To and from the editors
HERE'S PEAS IN YOUR EYE
SHAME ON THE EDITORS of UMass for running a puff piece on so-called
research by the nutrition department [Around
the Pond, Fall 2000].“Canned foods taste, smell and look just as good
as homecooked fresh or frozen items,” indeed. No mention of how most canned
foods are extraordinarily high in salt, how they generally cost more than
fresh or frozen, how fresh and frozen foods lose less of their nutrition
in cooking.
As a former investigative reporter, my guess
is that this so-called research was funded by some noble-sounding institute
with a lot of money contributed by the canned foods industry. If there’s
no industry money behind the so-called research, I’ll eat my . . . canned
peas.
I dare you to report where the money for this
study ultimately came from. Your story is not the kind of reporting that
my UMass journalism teachers taught.
Don Glickstein ’73
Seattle, Washington
An industry organization, the Canned Food Alliance, did fund the study. Researcher Kenneth Samonds has the following response:
MR. GLICKSTEIN RAISES an issue that frequently
confronts investigators whose inquiries are funded by special interest
groups. If we acknowledge that the question under consideration is legitimate
Are recipes prepared with canned ingredients nutritionally equivalent
to, and indistinguishable from, the same recipes prepared with fresh or
frozen ingredients? then who should pay to answer that question?
I must admit that I had some of the same biases
against canned foods as Mr. Glickstein, but I was willing to design a
study to provide at least a partial answer to the question. Perhaps a
few more details will help explain the results. First, the canned foods
were ingredients in 40 complex recipes the way many people might choose
to use them. Second, they were not specialty products, but items commonly
available from the local supermarket. Third, the nutrient analysis used
the most recent USDA standards, and took into account nutrient losses
or destruction during cooking. Finally, the taste-testing was performed
by paid volunteers who were given unmarked samples in random order.
The results were a surprise to my coworkers and
myself. Nutrient differences per serving were small; sensory differences
were variable, but for most recipes, the versions were statistically indistinguishable.
I embarked upon this project with a slightly
different intent from that of the Canned Food Alliance. Some of the most
important nutrition messages for Americans today encourage the consumption
of more fruits, vegetables, legumes, and lean meats. All of these are
available, to some extent, in cans. Canned foods are convenient, easy
to store, and frequently lower in cost than out-of-season products. If
our results can help to increase Americans’ adherence to sound dietary
recommendations, I think the project was worthwhile, despite the funding
source.
Mr. Glickstein expressed concern about sodium
content. Perhaps he is unaware that low-sodium canned products are readily
available. And perhaps his challenge to eat canned peas if this study
was not funded by the canned food industry might not be the best choice
after all. The sodium content of one-half cup of canned peas is 1.7 mg;
a similar volume of frozen peas is 69.6 mg.
Kenneth Samonds
Associate professor of nutrition, Campus
OUCH! GOES THE OVINE
ONCE AGAIN AN INSTITUTION of higher learning has succumbed to the temptation
or is it fear of being left behind? to trumpet some (minor) accomplishment
in the “new” millennium. I refer to the page-one blurb for the “Dawn till
Dusk” photo essay [Inside,
Fall 2000]: “The campus woke to a foggy morning and five UMass photographers
chronicled one day in the first year of the new millennium.”
It was not the beginning of the new millennium.
It hadn’t occurred yet. If our modern era begins January 1, 1 A.D., then
it follows that that first century ended December 31, 100 AD and each
subsequent century would end with the year ending in “00.” Ten centuries
make a millennium, Q.E.D., the second millennium would end on December
31, 2000.
Yes, I know what you’re going to say. I’m being
a purist. If billions of people, and certainly thousands much wiser than
I, could celebrate the close of the millennium on New Year’s Eve, 1999,
then who am I to say otherwise?
I suppose that I shouldn’t have expected UMass
to be the one that just for once stuck her neck out and led instead of
simply following? Or is that just some ovine remnant of Mass Aggie that
I detect?
John Judge Jr. ’68
Clinton, Maryland
READER SEES SMOKE
RE. “USEFULNESS U” [Around
the Pond, Fall 2000]: The press release distributed by UMass news
services almost required a thermal-imaging camera to see through the smoke
obscuring the story of the university’s involvement with “Eyes of Life”
a campaign that secured three thermal-imaging cameras for the Amherst
Fire Department. Even prior to the 1999 tragedy in Worcester, Amherst
and Hampshire colleges had each pledged $5,000 towards an $18,300 camera.
