook, March 17). I do not appreciate my alma mater serving as a haven for Communist agitators, and he certainly has no qualifications re a Program in...

Building, California-style

In response to: Robert Choeff *98 and Krystyan Keck *98

By Peter Yarbrough ’99

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

Re “The house that Choeff and Keck built” (Alumni Scene, Jan. 13): Oh, the plight common to young Princetonians in urban areas: how to expand living space on a paltry budget of $955,000. Forgive me, it looks like they only had $410,000 for the expansion.

Founding creeds of service

By Nick Davis ’60

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

As my 50th reunion approaches, I notice my mailbox filling with communications from a college at which I spent four rather tumultuous years half a century ago. Often I mistake the communications for retail catalogues, since both colorfully seek my treasure for attractive but...

Attributing controversial Danish cartoons

In response to: Tight security for cartoonist

By John Lamb ’55

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I’m hardly qualified to speak on the topic, but it is worth noting that it is sad to see PAW (Notebook, Nov. 4) inadvertently abetting the erroneous myth that it was Kurt Westergaard’s work in Jyllands Posten that caused riots in the Islamic disapora when in fact it was three...

Phone app for Yellowstone

In response to: More alumni apps

By Peter R. Carney ’53

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I read with interest the letter from Alfredo José Richner ’03 (Feb. 3) about the iPhone apps that he had created. Not wanting to be left out, I have created an app that recently was approved by Apple for inclusion in the App Store. The application is “Geo Roamer Yellowstone,” a...

Cornell's basketball transfers

In response to: Jazzed at Jadwin

By Adrian Woodhouse ’59

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

As I’m writing the morning after our second close loss in men’s basketball to the Big Red (Sports, March 17), this may sound like sour grapes. A classmate mentioned that Cornell has “transfers” on its teams, and he is right. Searching Cornell’s team roster, I was surprised to...

Time to support sprint football

In response to: Time to end a sport?

By Paul A. Gabriele ’82

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I am writing in response to Stephan J. Bednar ’60’s letter (Feb. 24), which suggests that Princeton end its sprint football program because it cannot compete effectively in the league. While it is true that Princeton’s sprint football has not been competitive for some time, I...

Whose intent will rule?

In response to: A moment with...

By Jim Paulson ’72 *77

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I was disappointed to see that PAW gave a platform to Andrew Schlafly ’81 and his Conservapedia (A Moment with, Feb. 24). Conservapedia is just another fundamentalist Christian, creationist, anti-liberal, and anti-science Web site, masquerading as something scholarly and...

Education, history, and good sense

In response to: A moment with...

By Michael G. Hall ’47

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

The interview with Andrew Schlafly ’81 (A Moment with, Feb. 24) shows once again that even the best education is no guarantee of good sense. He seems to know nothing about the origins or practice of world history, which tries to be neutral among the world’s religions, not...

Expanding on a war story

In response to: Disturbing memories

By Frank Bailey ’48

Published in the April 28, 2010 issue

I reluctantly respond to Garth Stevenson *71’s letter (Jan. 13). Of my World War II experience published in PAW (Perspective, Nov. 4), may I add: My companion on that unforgettable day was one of a handful of GIs left from the New Guinea campaign and onward; he was jaundiced; he...

Tigers (still) in love

In response to: Tigers in love

By John Wilheim ’75

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

I read “Tigers in Love” with special interest (Alumni Scene, Feb. 3). My wife and I were something of trendsetters in this area. We met as undergraduates in the fall of 1972, and soon decided we would marry upon graduation in 1975. Then, in the spring of 1974, we realized that...

In support of Petraeus

In response to: Petraeus *85 *87, Leach '64 headline Alumni Day

By Frank Schaffer ’45

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

Congratulations to the wise alumni of Princeton who selected Gen. David Petraeus *85 *87 for the annual Madison Medal (Alumni Scene, March 17). As a future president, Gen. Petraeus is a man all Americans could be proud of, in contrast to the inhabitants of that office the last...

A conservative's views

In response to: A moment with...

By Theodore Folkman ’96

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

Princeton has more than its fair share of distinguished and serious conservative public intellectuals. Was it important to devote a page to Andrew Schlafly ’81 (A Moment With, Feb. 24)? Web users can judge for themselves, but my quick look at Conservapedia’s treatment of what I...

Biblical statements and political stances

In response to: A moment with...

By The Rev. Michael O’Connor ’77

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

I very much appreciate the Q & A with Andrew Schlafly. I applaud his suggestion of using “original intent” to understand the Bible. So often a reader reads a Bible, little realizing that it had an original audience who may have understood its message differently than what a 2010...

Learning about B.C.E. and C.E.

In response to: A moment with...

By Bert B. Katz ’74

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

I found it amusing to see Andrew Schlafly cite the use of B.C.E. and C.E. as proof that Wikipedia is “an atheistic and liberal resource.” I learned about the use of B.C.E. and C.E. in Hebrew school. I had no idea I was attending an atheistic and liberal religious ­institution.

Was article for real?

In response to: A moment with...

By Stuart Hibben ’48

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

Having read the interview with Andrew Schlafly, I find his replies such total nonsense that I have to ask: Is this a leg pull?

Keep sprint football

In response to: Time to end a sport?

By Richard W. Hagner ’09

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

While I appreciate Stephen Bednar ’60’s opinion about ending the sprint football program (letters, Feb. 24), I do not appreciate his tactic of trying to make his point through embarrassing the team and its players by highlighting a lopsided score of a single game.   As someone...

