To and from the editors
Still
More Champs
FOLLOWING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP of the UMass football
team in 1998, a number of letters were published in your magazine noting
other teams, in previous years, that had achieved similar standings. Enclosed
is a photograph of members of the 1911 Massachusetts Agricultural College
rifle team who, I think, represented the first national champion by a
varsity team at UMass or its predecessors.
This team won the 1911 Intercollegiate Rifle
Match Outdoor Championship. My father, Frederick A. McLaughlin, Sr. '11,
a member of the team, stressed that these outdoor meets were shoulder-to-shoulder
meets where the teams competed on the same firing line with 30-caliber
rifles. The "Aggie" rifle range was off North East Street. In
contrast, the rifle teams in my day (1943) shot 22- caliber rifles in
the basement of the old drill hall and the scores were compared with those
of other college teams.
Perhaps I should note that a rifle
match is considered to be an athletic event; the Springfield Union carries
the scores of "riflery" in its sports section.
Frederick A. McLaughlin, Jr. '43
Hatfield
Church-State Debates
I JUST SET ASIDE Winter 2000 magazine. Most impressions
were favorable. However, the article "Unsequestered Spirits"
and a statement by Chancellor David Scott made my blood pressure shoot
up. Here is his statement: "Public higher education has conveniently
hidden behind a rigorous constitutional separation of church and state."
Why did he miss this opportunity to put
the record straight? There is nothing in the U.S. Constitution declaring
there shall be separation of church and state. What it does say is that
"Congress shall make no law respecting an established religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech,
or of the press, or of the right of the people peacefully to assemble,
and to petition Government for redress of grievances."
Tell the same story often enough and people
believe. That is what has happened and until people with credentials like
those of the chancellor start setting the record straight it will be perpetuated.
Ed Sprague '43, '48
Vernon, Vermont
Chancellor David Scott replies:
MY COMMENTS ABOUT the separation of church and state were meant to convey
how courts have interpreted the Constitution. More than fifty years ago
the Supreme Court agreed that the Establishment Clause was intended to
erect a wall of separation between church and state. Although this interpretation
has been the subject of ongoing debate, most agree that the state and
public education must be neutral both among religions and between religion
and non-religion.
By ignoring religion and by promoting secular
views hostile to religion, I believe that public education has effectively
chosen to take sides against religion unnecessarily. For neutrality to
be restored, as the First Amendment requires, religion must be given a
voice. While it is not the task of public education to promote any particular
religion, it should not ignore or denigrate religion either. (See Warren
A. Nord, Religion and American Education: Rethinking a Nation's Dilemma,
University of North Carolina Press, 1995).
I expect that Ed Sprague and I are basically
in agreement. My comment meant to point out that academe, in not promoting
any particular religion, has thereby eliminated a religious view entirely.
I do not believe this outcome was intended by the framers of the Constitution.
David K. Scott
Campus
Murder, Attacks "Hit
Home"
RE. "BROAD DAYLIGHT," Around the Pond, Winter
2000: I have just put down the recent UMass Magazine. Tears stream down
my face. The brutal reality of crime and violence in America since my
graduation from UMass in 1960 has "hit home." Not since the
horror of the murder of our daughter, Renee Rondeau, on October 31, 1994,
have I felt such anger, shock, and pain.
UMass was my respite, a place where I could
go, not always physically, but as a safe haven in my memory when I had
no other place to "escape to" in the world. I had counted on
"going there" from time to time, to escape from the bittersweet
legacy that my husband and I will endure forever.
I could not believe what I just read…
murder! rape! These crimes cannot happen in that sweet town of Amherst,
where a consortium of the best colleges in the USA is located!
My condolences are extended to all those
who so loved Jean Hosmer. My support is offered to those victims of rape
who have been so brutally offended. I laud and commend the response of
the students who rallied against violence. It is gratifying to hear about
student mobilization against the widespread fear on campus. This is where
our people and our nation should unite and bond to fight the violence
in our communities.
Although it is commendable to react to these
specific acts of violence and to act with courage and resilience when
a disaster occurs, it becomes an obligation and a mandate to continue
that outcry, that rage, and that call to action so that murder, crime
and violence will forever end. It is too late, too little, to respond
after the fact of the crime!
I cry out to the students and faculty of
UMass to go beyond what they have done in response to these tragedies,
and to mobilize a specific, long-term, and sustainable plan of action
for nonviolence, so that we may not have to live in fear. I challenge
the alumnae of their fantastic alma mater to prepare a "call to action
to these horrible tragedies, and the elimination thereof" for the
future. They must go beyond the "warm fuzzies" of those "golden
days of old." They must help to leave a wonderful legacy of peace
and nonviolence to their alma mater.
With hope for a thousand years of peace
and nonviolence, ad infinitum.