UMass, however, orchestrated a “deal” whereby a rebuilt camera could be
had for half-price. In other words, their “cooperative effort” consisted
of a coupon.
Chancellor Scott’s comment that “the university
is committed to employing its resources to benefit the community; in this
case, our resources extend beyond mere dollars,” added insult to parsimony.
Money spent on a good cause by concerned citizens and institutions denigrated
as “mere” begs the question: If you have such a low opinion of “mere money”
than why not contribute some like everyone else?
Larry Kelley ’83
Amherst
The writer owns the Amherst Athletic Club and chaired the “Eyes of Life” committee. The director of the UMass News Office responds:
THE UNIVERSITY’S CONTRIBUTION toward the purchase
of an additional thermal-imaging camera for use by the Amherst Fire Department
has been clearly stated. Through the efforts of Donald Robinson, director
of environmental health and safety, the campus was able to negotiate a
cost-savings of $12,000 for a second and more sophisticated model of thermal-imaging
camera for use by the town.
That translates into $12,000 that did not have
to be spent by anyone for the additional camera, thanks to the UMass contact.
Many in Amherst, including the town’s fire chief, have publicly acknowledged
the value of the university’s involvement and its very real contribution
to this effort.
Barbara Pitoniak
Campus
OFFENDED BY FUND-RAISER
YOUR FALL ISSUE CONTAINED an insert with a fundraising message from Bruce
Friend ’79, whose claim to fame is that he is a senior VP for research
and planning at MTV Networks International. Everyone realizes that institutions
seek out their most highly placed graduates to enlist in the cause of
fundraising. You should know, however, that there are those of us who
regard being in an upper management position at MTV as something less
than admirable. The programming that MTV peddles to the youth of the nation
a sordid brew of trashy music, sleazy and sensational shows, and soft-core
pornography is not a product one should be proud of producing and selling.
Robert Ruplenas ’67, ’74
Weymouth
MORE MILLENNIANA
WITH ALL THE DISCUSSIONS about time capsules [Exchange, UMass Gatherings,
Extended Family, Fall 2000], I wonder if there is not a better way to
preserve history. Where does UMass save its historic items now? Some place
in the library? Then they could be rotated on display. Your discussion
of the Tiffany window in Goessmann Lab in the same issue [“The
Phoenix’s Progress”] reminded me of an old scale of Dr. Goessmann’s
that was displayed in the entryway when I was a chemical engineering student
in the 60s. There was a plaque beside the scale describing Goessmann’s
very methodical methods. I also recall seeing a very old rotating cylinder
calculator which made me very happy to have my “modern” slide rule.
Chris Read ’67
Webster, Texas
The campus does store historic treasures in the Du Bois Library, in Special Collections and Archives on the 25th floor. The reading room and rotating exhibitions make it well worth a visit.
REMEMBERING STOWELL GODING
I FIRST MET STOWELL GODING [In
Memoriam, Fall 2000] in the late 50s when he was my French professor
at UMass. From our very first meeting in the classroom, I knew instantly
that here was a professor who was tops in his profession and in every
way possible.
Stowell touched more students’ lives and helped
more students than, I suspect, he could have possibly remembered. He always
held out a helping hand to anyone, and always made time for anyone.
It is safe to say that all of us never had a
better friend and teacher than Stowell Goding. He was indeed the epitome
of all those marvelous and magical things that make many human beings
love and respect one individual an individual who possessed a veritable
and extraordinary gift: to teach the language.
Mel Yoken ’60, ’72G
New Bedford
HOMAGE TO LOUIS CARPINO
“THE PHOENIX’S PROGRESS” [Fall
2000] about the evolving UMass chemistry department made my Sunday
morning reading period very rewarding. Seeing the names of familiar people
and reading about new directions and the people involved in them was pleasantly
informative.
I was nevertheless disappointed not to see the
name of my thesis advisor, Louis Carpino, whose monumental work has been
so essential in the development of this department. If you ever print
another article about this department, I hope you will devote some space
to this unpretentiously eminent personage.
Fatemeh Nowshad ’89G
Saugerties, New York
OF BEER AND PICKLED THINGS
DISTANT MEMORIES stirred by the notice in the last UMass concerning
the closing of Mike’s Westview [Around
the Pond, Fall 2000]. I fondly recall walking up to Mike’s, after
reviewing class notes and a textbook for a couple of hours the night before
a final exam, for a glass or two of beer and relaxing with friends. The
tall glasses were 15 cents and we often had a pickled egg or, if so inclined,
a pickled lamb’s tongue. It all seemed so civilized a thing to do.