Lessons from sprint football

In response to: Time to end a sport?

By Arthur “P.J.” Chew ’95

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

Ending sprint football is not the solution. Sprint football alumni have created an endowment that is large enough to fund all the costs for the program. Therefore, ending the program would not provide any additional economic benefit to Princeton.   The program has not been very...

Promote 'the ultimate underdog' sport

In response to: Time to end a sport?

By Joe Salerno ’84

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

I was stunned that Stephen Bednar suggested the end of the sprint football at Princeton. He is the first former player in my experience who does not enthusiastically support the program despite the recent spate of losing seasons.   Sprint is for those who were told their whole...

Crying over grades

By Harry “Tony” Kohn ’53

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

A recent New York Times article, re­counting Princeton students’ aversion to the University’s grade-deflation program, suggests strongly the need for the University to include in its acceptance letters to applicants its policy in this matter, so that those whose stomachs cannot...

From the Archives

In response to: From The Archives

By Jonathan Alexander ’91

Published in the April 7, 2010 issue

Thanks to my very good friend, David Mills ’91, for ­calling my attention to the From the Archives picture in the Jan. 13 issue. The “uni­dentified student” spinning LPs is my wife, Shawn Halbert ’91. Whatever happened to that hair?

Sustainable choices

In response to: Can the University meet its environmental goals?

By Lindianne Sarno ’76

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

As a co-founder of Sustainable Tucson now living sustainably in northern California, I read with interest your Feb. 3 cover story, “Sustaining Princeton.” In response to Shana Weber’s call for inspiration: Sustainability can be an inspiring lifelong adventure sparked by...

Earth-friendly foods

In response to: Can the University meet its environmental goals?

By David Dayhoff ’94

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

Mark Bernstein ’83’s “Sustaining Princeton” article notes that the University is pushing more “sustainable” food, defined as “food that is locally grown, organic, humanely produced, or socially just.” The school should go back to the drawing board.   Truly “sustainable” food...

Taking a good idea ...

By Stephen P. Ban ’84

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

A video posted Jan. 13 on PAW’s Weekly Blog chronicled the University’s provision of snacks (kettle corn?!) and entertainment to mark Dean’s Date. I offer two observations.   The first: The Nassoons claim the invention of the practice of watching Dean’s Date runners as a form of...

A chastity center? Yes

By Todd Johnson ’01

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

As training physicians who struggle daily with tragic societal effects of sexual promiscuity, we would like to express our support for the students of the Anscombe Society and their proposal for a Princeton Center for Abstinence and Chastity.   Disappointingly, the University...

A lifestyle that deserves support

By Dorina Amendola ’02

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

As a recent grad, I recall distinctly my extreme discomfort at having to endure the mandatory program “Sex on a Saturday Night.” I already knew well there would be predators and dangerous situations on campus if you put yourself into them, as I was an American high school...

Denial of center 'a travesty'

By William V. Healey ’52, M.D.

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

Re: Princeton rejects student petition to establish center for abstinence and chastity: What is going on? Who is responsible for this travesty in a once morally great university?

More views on race

In response to: Home

By Paul Hertelendy ’53

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

Gratifyingly, your multidimensional “Reflecting on race” issue of Jan. 13 goes well beyond traditional black-white coverage, especially with Maya Rock ’02’s article on the increasingly prevalent multiracial identity in America today. In our Princeton graduating class 57 years...

Tie ethnic studies to American studies

In response to: Yearning for recognition

By Martin Schell ’74

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

I commend Shirley Leung ’94 for “Yearning for recognition” (feature, Jan. 13), which addresses many complex issues surrounding Asian-American identity. Her article starts with an insightful plea from Andy Wong *10: “Asian-Americans are not a monolithic community.” Despite the...

Two questions, one answer

In response to: Yearning for recognition

By Gilbert Chu ’67

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

Your article about Asian-Americans at Princeton raised two questions for me. First: Does the Princeton admission office have an unwitting bias against Asian-Americans? An objective demographic review of Princeton admissions should help answer this question. The review must...

A laudable response

By Ezra Fitz ’00

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

On Dec. 29, a New York Times article by Joseph Berger entitled “An Undocumented Princetonian” described the odyssey experienced by Harold Fernandez ’89. I encourage everyone to look up the article, but in sum, it describes how a teenager from the mean streets of Medellín,...

Seeking moral integrity

In response to: Gender-neutral housing on its way

By Sam Boatwright ’59

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

I suppose the gender-neutral housing policy (On the Campus, Nov. 18) makes sense if one subscribes to the empty notion that this is an enlightened age in which there are no absolutes such as morality, ethics, God-given commandments, accountability, etc. If each man is his own...

For the record

In response to: A moment with...

Published in the March 17, 2010 issue

A Moment with ... Lesley Wheeler *94 in the Feb. 3 issue incorrectly reported her statement about modern­ist poets of the 20th century. The sentence should have read: “When modernists introduced the value of difficulty, whole English departments were built up on the fact that...

Reflecting on race

In response to: Postracial Princeton?

By Kitty Hsu Dana ’77

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

Thanks to PAW for devoting a full issue (Jan. 13) to “Reflecting on race in the Obama era.” Princeton has built a diverse student body in racial and ethnic composition and income strata. The articles on race reveal that representational diversity does not automatically lead to...

Supporting Asian-American studies

In response to: Postracial Princeton?

