Names in the news: Critiquing Obama, Chuck Berry in bronze, and more

Published in the July 6, 2011, Issue

Cornel West *80 (Courtesy Wikipedia)

In a recent Q&A, Professor Cornel West *80 said that President Barack Obama should “be a thermostat rather than a thermometer. A thermostat shapes the climate of opinion; a thermometer just reflects it.” [New York Times]

St. Louis unveiled an eight-foot bronze sculpture of rock ’n’ roll icon Chuck Berry, created by local sculptor Harry Weber ’64. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

U.S. Soccer ended Bob Bradley ’80’s five-year run as the men’s national team coach, dismissing him on July 27 and hiring former German national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann. [FoxSoccer.com]

Seattle columnist David Brewster remembered the lasting contributions of arts patron Bagley Wright ’46, who died in July. [Crosscut.com]

A New Hampshire newspaper profiled Jacques-Andre Istel ’49, whose wide range of experiences include spurring the growth of recreational skydiving and founding a town in the California desert. [Keane (N.H.) Sentinel]