LETTERS

FACULTY VETERANS As I read Sol Gittleman’s article “The Quiet Men” (Summer 2013), I cried to think of the heroic veterans who were in our midst while so many of us remained unaware. I was privileged to have been a student of both Jerry “Doc” Collins and Dan Marshall. Doc Collins was my advisor; I can still recall the wonderful fragrance of the tobacco in his pipe. And what a surprise to learn that the polite and very soft–spoken Professor Marshall, my student teaching mentor, had earned not one but two Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts.
LINDA CICCARIELLO
SQUIRE, J77
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY

The “quiet” of Professor Gittleman’s fellow profs is totally consistent with the way others of their generation conducted themselves. My father was a paratrooper killed in action in Germany, and in 2002 I met for the first time a number of his army buddies. I have met with them every year since. They have told a multitude of stories involving enormous bravery by men who never mentioned their experiences.
JERRY O’BRIEN, E67
GAITHERSBURG, MARYLAND

A heartfelt thanks to Professor Gittleman for reminding us about World War II veterans and professors at Tufts. I remember that Jerry Collins said little about his experiences in B–17s, except to recall that his most dangerous “mission” was sneaking off to Scotland: he had to land and take off in fog to secure whiskey for the air crews at his base in England.
CHRIS POPOV, A79
CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS

“The Quiet Men” made me think about how much I cherished the time I spent with Doc Collins, my advisor as I worked toward my master’s degree in drama. But I was disappointed to see that Professor Gittleman neglected to write about Marston Balch, another illustrious drama professor who was also a World War II vet.
DICK ARNOLD, G68
BREMERTON, WASHINGTON

Professor Gittleman’s article is a fitting and proper tribute to the World War II veterans he mentions. But it would also be good to remember Elliott King Shapira, professor of French and a member of the Army Air Corps Seventy–Ninth Fighter Group; Seymour O. Simches, head of the modern languages department, who trained French–speaking pilots at U.S. air bases; James B. Wads–worth, professor of Italian, who served in the British infantry in North Africa; Wisner P. Kinne, professor of English, who served in the U.S. Navy; and, of course, Tufts President Jean Mayer, a hero of the French Resistance.
LAWRENCE H. MARTIN, A64
BAR HARBOR, MAINE

MARATHON MEMORIES Before coming to Boston from Kabul to attend college, I often fantasized about joining the tens of thousands of enthusiastic marathoners in Copley Square, and when I learned of the President’s Marathon Challenge, the charity run that Phil Primack, A70, writes about in “What Keeps Us Running” (Summer 2013), I knew I had to participate.

The six–month training was quite a challenge for me, as someone coming from Afghanistan, where people do not really run (except for security reasons). Even so, early–morning running twice a week along the Mystic River in Medford was a wonderful experience, especially when President Bacow ran with us. I also recall that when I could not afford to buy new shoes or pay the entry fee for the race, people came to my aid. Those organizing the marathon waived my fee, and Dean Jean Herbert heard of my predicament and bought me new shoes.

The race itself was grueling. I had to endure feelings of extreme hunger and cold. Looking back, I think I might have dropped out if it weren’t for the cheering of so many spectators along the twenty–six miles—they were strangers, but that day they felt like my friends and relatives. At the finish line, even the plastic shawl with hundreds of printed fan signatures could not keep me warm, and afterwards, I was so exhausted I essentially slept three days in a row. Still, I treasure the experience of running the marathon, because the memory of finishing it with my fellow Jumbos will live with me forever.

So my heart shattered when I heard of the bombing of last spring’s race. Who would commit such a cowardly act? I thought to myself. The news confirmed my fears that the culprits were Muslims. Alas, when things like this happen, I feel the playing field gets narrower for Muslims in America. But it was uplifting to hear how the Boston community pulled together. Equally, it was encouraging to see pictures of Afghan women, kids, policemen, and others holding a sign: “To Boston from Kabul with Love.”

Although I live and work in New York City today, my heart remains in Boston. Boston is the magnificent city that nourished me with education, comfort, and great friends. And the Boston Marathon is a transnational celebration of humanity. May Boston and the Boston Marathon live long.
JAVED REZAYEE, A13
NEW YORK CITY

I enjoyed the article about the current Tufts connection to the Boston Marathon. There are many marathon connections in the past as well.

For example, Ted Vogel, A49, came in second one year in Boston. Also, a group of runners—Bob MacLeay, E50, Roger Nicholson, A49, Wendell Mason, E51, Ben Bobrow, A49, Angie Semenza, A51, Peter Brown, A51, and I—trained for the Boston Marathon as a team every year for four years, but something always happened to prevent us from running (family death, bad ankles, kids’ sickness, and so forth). We registered each year, however, and in 1950 I was congratulated on my way to class because the Boston Globe had mistakenly reported on the front page that I had finished the race in 115th place. I did manage to run the marathon and finish in 1953.