By Sue-Jean Lee Suettinger ’70

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

Bravo, PAW, for “Reflecting on race” and enabling a welcome communitywide conversation about the topic. “As the University moves to assert itself as a national thought leader on race,” we believe that dialogue needs to include a diversity of voices, and that its academic...

Heading in the right direction

In response to: Postracial Princeton?

By John Husen Chang ’60 *67 p87 p94

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

Each P-rade I look forward to the visuals and the cheers of the increasingly diverse classes as we march   toward the present. The eloquent, thoughtful, and passionate views expressed in PAW’s special issue on race paint a much more complex picture. Much has changed. My class...

Reflecting on race #4

In response to: The great debate

By J. Wilson Morris ’61

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

The treatment of Supreme Court Justice James Wayne, Class of 1808 (feature, Jan. 13), was fair in its criticism of his role in the Dred Scott decision. But it was not fair in the impression it left of this distinguished Princetonian. Throughout his career, he fought to maintain...

Return Princeton to its roots

In response to: Home

By B. Beck Fisher Jr. ’55

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

I read with interest, and a degree of surprise, the articles in the Jan. 13 issue that deal with race and ethnicity at Princeton: the various Asian-American, African-American, Latino-American, and multiracial enclaves. All of them seem ardently to aspire to curricula, and...

Reflecting on race #6

In response to: National myth, Faustian bargain

By Theodore Ziolkowski

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

If Professor Eddie Glaude *97 would stroll over from Stanhope Hall and chat with his colleagues in East Pyne, he soon would realize that the phenomenon he describes in “National myth, Faustian bargain” (Perspective, Jan. 13) is not a Faustian bargain but an old-fashioned...

Reflecting on race #7

By Luther Munford ’71

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

Much has been made of President Barack Obama’s distant kinship to other American leaders. That kinship includes a relationship to Nathaniel FitzRandolph, 1703­–1780, who gave the land on which Nassau Hall sits. His remains lie buried beneath the Holder Hall arch, and the...

Juniors in hockey

In response to: In men's hockey, 'juniors' play major role

By Gerry Skoning ’64

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

Congratulations to Merrell Noden ’78 on his fine article on the “juniors” trend in college hockey recruiting (Sports, Jan. 13). Using juniors programs as college hockey’s version of the minor leagues for grooming of players is “a culture that is unique to hockey,” as Dean Peter...

Schedule tougher teams

By James Yan ’09

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

As an avid college basketball fan, I was surprised to see a blog entry on Yahoo! Sports arguing for Cornell’s legitimacy for an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament after its close loss to Kansas. Regardless of the argument, it’s still surprising to see Ivy League schools such...

Invite Darwish again

In response to: In Brief

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

The withdrawal of the speaking invitation to Nonie Darwish (Notebook, Jan. 13) is a sad event for Princeton and for the cause of free speech. I agree completely with the Jan. 13 letter from George A. Pieler ’73 and Stephen C. Carlson ’73, former presidents of Whig-Clio. Along...

Time to end a sport?

By Stephen J. Bednar ’60

Published in the February 24, 2010 issue

It was noted that Penn beat Princeton in sprint football 91–13! Ninety-one is a basketball score. Because of its dismal performance over the years, it appears that Princeton cannot compete effective­ly in the sprint-football league against the likes of Army, Navy etc.   In these...

Arabs and public opinion

In response to: Walking and talking in the Arab street

By Dalia Mahmoud ’98

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

As an Arab-American Princeton alumna, I welcomed the cover story regarding Professor Amaney Jamal of the Near Eastern studies department in the Dec. 9 issue. There is high unmet need within American society to start to debunk the negative stereotypes and slurs that have been...

The importance of minority rights

In response to: Walking and talking in the Arab street

By Michael Singer ’77

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

I read with interest Christopher Shea ’91’s article describing Professor Amaney Jamal’s studies of Arab public opinion. Professor Jamal’s polls offer the following insights: 1) “Muslims ... don’t want to be in a situation where there is going to be another 9/11 ... that could...

Princo's investments

In response to: After the crash

By John Teevan ’68

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

One of the most striking pieces I’ve ever read in PAW was about the ­alumnus who foresaw the 1929 crash and got Princeton’s money out of the market in time. Now I read the sad comment that “like most investors, Princo was blindsided by the near-­collapse of the financial system”...

Tales of Orange Key

In response to: An hour-long view of paradise

By The Rev. Frank C. Strasburger ’67

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

Wonderful article on the Orange Key (cover story, Nov 18), but it did contain one inaccuracy — that the story of the bulldog on the Chapel “grew out of a 1966 internal memo.” In fact, the opposite is true. In 1966, as chairman of the guide service, concerned less that we were...

The president's agenda

In response to: A moment with...

By Charlton Price ’48

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

Unlike My Fair Lady, excesses of presidential power are not “rather like a habit one can always break.” Professor Fred Greenstein (A Moment with, Nov. 18) says President Obama has “overloaded his agenda.” As if he had a choice! This president is “overloaded” because of prior...

Hughes 'an ideal coach'

In response to: Coaching and excellence

By Dick Daily ’54

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

I read with great interest Duke Slichter ’54’s letter in the Jan. 13 issue. I, too, was terribly disappointed when Coach Roger Hughes was dismissed. I only met Roger twice; both times he impressed me as being an ideal Princeton coach and Princeton ambassador. He was keenly...

Lessons on Islam

In response to: Tight security for cartoonist

By John H. McElroy ’56

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

I loved the exquisite equivocation in David Walter ’10’s piece on Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard’s visit to campus (Notebook, Nov. 4): “Westergaard’s drawing of the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb in his turban outraged many in the Middle East and Africa in 2005. Ultimately,...