Elaine M. Rondeau '60
Marietta, Georgia
The writer and her husband, Gordon Rondeau '60, are the founders of the nonprofit organization Action Americans, Murder Must End Now (AAMMEN).
RE. "BROAD DAYLIGHT" : The recent death of Jean Hosmer, through
violent murder, is a crime that lingers and unsettles. Accounts of its
circumstances provoke a deathlike slowing of one's heart, as the struggle
for full acknowledgment goes on within. Is human nature so twisted that
someone like Jean Hosmer should come to this end? And following her murder,
it continued to fester and to provoke more pathological impulses to surface,
causing more dehumanized attacks - attacks carried out against victims
who had never interacted with the perpetrator.
The contrast between Jean's cheerful, courageous
life and the manner of her death is so striking. I'm glad to hear she
is truly being recognized, by Chancellor Scott and others, as touching
off a widespread drive to address the problem's genesis. UMass can become
a renewed organization, stressing constructive institutional strategies
against domestic violence. Jean Hosmer's twenty-year-long service, as
an employee of UMass, has not been devalued, in part because of these
accountable reactions. Through the outcry her murder caused, Jean could
have the dignity of a legacy.
Anne Elizabeth Stohr '86
Minneapolis, Minnesota
I WAS HEARTSTRICKEN by "Broad Daylight" in the winter issue
of UMass. I remember the pond as a tranquil place with beautiful white
swans. How things change!
The photograph depicts a deep concern for the issue on campus. All of
us as alumni should also express our concern. The Everywoman's Center
has always had a visible place at UMass; let's advocate to obtain more
monies for them.
Betty Tegel '74
Greenfield
Pervasive, Insufferable, Tiresome
RE. "BROAD DAYLIGHT, Winter 2000": As a fairly
recent graduate of UMass and its nursing school, I am all too aware of
the pervasive and insufferable "women as all-suffering victims"
mentality that exists there. Patricia Wright's article fits neatly into
that category and offers little in the way of balanced coverage regarding
the issue of violence.
It is certainly terrible and tragic that
a longtime UMass employee was murdered in Northampton and that two alleged
rapes occurred at UMass. However, violence and death are not limited to
women alone, nor should your coverage be. It is clear from all statistics
that violence against men either equals or far surpasses that of violence
against women in most categories. In addition, numerous research statistics
demonstrate that women are just as likely to perpetuate violence as men
are.
As a male, I find the ongoing and flagrant
double standards of treatment and expectations for men and women to be
highly tiresome. Men and women are, as a rule, equally good or bad. Period.
Let's stop using tax dollars, politically correct university policies
and propaganda, and the media to perpetuate false myths about men as monsters
and women as helpless victims. It's just not so.
Francis Carmel '96
Tucson, Arizona
Letters from Another Planet
TWO RATHER AMAZING LETTERS appeared in the last issue:
one by Mr. John Nolan '85, and one by history professor Richard Minear.
[Exchange, Winter 2000]. It is hard to believe that they live on the same
planet that I do.
Mr. Nolan's concern at the depiction of
the Japanese in WWII [in a cartoon from Minear's Dr. Seuss Goes To War,
Books, Fall 1999] is as offensive as his shock and dismay. Those of us
who left Mass State in 1942 did not view the Japanese benignly. To the
contrary, they personified evil snakes, a moderate term for how most of
us felt after the backstabbing attack on Pearl Harbor where we lost friends
aboard ships, who were sleeping on that Sunday morning. That is to say
little about the rape of Nanking, and the raping and pillaging which the
Japanese committed on invaded countries.
Hate was alive and well. The drawings by
Dr. Seuss were not racist or insulting or rude, they reflected the very
sincere feelings not only of the good doctor but of the citizens of America.
Yes, Mr. Nolan, there is value in those images. They are part of history,
of which you appear to know little and too many people have forgotten,
or have very selective memories. Dr. Seuss's caricatures had more to do
with what the Japanese did, than who they were.
The same comments can apply to Professor
Minear's "me-too" comments. Since when does the relocation of
Japanese-Americans overshadow the actions of the Japanese at Pearl Harbor
and subsequently?
Those of us who fought that war have long
since forgiven the Japanese. Unfortunately forgetting is not easy. Bad
dreams return, Veterans Day comes by, as does Memorial Day, as does December
7th. Please do not denigrate the patriots of the WWII, Dr. Seuss included.
We were in a fight for our survival as a nation, and the face of the enemy
whether in Europe or in Asia was fair game for the atrocities they perpetuated.
Rowland Freeman III '44
Williamsburg, Virginia
Early Whacks
RE. "CYBERWHACKS" [about a course using original
documents to study the Lizzie Borden trial, Around the Pond, Winter 2000].
I took a similar course as part of a US history survey at UMass around
1970. Although we didn't have the benefit of the Internet back then, we
did work from actual court transcripts, photographs, diagrams of the layout
of the house, etc.