Finally, one more memory: Joe Smith of Medford, a door–to–door milkman, won the marathon in 1940 and was given a locker at Tufts’ Cousens Gym and use of the facilities there. He used to run with some of us in the Fellsway from 1947 to 1951, and he would beat us up the hills smoking his pipe all the time.
DEWITT PETERSON, A51
MOORESTOWN, NEW JERSEY

BODY IMAGE WOES I object to the Take It from Me item “How to Look Thinner,” by Illysia Neumann–Loreck, J90 (Summer 2013). In reinforcing the notion that women should want to look thin, the article contributes to the epidemic of self–hatred, anxiety, and harmful eating habits that preys on my peers.
ERIC KERNFELD, A14
MEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS

FOSSIL FALLACY? Ujjayant Chakravorty (“Hard Choices on Energy,” Summer 2013) should be more critical of the fossil fuel industry. Its lobbying and public relations firms are spending an extraordinary amount of money trying to convince us that natural gas is environmentally friendly, when in fact this energy source is no such thing. With fifty percent of well casings predicted to fail within thirty years and thousands of wells being built, gas drilling sites will be leaking methane into the environment for decades, accelerating the rate of global warming rather than decreasing it. Drilling could contaminate groundwater, too, and ozone levels around drilling sites could rise, as they already have in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Colorado, and Texas. In addition, the fossil fuel industry has pushed for environmental studies to be stopped and lawsuits to be sealed, and it has established drilling operations within a few hundred yards of elementary schools and subdivisions.

Scientists have shown that we already have the technology for a sustainable mix of solar, wind, hydro, and nuclear power, but such technology will not make a difference if we do not do enough to exploit it. We need a space program–like push for green energy now if there is any hope of bringing down the already catastrophic levels of greenhouse gases heating up the planet. Professor Chakravorty believes that students who protest fossil fuels and work for divestment are wearing rose–colored glasses. I think he should remove his own.
JOELLE BIELE, J91
ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND

A BILLION HERE, A BILLION THERE David Brittan’s editorial “It Gets Better” (Summer 2013) is a model of misguided Panglossian optimism. It states, “We used to have this thing called the Population Explosion.” Unfortunately, the population explosion is definitely not a thing of the past. It took humanity well over 100,000 years to reach a population of one billion, in the early 1800s. By 1927, the population had doubled to two billion. We are now closing in on eight billion. If I live another few years, there will be four people on the planet for every one person present when I was born. Much of the population growth is in the least wealthy areas of the planet, resulting in constantly increasing poverty and violence.

Yes, Tufts Magazine, there is a population explosion.
ROBERT BLOOM, A66
NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS

FAN MAIL Over the many years since I graduated, Tufts Magazine has gone from ho–hum to fascinating. Now it’s in the same class as Smithsonian. In the Fall 2012 issue, which I just finished, I especially enjoyed the article about touring palatial English homes (“Downton Abbeys,” by Hugh Howard, A74) and Sol Gittleman’s column on the events leading up to World War I (“The Sleep of Innocence”).

Keep up the good work.
FRANK LINDAUER, A55
TUCKER, GEORGIA

As grandparents of a 2013 graduate of Tufts, we receive Tufts Magazine. We read several such publications from a variety of other educational institutions (Harvard, Exeter, Andover, Groton, St. Paul’s, Noble and Greenough, and more). Tufts Magazine stands out as fresh, informative, interesting, and challenging. It’s clearly created with flair and imagination.
TED AND ANNE GLEASON
WASHINGTON, D.C

GAMING THE EDITOR In “Gaming the System” (Summer 2013), Joselin Linder, J98, not only shows that many everyday problems can be dealt with through games; she also deftly highlights an important life lesson—“by playing the game, you win motivation and that all–important prize: clarity about what you want and where you want to go.”

So let’s put gamification to the test. If you print my letter to the editor, I will send you a bottle of wine, mention Tufts Magazine in my extensive personal and professional communications, and maybe even make a contribution to the Tufts Alumni Association, someday.
DAVID SHAPIRO, A98
DENVER, COLORADO

There, we’ve printed your letter. But we’d like to modify the rules. Instead of sending wine, please donate the price of a bottle to Tufts. You can make your gift here: giving.tufts.edu/make_a_gift. That way, you get your letter in print plus the satisfaction of helping some present or future Tufts student just a bit. Deal?
—Editor