More alumni apps

In response to: Making your phone a flute, and more

By Alfredo José Richner ’03

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

I just read the wonderful article about student and alumni apps for the iPhone (Alumni Scene,   Nov. 4). What a lovely surprise to learn that two very well known apps — and some of my personal favorites — in the iTunes store, Bump and Ocarina, were designed by fellow Princeton...

Alumni on space panel

In response to: Newsmakers

By Norman R. Augustine ’57 *59

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

Thank you for your mention of the review of the human spaceflight program that 10 of us conducted for the White House (Alumni Scene, Dec. 9). Actually, Princeton had not two but three members of the committee: You neglected to include Charles Kennel *64, who received his Ph.D....

A memorable astronaut

By Fred Lamparter ’61

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

Pete Conrad ’53 (The Weekly Blog, Nov. 19) was arguably the brightest, coolest, and funniest of all the astronauts. An example of his temperament:   His pulse remained rock steady when his Apollo 12 launch vehicle was hit twice by lightning early in the launch.   In Moondust, a...

Describing the School of Architecture

In response to: An hour-long view of paradise

By Stanley Allen *88

Published in the February 3, 2010 issue

Regarding the ongoing joke about the School of Architecture as “arguably the ugliest building on campus”:   I’d like to think we have a sense of humor at the School of Architecture, and were pretty good-natured about the whole thing. I don’t remember registering any complaints....

Coaching and excellence

By Duke Slichter ’54

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

I am deeply disappointed in my University. The coaching job done by Roger Hughes and his staff this year, in light of the number of injuries and the illness of Jordan Culbreath ’10, should have been cause for commendation, not dismissal. The work Coach Hughes has done over the...

Lift the ban on transfers

By Charles S. Rockey Jr. ’57

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

Another Princeton football coach has been terminated. Because of the University’s 20-year ban against accepting transfer students, our coach went into battle with one hand tied behind his back. Ironically, the failure to accept transfers also works against Princeton’s stated...

No 'incendiary' views

By George A. Pieler ’73, Falls Church, Va.

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

For more than 250 years, Whig-Clio has embraced controversy and dialogue, because that’s what the Halls are all about: open debate, vital discourse, and even occasionally rancorous exchange of ideas. These traditions have endured near-pitched battles over hosting Alger Hiss and...

More military heroes

By Phillips Huston ’45

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

Without detracting from the World War II heroism of Sandy Bonnyman ’32 and Tom Brophy ’47, I must correct a statement in the 1947 Class Notes for Nov. 18. Marine Lt. Bonnyman was not the only Princeton Medal of Honor recipient. My understanding is that there have been six, and...

Coed suites? Hold on

In response to: Gender-neutral housing on its way

By Rocky Semmes ’79

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

In regard to the new program proposed for coeducational student housing (On the Campus, Nov. 18), I take exception to the comment by Robert McGibbon ’11 that “We’re all adults. It only helps people to give them more choices.” The presumption that post-adolescents are indeed...

Rethink coed dorm plan

In response to: Gender-neutral housing on its way

By McKellar Maloney ’67

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

I note that the administration is planning to offer a pilot program in the fall of 2010 to allow coeducational dorm roommates. I care not if some 20-year-old undergraduates think it a swell idea or if other Ivy schools have blundered down this path. This is not an issue of...

Favorite band stories

In response to: Yo, Band!

By Bruce Buell ’53

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

When the Princeton University Band (cover story, Nov. 4) in 1952 switched from quasi-military ­uniform to plaid jackets, straw boaters, gray flannel trousers, and white buck shoes, we were scared to death that we would be booed or laughed out of Palmer Stadium (our appearance...

Serenaded by the band

In response to: Yo, Band!

By Jedd Wolchock ’87

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

I very much enjoyed your feature on the band. I was a member from ­fresh­man week through my graduation, including stints as president (1985) and head manager (1986). My boater still hangs proudly on my wall, next to my four years of band photos. I experienced the full range of...

The band in the '50s

In response to: Yo, Band!

By Jol C. Sprowles ’66

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

My father, Harry D. Sprowles ’38, was active in the band as undergrad. In the ’50s, he took me to one or two games a year at Palmer Stadium. The band still was recognizable as a marching band, and the music was good, but he had one big problem — the use of the microphone as...

Princeton's essence

In response to: Final Scene

By Jack Doran ’68 p’97 p’99

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

Ricardo Barros’ photo of Mather Sundial (Final Scene, Nov. 18) captures perfectly the essence of the University. But for the laptops and gender, those could have been my classmates in 1968.

Exams and disabilities

By Howard Wainer *68 p’07

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

I read in the Trenton Times Nov. 8 that Diane Metcalf-Leggette ’13 had sued the University for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act because it refused to grant her “100 percent extra time on classroom examinations.”   Apparently the University had granted some...

A High Line connection

In response to: Park with a view

By Henry Posner III ’77

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

There is another Princeton connection with the High Line (Alumni Scene, Sept. 23) — namely, my service as trainmaster at 72nd Street Yard responsible for Conrail’s freight service on Manhattan’s West Side Freight Line in its final years of operation. Recognizing that the line...

Disturbing memories

In response to: Perspective

By Garth Stevenson *71

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

I read with interest the five reminiscences of World War II (Perspective, Nov. 4). I enjoyed the three relating to the European phase of the conflict, but the reminiscences of the war against Japan by Grant K. Goodman ’46 and Frank Bailey ’48 were disturbing. At least Mr. Bailey...

