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LETTERS
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Book Request
Your article “The Rhythms of Prose” (summer,
2003), was well done, so well done that I am now interested
in reading Jonathan Wilson’s books. Please send
a list of titles and publishers.
Dr. Kenneth Fried, A51, D48, K51
New Canaan, CT |
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Point of Contention
I sincerely hope that the quotation
by President Lawrence Bacow from his meeting with the
Boston Chamber of Commerce on the economic impact of
Boston-area academic
institutions was taken out of context (“Report Highlights University
Impact,” summer,
2003). President Bacow was quoted as saying, “While the Midwest may produce
cars and steel, and the South may produce textiles, paper, and citrus, we produce
brains, new ideas, and new technologies.” Not only is this an insult to
higher education institutions across the country, it implies that the manufacturing
and farming industries do not produce any of the “brains, new ideas, or
new technologies.” Growing up and attending college in New England, I am
well aware of the elitist attitude on education in the region, but I was shocked
and disappointed to see it so clearly delineated in my alumni magazine. This
quote should not have been printed, and I’m sure that alumni living and
working in communities across the U.S. will agree.
Demia Sundra, J96
Decatur, GA |
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An Issue of Grammar
There’s no doubt President Bacow is a success—he’s ubiquitous,
photogenic, and scholarly. His “running journal” on the Boston Marathon
could have used editing (“Marathon Brings Out Jumbo Spirit,” summer,
2003), especially if Tufts Magazine prints excerpts: “Seeing the Prudential
Center for the first time coming down Beacon Street was a great sight.” I’m
reminded of the scene where the Statue of Liberty lumbers down Fifth Avenue to
free New York from evil in Ghostbusters II.
Jim Haviland, A60
Pembroke, MA |
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Questions of Education
After reading “Transformative Education” (summer, 2003), I’m
compelled to ask: Will our schools—and universities—ever stop merely
SCHOOLING and start EDUCATING? Most schools, and indeed most colleges, are well-meaning
but basically coercive places where passive and deferential students practice
the “art of transient storage.” The result: Miserable basic skills
and a dislike of reading as virtually all subject matter is HAPPILY forgotten
just as soon as summer rolls around. Another result: “The best and the
brightest” of Vietnam fame, who could not think, ask the right questions,
or challenge the conventional wisdom. The solution: HELP kids keep on learning
with the enthusiasm and efficiency of any preschool child by stimulating, demonstrating,
and encouraging while abolishing that infernal/demeaning/scary/boring Prussian-derived,
factory-oriented game called Teach ’em, Test ’em.
Dr. Robert E. Kay, M57
Philadelphia, PA |
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