The discussion covered the social structure
of Fall River (how could this happen in a "good" family?); the
role of servants (the maid was under suspicion); the role of women in
society (how could a woman - even Lizzie! - have committed such an act?);
and the psychology of family relationships (were the iron-handed and penny-pinching
ways of the father's second wife factors in the crime?)
It was a great course. And I always got
a kick out of telling people, "I took a course in Lizzie Borden!"
Carol (Wiik) Cooke '73
Alexandria, Virginia
Hollywood on the Connecticut
RE "L.A. STORIES," Winter 2000: Having earned
my Ph.D. in communication at UMass, specializing in film studies, I was
heartened to hear how well our grads have fared in Hollywood, and I know
there will be many more success stories.
But it is unfortunate that the article did
not make some mention of the opportunities in film and video available
to current students at UMass. The campus has, after all, an extraordinary
group of faculty working in film. UMass has one of New England's few certificate
programs in film studies, led by the tireless Catherine Portuges. It features
very fine video production facilities. And in an era when virtually every
film program in the country is abandoning celluloid, UMass retains its
hugely popular 16mm film production course and boasts one of the few on-campus
motion picture labs (run by renowned developer Mark Kosarick) in the nation.
UMass may not be a full-scale film production
school, but as various departments join in the digital audiovisual revolution,
even more students will be drawn to the enormous potential of the image
industry, resulting in more alumni prospering from the intellectual and
practical film-video-digital lessons that UMass offers.
Timothy Shary '98G
Framingham
The writer teaches film and TV courses at Clark University in Worcester. And he reads our minds: a story touching on some of these subjects will appear in our fall issue.
I READ WITH INTEREST YOUR ARTICLE on alumni in Hollywood:
I'm moving to LA this summer, and am screening my short film Jr. Creative
at the Theater of TV Arts and Sciences in June as part of a Boston University
alumni event. (I'm also BU MFA'98.) I'd love to meet some Umies out there
-I need Umies! Hollywood may rob the soul, but at least with Umies there's
a greater chance the soul existed in the first place.
Matt McIntosh '94
Amherst
THE ONLY TV SHOW I watch religiously is Just Shoot Me, and I was not surprised to find out that Andy Gordon is one of the lead creators for the show. I remember Andy as the editor when I wrote feature articles for The Collegian. Andy was not only a talented journalist, but even then, a super nice guy to work with. I remember thinking way back then that his determination and personality were going to get him far.
Andrea Millstein Sohnen '84
Marlboro, New Jersey
Agrees With Honors College Critic
A LETTER FROM CHRISTINE WILLIS [Exchange, Winter 2000]
expresses anger regarding the establishment of the new honors Commonwealth
College. She is angry because the college provides a superior educational
environment than is available to other students, yet it costs the same
in terms of tuition and fees.
I think the Commonwealth College was created
to attract better students to the university. Such students would contribute
more to the intellectual climate on campus, and this is good for all students.
But it's not clear how separation in housing and classrooms would directly
enhance the experience of all students. Furthermore, restricted classes
open only to honors students predate the creation of Commonwealth College.
One might well then worry that the trappings
of an honors college are more for show than substance. The honors college,
Ms. Willis suggests, is divisive and inequitable. I believe she has a
point, and proponents of the Commonwealth College, as opposed to traditional
honors programs, ought to address these charges.
John W. Moore
Campus
The writer is a UMass professor of psychology.
Yuppie Us
I AM DISAPPOINTED at UMass Magazine for wasting valuable
editorial space on the useless gibberish of a California yuppie ("It's
About Influence, Dude," North 40, Winter 2000). What exactly are
UMass alumni suppose to derive from something written by a "Valley
boy?" Maybe the author could be more focused if he spent more time
helping his wife instead of hiring a doula. A doula is nothing more than
a part-time servant. In ancient times a doula was closer to a slave girl.
Does UMass really want to be promoting this latest yuppie fad?
Peter Massaras '80
Boothwyn, Pennsylvania
Who Could Miss Max?
RE A RECENT "SOUVENIR" photograph in Classnotes
["Nothing Gold Can Stay," Extended Family, Fall 1999]: Who could
miss Max Goldberg '28 on the left? That is the only identification I can
make, but I think that [English professor] Eliot Allen and I were responsible
for the meeting with Robert Frost. Eliot and I were the mobile part of
the Fine Arts Council at that time. We arranged the place and put up the
posters all over campus, then were partly responsible for refreshments.
I remember this one distinctly because I
was in the front row and heard all Frost's chuckles over his work. Who
could forget?
Maida Riggs '36
Hadley
Alumna Riggs is, like alumnus Goldberg, an emeritus member of the UMass faculty: he in English, she in physical education.