What the Gospels say

In response to: Loving one's neighbors

By William K. Mettler ’51

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

Christopher Webber ’53 criticizes Robert Wright ’79 (letters, Nov. 4) for not understanding a passage from the Bible that proves Jesus preached love for everyone. If Mr. Webber believes, as some do, that God had a hand in writing the Bible through his revelations to mankind and...

From the Archives

In response to: From The Archives

By Donald L. Drakeman *88 p’02

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

Re: “Three Presidents in Sweats” (From the Archives, Oct. 21), here’s the story from the late ’80s. The campus was filled with undergraduates proudly displaying their class consciousness by wearing sweatshirts emblazoned with P’88. As grad students, my wife, Lisa *88, and I...

For the record

Published in the January 13, 2010 issue

The return on investment of Princeton’s endowment declined by 23.5 percent in the year ending June 30; during that period, the dollar value of the endowment declined 22.7 percent. A feature in the Dec. 9 issue reported that the endowment declined by 23.5 percent. The Final Scene...

A gift around the world

By Jeanette Leurs

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

It has been sheer magic to discover the Princeton online lectures. I knew it was possible to watch some lectures via YouTube – but the full-length, well-presented collection you have made available must be a precious gift to so many people all over the world. Thanks to you, I...

Changing dorms

In response to: Not your parent's dorm room

By Madeleine Picciotto ’78 *85 p’12

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

I read with interest W. Barksdale Maynard ’88’s article, “Not your parent’s dorm room” (cover story, Oct. 21). I’m encouraged to hear about new residential options available to today’s students — from substance-free housing, which a nondrinker like myself might have appreciated...

Spending money on comfy dorms

In response to: Not your parent's dorm room

By Norman R. Williams ’65 p’01

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

I was informed and entertained by W. Barksdale Maynard’s article on Princeton dorm rooms. What really riveted me was his report that expensive construction to provide comfortable dorm rooms for students has been “spurred in part by fierce competition for top applicants.” I also...

Coed housing in 1974

In response to: Not your parent's dorm room

By Paul D. Wilson ’75

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

Princeton may not have a ­gender-neutral housing option today, but it once did. I know. I was there.   As the chair of the Orange Key Guide Service in 1974, I had the power to hire four students, myself included, to give campus tours over the summer — and the responsibility to...

Gender-neutral housing good for all

In response to: Not your parent's dorm room

By Emily Rutherford ’12

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

I’m writing to express my concern about the way the article “Not your ­parent’s dorm room” portrayed the people and the arguments in favor of a gender-neutral housing (GNH) option at Princeton. As one of the authors of — and an early and vocal advocate for — the new GNH policy,...

It's what inside that counts

In response to: Not your parent's dorm room

By Skip Perry ’09

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

During my time at Princeton, I lived in a fetid, cramped, beer-drenched all-male entryway in Joline called the Monastery; a one-room double in the same dorm with a low, triangle-shaped ceiling and a private hallway (don’t ask); a sweaty (even in winter) Laughlin double in the...

Rejoice in the band

In response to: Yo, Band!

By Stu Nunnery ’71

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

Let immaturity reign! Couldn’t hurt. It’s been a long time since I laughed out loud reading a PAW article, but the P.U. Band (cover story, Nov. 4) has gotten to me yet again. Withstanding the test of time, they prove that “too clever by half” is sometimes a good thing indeed...

The PUB reports the score

In response to: Yo, Band!

By Dave Thom ’96

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

The greatest audience response that I ever experienced as a band member was the final line of the 1993 PUB halftime show at Harvard Stadium: “This score just in from the Nobel Prize Committee: Princeton 3, Harvard nothing.” The Princeton side roared; where else could such a line...

Wall Street bankers

In response to: Margaret Mead meets Morgan Stanley

By Thomas H. Shuler Jr. ’71

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

Regarding “Margaret Mead meets Morgan Stanley” (cover story, Sept. 23), certainly being compared to Margaret Mead at such an early age in one’s career may be a bit suspect. Perhaps Karen Ho *03 would recommend to the University that all the money that has been donated over the...

The real culprits on Wall Street

In response to: Margaret Mead meets Morgan Stanley

By Peter Rupert Lighte *81

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

In Mark Bernstein ’83’s article about Karen Ho and Wall Street, I was struck by two comments — one cynical and the other fanciful: that being a Princetonian with a pulse secured Ms. Ho a job, and that renaissance graduates from Princeton and Harvard were shown the red carpet as...

Celebrating scholars

By Nassos Papalexandrou *98

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

On Oct. 16–17 the Department of Art and Archaeology, with the collaboration of Classics and the Program in Hellenic Studies, honored the decisions to retire by three classical archaeologists whose teaching and research have influenced the education and lives of numerous...

Value family support

In response to: President's Page

By John A. Howard ’43

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

I write as one who entered Princeton 60 years ago in the Class of ’43. I became a college president in 1951 and, after service in the Eisenhower administration, I began a 17-year presidency of Rockford College. With that perspective, I offer these comments about President...

For the record

Published in the December 9, 2009 issue

Laura H. Kahn *02’s new book is Who’s In Charge? Leadership during Epidemics, Bioterror Attacks, and other Public Health Crises. The title was reported incorrectly in A Moment With ... in the Nov. 4 issue.

The investment portfolio Princeton needs

By Paul Hutter ’76

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

This is a detailed response to key passages from President Tilghman’s Sept. 29, 2009, letter to the University community. “... [T]he exercise of reviewing virtually everything we do for cost-savings and efficiencies has strengthened us as a University. There were things we were...

