Tufts admissions
Dean Coffin did a fine job of explaining the daunting task facing the Tufts admissions officers each year and the process by which applicants may finally be selected or rejected (“Building a Class,” winter 2006). I couldn’t help but wonder, though, about the yardsticks the admissions committee uses to measure its success. In other words, how do they know if they did a good job or a poor one?
Mark Berenson, A62
North Eastham, MA
Dean Coffin replies: “We measure our ‘success’ by the percentage of freshmen who return for their sophomore year. In a typical year, that number is 96 to 98 percent.”
The atomic bomb
I was fascinated to read the interview with Martin Sherwin (“Burned by the Sun,” winter 2006). As head research librarian at the E. Stanley Wright Museum in Wolfeboro, NH, I’ve taken a special interest in the use of the atomic bomb in Japan. Many theories have been presented on both sides. Some say that we had to use the bomb to prevent an invasion of the home islands that could have cost a million American lives. Others say that Curtis LeMay’s incendiary bombing campaign could have won the war. Still others speculate that a submarine blockade could have starved the Japanese into submission.
But there is one simple fact that, in my view, forced us to use the bomb: we had to stop the Russians (and not just in Japan)! Had their invasion proceeded, they would have been the occupying force. It’s hard to imagine what the world would be like today had that occurred. The bomb wasn’t the closing shot of World War II; it was the opening shot of the Cold War.
David Warren, E68
Melvin Village, NH
Thank you
Thanks for sending me the summer 2005 issue of Tufts Magazine. I graduated from the Boston Latin School in 1933, then went on to Tufts, where I received a B.S. in 1937 and an M.D. in 1941. I appreciated the scholarships I received, and have since paid them back. I moved to Boca Raton, FL, in 1988 and currently live in a retirement home at my Lutheran church. I am 90 and in good health. I like what you mail to Tufts graduates. Thank you.
Edwin Pearson, M.D., A37, M41
Boca Raton, FL
Duly noted
I write to express appreciation and to correct an inadvertent exaggeration of my role in the founding of University College of Citizenship and Public Service. I was not the founder, but I am proud to be among those present during the crucial developmental years. To list everybody who deserves credit would sound like begats. Thanks for such a great issue devoted to “Everyday Heroes.”
Brian O’Connell, A53
Medford, MA
Corrections:
In the wedding album section of the winter 2006 issue (page 62, photo #21), the Rev. David Stevens’ class year was left out. He is a member of the Class of 1958.
In “Everyday Heroes” (winter 2006), the name of John Ficarelli, D73, was omitted as cofounder and president of Tufts Dental School’s Project Stretch. |
