Looking at life anew

In response to: Perspective

By BRUCE C. JOHNSON ’74

Published in the October 13, 2010 issue

I rarely read anything that suggests a truly new way of looking at life, but Amy Julia Truesdell Becker ’98’s reflection (Perspective, June 2) on the “good and perfect gift” of her daughter, Penny, did that for me. It did that in two ways — showing how much of what we value...

'White race' studies

In response to: Faculty Bookshelf

By JEFFREY B. PERRY ’68

Published in the October 13, 2010 issue

Professor emerita Nell Irvin Painter’s The History of White People begins, “I might have entitled this book Constructions of White Americans from Antiquity to the Present.” When I read Anne Ruderman ’01’s article (Faculty Bookshelf, June 2) about Painter’s book, I thought...

Faculty remembrance: Marvin Bressler

In response to: In Memoriam

By RICHARD OSTROW ’71

Published in the October 13, 2010 issue

Professor Marvin Bressler (In memoriam, Sept. 22) was a great teacher and an even better friend. For me, he personified liberal academia. But for his wise counsel, I would not have made it through the turbulence of the late ’60s. Our frequent meetings through the years, when...

Faculty remembrance: James Beniger

In response to: In Brief

By BRIAN S. MCGILL *79

Published in the October 13, 2010 issue

It was with shock and anguish that I learned in PAW (Notebook, June 2) of the death of former sociology professor James R. Beniger. While I was a graduate student, Jim taught me social statistics and techniques and methods of social science. I can say without equivocating...

Time to honor Alito '72

By RICHARD CUMMINGS ’59

Published in the October 13, 2010 issue

With the confirmation of Elena Kagan ’81, Princeton has three sitting justices on the U.S. Supreme Court — one who is Jewish and one of Puerto Rican descent (both women), and the third an Italian-American whose father was an immigrant. I have never been prouder of Princeton,...