LETTERS

SOL’S SEMICENTENNIAL I very much enjoyed the articles on and by Sol Gittleman (“The Sol Decades,” Summer 2014). I was dean of the Fletcher School from 1978 to 1985, during the time when Sol was Tufts’ provost. I believe that nobody has ever done more than he to raise the academic standard of the university.

I came to Fletcher from outside the academic world, and had to learn a lot very quickly. Along with John Roche, my academic dean, Sol was my teacher. I had to get Sol’s approval for faculty hires and promotions. I remember one occasion from early in my tenure when I recommended someone to him and became a bit annoyed because I thought he was late in getting back to me. In due course he called to say that it had taken longer than he intended to read everything this individual had published, but that he had finally finished and approved my recommendation. I didn’t dare tell him that I myself had not read all those materials. But I learned that I should have.

I also have wonderful memories of Sol as a fellow baseball addict. He arranged a ticket for me to the only World Series game I have ever seen in Fenway Park: Red Sox vs. Mets in 1986.
THEODORE L. ELIOT, JR.
SONOMA, CALIFORNIA

Any Tufts alum, recent or otherwise, would do well to read Sol Gittleman’s piece “My Fifty-Year Journey.” Professor Gittleman gives us a panoramic snapshot of his early history at Tufts, and of 1950s and ’60s American history, some of which we should be proud of, some not so proud of.
FRANK LINDAUER, A55
LAWRENCEVILLE, GEORGIA

Summer 2014 was a great issue. Reading about the history and long tenure of Tufts’ Ex College (“The Joy of Ex,” by Geoff Edgers, A92) was a treat. I also appreciated “Adding Life to My Years,” by Cathy Gody Wolf, a classmate who has lived with ALS for nearly twenty years. But the best of all was “My Fifty-Year Journey.” Sol Gittleman [who recently turned eighty] embodies Tufts. I once attended an afternoon lecture of his at a nearby temple. He raced through centuries of Jewish history in a way that was at once entertaining and scholarly. Someone should tape his lectures and make them available to alumni; I, for one, would snap them up. Happy Birthday, Sol!
JANET B.W. WILLIAMS, J69
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY

Some of Sol Gittleman’s lectures are indeed available online—including “Building a University: The Presidents of Tufts, 1852–2011” (bit.ly/building_a_university) and “The American Immigrant Experience, 1620–2013: Some Things Never Change” (bit.ly/immigrant_experience). —Editor

Sol Gittleman made a minor error in “My Fifty-Year Journey” when he stated that the 1970 Tufts commencement was canceled. In fact, we had two commencement ceremonies. Life magazine (June 19, 1970) ran photographs of both: one showing the poorly attended official ceremony, the other the well-attended ceremony organized by students. I would like to thank my classmates who took the initiative in making this truly memorable commencement a reality.
DOMENICO ROSA, A70
WEST HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT

MEDICAL CONVERSATIONS Thank you for “The People’s Science,” by Jonathan Garlick (Summer 2014). At the Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wisconsin, where I work in the field of maternal and fetal medicine, I frequently have third-year medical students from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, with me. Sometimes, in complicated pregnancies, my patients and I discuss pregnancy termination. Previously, I would avoid getting into the ethics of this with the medical students. Then I read about Professor Garlick’s undergrads and how they responded to the opportunity to voice their opinions and consider the opinions of others who disagreed. I really loved this quote from one of the students: “There was something about having the dialogue that made me care.”

Fantastic. It all completely resonated with me. Now I am eager to open such ethical conversations with my med students. If they want to talk, I’ll listen. I mean it—this article has changed me.
MARIA MASCOLA, J85, M89
MARSHFIELD WISCONSIN

UPHILL, DOWNHILL I was interested to see Tufts Magazine’s series of captioned photos celebrating university life fifty years ago (“1964,” Summer 2014). However, Wren Hall, built in that year, was erroneously described as being located in the downhill section of the Medford/Somerville campus. As a former Tufts orientation host, I helped many new students find their way around. Don’t tell me I led them astray when I said, “Wren Hall is uphill to the side of Carmichael Hall”!
DAISY LAC, J96
OAKS, PENNSYLVANIA

Wren Hall is right where you left it, on the uphill side. We regret our momentary loss of bearings, which Susan Papa, J82, also pointed out. —Editor

HONORING JESPER ROSENMEIER Jesper Rosenmeier (1934–2014) was the great teacher of my life. He was such a powerhouse, and taught with such simple elegance, that nothing thwarted his brilliance or the gains one could make in its atmosphere. He embodied such humanity and strength that even the most volatile topics were explored and held in balance without fear or favor. His primary subject may have been English, his particular love the nature and complexity of language, but learning with Jesper was most often the integration of all aspects of the natural world and human endeavor. He taught me to teach myself with such vigor and joy that thirty years later, I still learn from him every day. Jesper didn’t just teach me what I wanted to learn, he showed me how I wanted to be in this world.

It has been said that when a professor dies, a library burns. In the case of Jesper Rosenmeier, the burning of that library is an incalculable loss.
ELIZABETH CAREY, J86
LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS

An obituary of Jesper Rosenmeier appears on Tufts Now, at bit.ly/Jesper_Rosenmeier. —Editor

THEY GROW UP SO FAST While reading David Elkind’s excellent article “Goodbye Ozzie and Harriet” (Summer 2014), on the changing dynamics of families, I was pleasantly surprised to see myself in the photo of children at the Eliot-Pearson Children’s School in the timeline.

I have fond memories of my preschool days at the school from 1982 to 1984. Later, I majored in political science at Tufts, and now I am an associate professor of government at Georgetown University.
JONATHAN LADD, A00
BETHESDA, MARYLAND