Herb Brandt ’54
Austin, Texas
HAPPY FAMILY
I’VE JUST FINISHED READING the Fall 2000 UMass Magazine, and I
am overcome with emotion because it summarized everything I experienced
and learned to love about UMass. UMass is nothing short of a second family
that will provide the support to gain everything one desires to learn
and become. It offers friendships that will last a lifetime, as exhibited
in the Extended Family section; resources that can meet just about any
need; and a distinguished faculty that can stimulate anyone and everyone’s
desire to learn. The latest UMass captures this . . . Thank you
and keep up the good work.
Christy Mae Martin ’98
Hopkinton
FAR-FLUNG SIGNAL
I’VE PICKED UP THE SIGNAL for WFCR, the campus’s public radio station,
on my car radio as far away as the top of Great Neck in Ipswich and as
far south as Durham, Connecticut. The station, which was featured a recent
issue [“Radio
Free UMass,” Spring/Summer 2000] now has a new, taller, transmitting
antenna on Mount Lincoln in Pelham, and the result is an improved and
wider signal pattern.
I encourage alumni in New England and eastern
New York to check their radios and let the magazine know by postcard,
email, or letter if they’re receiving the station.
Joseph Larson ’56, G’58
Emeritus professor, natural resources conservation,
Campus
RECOGNIZING BILLY BELINA
I READ “RADIO
FREE UMASS” in the Spring/Summer issue with interest. I am an occasional
listener of WMUA, enjoying the oldies on Jen’s Time Machine and Mitch
Moskal’s Early Bird Polka Show, followed by Billy Belina’s Polka Show
which brings me to my point. Billy Belina, who has been a WMUA DJ for
over 20 years and who has raised tens of thousands of dollars for his
station through his annual Polkathon, was never mentioned once in this
story.
I think Mr. Belina should be given the recognition
he deserves. This was a grave omission.
Daniel S. Chrzan ’70
Ludlow
HOSMERS RESPOND TO LETTER
RE. “BROAD DAYLIGHT” [Around
the Pond, Winter 2000]: As the mother of Jean Hosmer, a 17-year University
of Massachusetts employee who was killed on October 25, 1999, and as a
graduate of the campus’s MFA program in English, I would like to deeply
thank the alumni and staff who wrote such kind letters about her in
UMass Magazine and to us personally.
I would like to take exception, however, to one
letter [Exchange,
Summer 2000] from Francis Carmel, a recent graduate of the nursing school,
who denounced “the mentality of women as all-suffering victims” in the
Amherst community and stated that “violence against men either equals
or far surpasses that of violence against women” and that “numerous research
statistics demonstrate that women are just as likely to perpetuate violence
as men are.”
Does Mr. Carmel realize that 20-35 percent of
women seeking medical care in the United States do so because of domestic
violence, according to the American Medical Association? That four million
women a year are victims of severe assaults by friends and husbands, or
that one woman in four will be abused by a partner in her lifetime? That
according to the Surgeon General, domestic violence injuries of women
between ages 15 and 44 are more numerous than auto accidents, muggings
and cancer deaths combined?
I didn’t, either, until our daughter died. Now
I know these facts by heart.
Catherine Hosmer ’78G
Bradenton, Florida
I AM DISTURBED BY THE LETTER written by nursing
graduate Francis Carmel in response to your sensitive and disturbing article
decrying recent violence against UMass women. As a clinical social worker
whose work has included several years working with children of domestic
violence victims, I never thought anyone in my family would be affected
by such a heinous act. As the sister of Jean Hosmer I am outraged and
appalled that none of us could protect her.
I am troubled by Mr. Carmel’s assertions of annoyance
toward women as victims, although statistics absolutely support that only
5 percent of violence against men is perpetuated by women. Of profound
concern is his overlooking the families, particularly the children, of
abused women, who truly are the “silent victims.”
I fear that Mr. Carmel’s lack of compassion regarding
this vital issue will make it unlikely that he will help the women who
will present at his healthcare door.
Carol Hosmer Golly
Naples, Florida
DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS
RE. “OF CALVALRY AND COWS” [Exchange,
Fall 2000]: The Air Force isn’t the cavalry, the story has nothing to
do with Christ’s death on Calvary, so, exactly what is calvalry?
Roy Landstrom ’60
Cumberland, Ohio
An ignorant misspelling of an inept allusion, that’s what. ALSO: In our last issue we misidentified Union Station, one of the Northampton restaurants offering gift certificates to winners of the campus Adopt-a-Planter competition. Generous alumnus Matthew Pitoniak ’67, ’75G owns the restaurant.
