LETTERS

BIRTH OF AN OPERA LOVER

The Summer 2015 issue of Tufts Magazine reminded me of the serendipitous nature of a Tufts education. Among the many benefits of my first four (of twelve) years as a Tufts student was a treasure I received as a freshman living in Bush Hall. A floor-mate was walking excitedly up and down the hall asking, “Who wants to see the Metropolitan Opera with me?” That was Garnett Bruce, who would go on to become the opera director profiled in “Die Here,” by David Menconi. “I want to be a theater set designer,” Garnett told me later in our undergraduate days.

I was raised with folk music and had never been to a classical music performance. When Garnett took me to Gioachino Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri, it started a lifelong love of the ultimate multimedia art form. I now can drive ten minutes to the Palm Beach Opera, or fly to Paris for Wagner, but nothing has beat my introduction to opera by this friend.

Imagine my surprise when in 2002 I was a resident in dermatology at Yale and took an evening off to go to Yale Opera. I found that Garnett Bruce was the director!
JOHN STRASSWIMMER, A89, M99, L99
PALM BEACH, FLORIDA

AN ATTITUDE

I greatly appreciated “The Gift of Gratitude” (Summer 2015), by Ronald Pies. As I approach my thirty-fifth college reunion in 2016, I am reflecting on the passage of time and what has been accomplished in the past three and a half decades, but mostly I’m feeling thankful for the members of the Class of 1981 who have survived—one of my old roommates did not live to attend even our twenty-fifth reunion celebration.

As a group, our class has spread out, and many of us have unfortunately lost touch. Some have reconnected via social media, but still, I look forward to seeing classmates face to face. It will be wonderful to catch up in person, even if I imagine it may seem like a colorized version of The Twilight Zone.
BETSY HUBER PORT, J81
LONGMEADOW, MASSACHUSETTS

FUN WITH THERMODYNAMICS

The article by Phil Primack on former Tufts engineering professor and current Museum of Science director Yannis Miaoulis (“Zzzt!” Summer 2015) was excellent. The part about the teaching of thermodynamics had me recalling my own experience with a much less gifted professor.

Thermodynamics should have been one of the most interesting courses. It wasn’t. On one occasion, our professor complained that we had a “negative attitude” toward the subject; he couldn’t see that what was going on in the classroom might have something to do with his teaching.
JOHN A. CATALDO, E46
ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS

PRESERVING FREE SPEECH

I was gratified to read Tufts President Anthony P. Monaco’s column “Free Speech Is Good Speech” (Winter 2015). The foundation of Western civilization, which consists of reasoned discourse and Judeo-Christian values, is under attack. The public does not realize the extent to which campuses are being intimidated into shutting down dialogue so as to avoid “offensive” speech. We need to defend universities against those who would truncate open discussion to advance their own political agenda.

As a guardian of the values upon which higher education is built, President Monaco is doing a terrific job. I support his efforts to maintain Tufts as an institution where extensive thinking and speech can still occur in a safe environment.
JENNIFER WATSON, J71
ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS

CIVIL DISCOURSE

Thank you for your latest Editorial We piece (“Word Police,” Summer 2015). Short, sweet, and to the point—and I couldn’t agree more with the issues you raise.
JOE STEIN, A09
WELLINGTON, FLORIDA

What a marvelous editorial. Thanks for writing it. It’s great to see that at least one other person has been thinking about police militarization.
MICHAEL J. GLENNON
PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
FLETCHER SCHOOL

KUDOS

Just read (word-by-word, front-to-back) the Summer 2015 issue of Tufts Magazine. Please allow me to send my utmost compliments on this out-of-this-world brilliant issue. How can we not keep on loving our Tufts? Hats off to the editor.
SALIM AKHTAR, G69
ELLICOTT CITY, MARYLAND