Taboo Topic
This week, it’s back to school. Our mailbox was filled with reactions to the November 12 college issue, which examined the lack of campus debate about Israel, the rise of Emerson College, and the removal of Gallaudet University president-designate Jane Fernandes. Our November 5 profile of Harvard professor Randall Kennedy and interview with Boston College men’s basketball coach Al Skinner prompted responses as well.
Taboo Topic
In his article about the difficulty of discussing Israel on college campuses ("Too Hot to Handle," November 12), Jake Halpern fails to acknowledge two critical points. First, artist Lior Halperin created a monologue, not a discussion, on perceived Israeli injustices to Palestinians. Since visual art has the ability to provoke, inflame, and influence opinion, public exhibitions demand contemporaneous counterpoint, and none was provided. Second, author Halpern should have recognized that the underlying issue Jewish students must deal with in these discussions is exploding campus anti-Semitism that no longer originates with university administrations but has shifted to radical student groups.
S.H. Grossman
Needham
Asking why the debate on Israeli-Arab relations is neither open, constructive, nor civil, Jake Halpern writes: "After all, our college campuses have long provided a forum for discussing the nation’s most divisive and controversial issues . . . ." This knee-slapper of an alleged insight was much appreciated. I look forward to more fantasy-fiction in the Globe Magazine, perhaps about the quiet forums where students today politely exchange views on environmental issues or the World Bank’s stance on global economics, or the famously sedate debates surrounding our adventures in Vietnam.
Perry Glasser
Haverhill
Your cover amounts to nothing less than a death threat aimed at the populace of Israel, lumping it together with pornography, globalization, and abortion – all commonly characterized by debate framed by the question, "Should it be permitted to exist or not?" If there is a dramatically different way to look at the composition, please enlighten.
Daniel L. Alexander
Lexington
The sad truth is that there are a lot of issues that are out of bounds for discussion on the vast majority of college campuses – including topics touching upon race, gender, and sexual orientation. Since the mid-1980s our colleges have adopted "harassment codes" that deem speech considered deeply offensive to students in what are called "historically disadvantaged groups" to be out of bounds in civilized discourse. Such speech has been punished on virtually all of the campuses in the Boston area. There are indeed rampant hypocrisies in the dispute over Israel, but they will never be seriously elucidated on our campuses as long as university presidents say with a straight face that some issues are simply too hot to be debated. Our campuses suffer not from too much contentious speech, but too little.
Harvey A. Silverglate
Chairman, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education of Philadelphia
Cambridge
A Bigger Spotlight
I was delighted to see the article on Emerson College’s transformation ("Out of the Shadows," November 12). One important aspect of that transformation not mentioned is the strong faculty that supports the various curricula. Under President Jacqueline Liebergott’s guidance and the support of the board of trustees, full-time faculty numbers have increased by nearly 60 since 1993, and we are continuing to add positions. We are fortunate to have excellent facilities, supportive alums, and a dedicated faculty who make the Emerson student experience truly transformational.
Linda Moore
Vice president for academic affairs
Emerson College
Boston
As an Emerson alumnus, theater artist, and educator now living in LA, I was saddened that your reporter (as well as Ms. Liebergott) seemed to miss the real reason that Emerson College continues to turn out ambitious and professional graduates. It’s not the downtown location or the state of the art technology or even the "gorgeous" red walls with silver detail of some of its interiors. Sure, those things are icing on the cake, but what really sets Emerson apart is a fine, dedicated faculty that continues to educate, challenge, and inspire students despite an administration and board that seem to prefer style over substance.
Michael Cappelli
Los Angeles
After the Fall
Thanks to Brooke Lea Foster for her article on the ousting of Gallaudet University president-designate Jane Fernandes ("Dismissed," November 12). Much attention centered on whether Fernandes was not "deaf enough," but that may not be the issue at all. Her goal of recruiting more mainstreamed deaf students would be seen as a direct threat to the core of signing students at Gallaudet – in fact, the policy itself would be not "deaf enough." Like Fernandes, I was born deaf and mainstreamed and did not learn sign language until later in life. Fernandes, myself, and thousands like us deserve as much access to Gallaudet as does the signing deaf community. My wish for Gallaudet is that the final successful candidate for president will understand my needs and not be coerced into ignoring them.
Karen Keefe
President, Association of Late-Deafened Adults of Rockford, Ill.
Newtonville
As an alumnus of Gallaudet, I think Jane Fernandes is quite a brilliant, persistent, and determined person. But achieving high-level success requires the support and cooperation of others, and that, in turn, requires leadership ability. It was clear she did not demonstrate adequate leadership to garner the support she needed. But what is even sadder is Fernandes’s stance that she was considered not "deaf enough." Her words amounted to a transparent rationalization of her shortcomings.
Juan A. Vietorisz
Santa Fe
A Vote for Sanity
Kudos, Charlie Pierce, for your delightful comments about the recent campaign for governor ("Pierced," November 12). We both howled. You truly captured the essence of this latest gubernatorial saga.
Joe and Barbara Abromovitz
Needham
Crying Foul
How sad to learn that BC men’s basketball coach Al Skinner believes college athletes should be paid for "providing a service to the university" ("First Person," November 5). Whatever happened to playing for the love of the game and the pride of representing your community?
Cindy Shoer
Beverly
As a BC alumna and student athlete, I was dismayed at Skinner’s comment. Shouldn’t the four-year scholarship that the program surely offers be the "stipend" he refers to? I know of several BC athletes who received full scholarships and then donated back to the university several times over what they received. They recognize that their present success and opportunities stemmed from their overall college experience, both in the classroom and on the field/court. Not one of these benefactors would have thought they were owed something, as Coach Skinner indicates. If anything, their gifts to the university suggest the opposite.
Julianne Bridgeman
Milton
More Than Words
In response to the piece on Randall Kennedy and his views on the N-word ("Under the Skin," November 5), I would be more inclined, as a transplanted Bostonian who has lived in many foreign lands and heard many unpleasant epithets, to regard the expression "African-American" as the most vile insult that could be addressed to a fellow American. I thought we Americans were famous for regarding a man for who he is, not for what his ancestors were. I would never demean anyone by qualifying his nationality.
Katherine Barlow
Vienna
Marital Dust-Up
I just read Jennifer Mattern’s "Over My Dead Body" ("Coupling," November 5). I want to be cremated too and can relate to her husband’s concerns. Jennifer, bring this up to him: If you both get cremated, have your ashes mixed together and then spread all over the planet. It will be the Eternal World Tour!
Henry F. Neeser Jr.
Webster
As someone who has just returned from a vacation in Alberta, and someone who has been through High River, let me say this: There are worse places to spend eternity. The foothill country is magnificent. You might say it’s a place to die for.
Alan Hustak
Montreal
Free Advice
In a recent "Miss Conduct" column (October 29), a friend invited "Anonymous in Boston" to a show because he had an extra ticket. "Anonymous" agreed and went along as a companion. After the show, "Anonymous" asked his friend how much he owed him. Why? His only obligation was to thank his friend for his generosity. Instead, he opened his big mouth, allowing his friend the opportunity to make a few bucks. Case closed.
Dorothy Rietzel
Bellingham