The birth of Campus Club

In response to: 'Meet me at Campus Club ...'

By Edgar M. Buttenheim ’44

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

Your item on the rebirth of Campus Club (On the Campus, Oct. 7) causes me to share old history. My uncle, Dr. Howard Voorhees 1902, entered Princeton from nearby New Brunswick, but not from a prep school of prestige. At club-calling time he was rejected by all clubs, along with...

In support of Israel

By Frank Schaffer ’45

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

As I write this letter, television and newspapers are reporting widespread violence to Israel throughout the Middle East after the release of the U.N. anti-Israel Gladstone report. Jeremy Ben-Ami ’84, in his interview (A Moment With, Oct. 7), never mentions that the Palestinian...

A toast to alumni chefs

By Rich Bazarian ’82

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

What a delight to receive PAW’s food issue (Nov. 19, 2008)!  I had no idea that Bar Lola, located here in Portland, Maine, is owned and operated by Princetonians. The dining experience provided by Chef Guy Hernandez ’88 and his wife, Stella Poulis Hernandez ’88, is superb in a...

A refreshing voice

In response to: A moment with...

By Herman F. Froeb ’46

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

It is refreshing to read the interview of Jeremy Ben-Ami ’84 (A Moment With, Oct. 7), the founder of J Street, a lobbying group 180 degrees opposite to the Israel lobby, which is the most powerful next to the N.R.A. in Washington. In this interview, he is right on that there...

Alex Wilson '03's dream

In response to: Continuing straight ahead

By Steve Schildt ’91

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

A superb article regarding Alex Wilson ’03, who lost his leg in Iraq due to a roadside bomb (cover story, Oct. 7) — a real Pat Tillman story. It brought tears of both tragedy and triumph to my eyes. Alex’s senior-year thought process of the military versus the FBI versus...

Praise for PAW

In response to: Continuing straight ahead

By Redwood Wright ’50

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

Congratulations on a superb issue of PAW (Oct. 7). The cover story on Alex Wilson is excellent, but I was even more taken by some of the shorter items. First, President Tilghman’s advice to the entering freshmen was pithy, powerful, and profound. It will be hard to top in 2010!...

Recalling Bill Selden '34

In response to: From the Editor

By Art Tebbutt ’58

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

The passing of Bill Selden ’34 (From the Editor, Oct. 21) chopped into my daily routine and prompted my first letter to PAW. As the son of a professor/dean of the graduate school at Northwestern University, more than once I opened our door and took coats from Selden and his...

A naive point of view

In response to: A moment with...

By Mark R. Disler ’74

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

Jeremy Ben-Ami ’84’s belief “that the single greatest threat to the future of Israel as a democratic home for the Jewish people is the failure to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians” (A Moment with, Oct. 7) is naive. A   just resolution of this conflict in a manner that...

Speak up about clubs

By Robert K. Durkee ’69

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

A task force composed of students, faculty, staff, and alumni has been asked to spend this academic year reviewing the relationships between the University and the eating clubs and to examine whether there are steps that can and should be taken to strengthen those relationships...

For the record

Published in the November 18, 2009 issue

A memorial for William Morse Oman ’34 in the Oct. 7, 2009, issue listed his middle name incorrectly.

Seeking 'smartness'

In response to: Margaret Mead meets Morgan Stanley

By Stephen E. Silver ’58

Published in the November 4, 2009 issue

I am suspicious of the heavy-handed emphasis placed by Wall Street interviewers on “smartness” (cover story, Sept. 23). Surely, students who apply for these jobs are no more intelligent than those who apply to graduate schools or who choose to go into the professions. Rather, it...

Why not save data?

In response to: Manhattan Project notebooks hold a secret - radioactivity

By Sandor Barcza ’60

Published in the November 4, 2009 issue

It is criminal to destroy information, no matter how insignificant (“Manhattan Project notebooks hold a secret — radioactivity,” Notebook, Oct. 7). There may be many researchers who may disagree with the Woodrow Wilson School student who made the decision.   The books should...

Proud of bridge year

In response to: On the Campus

By Kate Mattingly ’93

Published in the November 4, 2009 issue

While visiting a festival of contemporary performance last week in Serbia I was surprised to notice a group of young people, about college age, with one of the women wearing a Princeton sweatshirt. As a graduate of Princeton, I had to ask if she had an affiliation with the...

Loving one's neighbors

In response to: The evolution of God

By Christopher L. Webber ’53

Published in the November 4, 2009 issue

Shouldn’t Robert Wright ’79 read the Bible before he writes about it (Alumni Scene, Sept. 23)? According to your writer, Wright says that Jesus “meant love your Jewish neighbors, not all neighbors.” There are few subjects on which Jesus was clearer. A questioner asked him, “Who...

Distressing sounds

By David H. Fulmer ’55

Published in the November 4, 2009 issue

It was distressing to watch our team lose disastrously to Columbia Oct. 3, but even more distressing were the sounds coming from the scoreboard. During the pregame period, noise that some might call music was broadcast loudly and incessantly. Periodically during the game, even...

At Mount Princeton

In response to: Atop Mount Princeton

By Walter Gamble ’53

Published in the November 4, 2009 issue

Our family climbed Mount Princeton (Alumni Scene, Sept. 23) in 1970, and with small children found it quite a challenge. However, the views were spectacular and well worth the effort. We did notice the thin atmosphere at the top, but came down greatly satisfied.

Mount Princeton volunteers

In response to: Atop Mount Princeton

By Stewart A. Levin ’75

Published in the November 4, 2009 issue

Just a note that the cairn and rock stairs at the start of the trailhead were put in place by local Princeton alumni volunteers working with the Colorado Fourteeners Initiative in the Adopt-a-Peak program.

Butler's architecture

In response to: New Butler College comes to life

By David Thom ’96

Published in the October 21, 2009 issue

While I appreciate the landscaping and the green roofs (finally!), I’m not sure that the architecture of New Butler (Notebook, Sept. 23) is of sufficient quality to withstand the tests of time. Bear in mind that the New New Quad also was designed by a noted architect (Hugh...

New dorms an improvement

In response to: New Butler College comes to life

By Kenneth G. Weaber ’70

Published in the October 21, 2009 issue

I spent my junior year in a single in 1942 Hall. At that time (late ’60s), the New New Quad was a reasonably acceptable address. I can understand that it may not have aged well. Your article demonstrates that Butler will be an improvement. Well done!

Questions about the cost

In response to: New Butler College comes to life

By Will French ’90

Published in the October 21, 2009 issue

$88 million for 113,000 square feet, home for 283 students? Can that really be right? That’s almost $780 per square foot — over $300,000 per student! Auburn University in Alabama is just finishing a 635,000-square-foot project called “The Village” that will house 1,700 students....

A design that hurts

In response to: New Butler College comes to life

By Cuthbert Russell Train ’64

Published in the October 21, 2009 issue

If great architecture inspires souls to soar, when I look at PAW’s photos of Butler College, my soul feels cut off at my ankles.  

Wall Street's purpose

In response to: Margaret Mead meets Morgan Stanley

By Burr Loomis ’61

Published in the October 21, 2009 issue

We all need to remember that the original purpose of Wall Street, to bring together entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, has been largely subverted by the actual workings of the Street. Only in an initial public offering, or the sale of a new bond issue, does the Street...

High school teaching

In response to: President's Page

By Catherine S. Mattingly s*69 p’93

Published in the October 21, 2009 issue

It was with dismay that I read Paul Muldoon’s reflection on his summer activity (President’s Page, Sept. 23). From his opening salvo directed at high school teachers — “If physics, or physical education, were taught at the pitch at which I fear poetry is taught in most high...

Stirring memories

In response to: David Morgan Firestone

By Sally Brown Tange

Published in the October 7, 2009 issue

I’ve been pushing back tears since reading the memorial for David Morgan Firestone ’53 (July 15). Funny that I can remember 1945 better than where I put my reading glasses. Morgan was my first kiss, and I believe I was his. We both lived in Akron (rubber’s hometown). Several...

A tale of two justices

In response to: Sotomayor '76 recalled as activist for Latino causes at Princeton

By Charles S. Rockey Jr. ’57

Published in the October 7, 2009 issue

All Princetonians should be proud that Judge Sonia Sotomayor ’76 (Notebook, July 15) has been confirmed for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. It is interesting to note that she has received an honorary degree from Princeton and Justice Samuel Alito ’72 has not. It’s also...

Contrasting opinions

In response to: Sotomayor '76 recalled as activist for Latino causes at Princeton

By John C. Tucker ’55

Published in the October 7, 2009 issue

It is ironic that if Justice Samuel Alito ’72’s Concerned Alumni of Princeton had had its way, Justice Sonia Sotomayor ’76 would not have been admitted to Princeton. Justice Alito’s alliance with an organization that sought to block affirmative action and the admission of women...

Diversity here to stay

In response to: Admitting a new class

By G.A. Howard ’74

Published in the October 7, 2009 issue

Henry R. Whitehouse ’54 has lamented in at least two missives the same point expressed in “Admitting A New Class” (letters, June 10), which is that he is outraged over the University’s efforts at achieving diversity. I am saddened, but not surprised, that this ersatz fury would...

Wartime studies

In response to: Isolated at Princeton

By Grant K. Goodman ’46

Published in the October 7, 2009 issue

I am impelled to write the following in light of the comments of Sharath Raja ’88 re Hindi language courses at Princeton (letters, June 10).   In January 1943 a notice went up on the bulletin board that the U.S. Army was starting an intensive Japanese ­language school and was...

More about Tiger attire

In response to: Tiger attire: Not just for Reunions

By Ted Taubeneck ’48

Published in the October 7, 2009 issue

Re “Tiger Attire” (Notebook, July 15): The ’48 blazer is rather jazzy, so I wear it on rare occasions when that’s suitable, e.g., my nephew’s funeral jazz parade in New Orleans; party with Guys and Dolls theme; and as board member of charity, at its fundraising auction. I...

Orange and black on the court

In response to: Tiger attire: Not just for Reunions

By George Brakeley III ’61

Published in the October 7, 2009 issue

At my club in New Canaan, Conn., where it is said I have the lowest unit-cost per set of tennis played, orange-and-black headbands are the uniform of the day for me, so much so that I get questioned on the very few occasions when I don’t wear one.

Remembering Morgan Firestone '53

In response to: David Morgan Firestone

By Sally Brown Tange (Robinson, Patton)

Published in the October 7, 2009 issue

Things concerning Princeton have been a thread throughout my life that has been rewarding, fulfilling, and certainly inspiring. I now live in Montana, where the sky is large and blue, and I can see the Bridger Mountains from my back windows. I’ve been pushing back tears since I...

For the record

Published in the October 7, 2009 issue

The memorial for Charles B. Forcey ’47 in the Oct. 8, 2008, edition contained several errors. A corrected version appears on page 50 of this issue.

Pursuing fusion energy

In response to: Firing up fusion

By Stuart G. Hibben ’48

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

The news that the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab (PPPL) is back in full action again (cover story, June 10) is the best from Princeton in recent memory. Despite the lost “mothball” years, I am confident that it will again play a lead role in the development of fusion power. The...

New fusion-energy policy needed

In response to: Firing up fusion

By John Sethian ’72

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

Eric Hand ’97’s “Firing up fusion” hits home; I have worked on fusion since my senior thesis at Forrestal long ago. Technical and scientific challenges are indeed a factor in the long time to develop fusion. But another is the need for a policy that develops fusion energy as an...

Solving instabilities

In response to: Firing up fusion

By J. Charles Nickerson ’65

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

Having been a student of technical subjects at Princeton (and then Stanford) in the 1960s, I was conversant with, and at least mildly excited by, the promise of nuclear fusion. I am also bipolar, and was amused by the fact that lithium, which has helped me immensely, seems also...

Tigers as teachers

In response to: Teaching for America

By Steve Buenning ’71

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

Thanks to PAW, Wendy Kopp ’89, and classmate Christopher Connell ’71 for “Teaching for America” (July 15). But the biggest “thank you” goes to the young alumni who are serving students so admirably in some of our country’s neediest schools. They are true heroes.  

A teaching tool from an alumnus

In response to: Teaching for America

By Elizabeth Browne k’25, k’52, s’53, p’89

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

I was interested to read the article about Princeton Teach for America teachers. I was especially delighted with the picture of Meaghan Petersack ’08 with her kindergarten students in Washington, D.C. Meaghan is showing a book, The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza, which was written...

Princeton's finances

In response to: President's Page

By Bruce Malashevich ’74

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

I read with interest and concern the article concerning the University’s loss of endowment and associated spending cuts (President’s Page, June 10). The loss of endowment is out of our control, but the spending cuts being implemented are misplaced. As the owner of a small...

The University's billion-dollar borrowing

In response to: President's Page

By Philip E. Coviello ’65

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

I read “The New Normal” by President Tilghman and was very surprised to see no mention of the $1 billion recently borrowed by the University, according to press reports. I would have thought that a discussion regarding a debt incurrence of that immense magnitude, including how...

Clarify how to meet cash needs

In response to: President's Page

By Paul Hutter ’76

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

I was disappointed to see the headline about “an uncertain economy” (Notebook, July 15), because our endowment’s problems are not due to something so common as economic cycles, but to a new-style “Yale model” strategy that has led the University into a serious financial crisis...

Reunions experiences

In response to: Perspective

By Amy Grimm '79

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

Contrasting with the article about Reunions awkwardness (Perspective, May 13), I just returned from my 30th, and find more depth to the experience each time. My husband and I attend lectures or activities, from an observatory viewing to a classmate’s space shuttle talk (this...

Trash at Reunions

In response to: Reunions 2009

By Don Heitzmann ’70 *74

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

Although I’ve not been able to get back to the campus for Reunions for more than 20 years, it’s always fun to catch some of the flavor via the photos in PAW. This year, however, I was taken aback by the photo showing the littered grounds after the P-rade (cover story, July 15)....

At Reunions, pick up after yourself

In response to: Reunions 2009

By Walter Hoesel ’60

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

Seeing the photo of and reading of the trash left behind for University workers to clean up after the 2009 Reunions P-rade featured in the Reunions issue of PAW filled me with the same revulsion that occurred in 1960 when I was working Reunions. At that time the Class of 1950...

Clashing standards

In response to: Debating sexual ethics

By Stuart F. Hayes ’50

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

With regard to the question of ethics raised by professors Robert George and John Londregan (letters, March 4 and June 10), let me go to the very base of things. Presently, tension exists between the older and the newer ethical standards. I view the choice as follows: Life is...

Course credit for ROTC

In response to: ROTC seeks course credit

By John G. Middleton ’53

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

I was shocked, then outraged, to learn that Princeton does not give course credit for ROTC, and hasn’t for decades (Notebook, May 13). Since I received my education during four years at Exeter, it should come as no surprise that I deem ROTC to have been the single most important...

Pride and shame

In response to: Reflecting on pride and gratitude

By Susan Cohen ’80

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

Our superstar alumnae, Michelle Obama ’85 and Sonia Sotomayor ’76, certainly have been a source of pride (letters, July 15). But I’m writing about a related source of shame: that a young woman I know will not become alumna of the incoming freshman class.   It was surprising...

Reflecting on pride and gratitude

In response to: Alumni pride

By Argyris Vassiliou *91

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

Bob Bender ’71’s letter of July 15 leaves me puzzled. The heading above it proclaims “Alumni pride.” If it has taken two and a half centuries of accumulating greatness to finally inspire pride in an alumnus, perhaps a little reflection — or what the Communists used to call...

From the Archives

In response to: From The Archives

By Marc Rosenthal ’71

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

I am writing in reference to the June 10 From the Archives photo. The student in question is Bobby Baron ’71. I think the attire was a bit more festive than a shroud — I believe it was a tie-dyed sheet. As to the reason for this “unusual attire”: It was 1971!

For the record

Published in the September 23, 2009 issue

Photographs of Reunions in the July 15 issue were taken by Beverly Schaefer and Frank Wojciechowski. The issue credited the photos incorrectly.