The Failure to Argue

All We Like Sheep

AMERICA SHOULD BE CONCERNED that it is losing its ability to argue. After reading the essay "For the Sake of Argument" [February], I reflected that the task we face may be much more challenging than most would be willing to accept. Merely changing the curriculum in college may not provide the opportunities for future Websters or Lincolns to step forward.

Based on my experience as a parent and teacher, I contend that while some students may enter college prepared to accept the power and importance of argument, most are uninterested in learning how to debate. Most children and teens are extremely comfortable embracing information that is flashed before them on monitors or fed them by experts. Now, more than ever, we need to teach our children how to process information critically.

The world has changed enormously since the eighteenth century. As Jay Heinrichs has successfully reasoned, however, educating young men and women to argue is no less important to the success of our society now than it was when Daniel Webster lived. To offer young Americans the opportunity of an education in "the greatest of intellectual skills" and to assure that this art continues to be practiced in our society requires that we begin our schooling well before we enter universities. The lessons of debate, of persuasion without manipulation, and of logical thought in the midst of emotion should be part of our national curriculum.

ITHACA, NEW YORK

FINE GOING ON THE CALL FOR attention to rhetoric. Stay with it until the curriculum again includes at least a course or two in logic—the pre- Booleian, Lincolnian basics of syllogisms, fallacies, etc.—the kind we had the luck to have with Professor Hulsart, for one, in the late twenties.

GREENS FARMS, CONNECTICUT

AS HEINRICHS SO EFFECTIVELY demonstrates, our society, and the world in general, has abandoned the possibility that reasoned thought can actually provide a resolution of our most pressing problems. We have instead assumed that the solution will come about by the exercise of political power—a kind of dictatorship by consent. As Heinrichs recognizes, the last bastion of reasoned resolution of disputes is the legal system, where the public generally accepts the process of decision-making because it is founded on the concept that the combination of facts and reasoned analysis would more likely than not produce a just result. No such confidence rests in the political process, where we generally assume that power, not reason, money, not facts, determines the outcome.

We can reintroduce those concepts back into the society not merely by reinstituting rhetoric, argumentation, and reasoned analysis into the curriculum, but by creating an institution that has as its stated goal the reestablishment of rational decision-making into government and private action. What is needed is a center for reasoning. The center would not only teach about rhetoric, argumentation, and reasoned analysis, it would also champion the importance of such teaching as essential to the survival of this society.

No educational institution is better qualified to establish such a center than Dartmouth. Its history in the field is not only exemplified by the success of Daniel Webster but by the modernday successes of the Dartmouth Forensic Union which, under the original leadership of Professor Herb James and his successor, Ken Strange, has established Dartmouth as a national leader in reasoned argumentation. It was in fact Dartmouth, led by Professor James in the late forties and early fifties, that changed the face of intercollegiate debate by turning from pure oratory to a combination of facts, reasoned argumentation, and analysis. In addition, Dartmouth already has a distinguished center of political analysis, the Rockefeller Center, and a number of programs aimed at applying educational knowledge to political problems—including the Environmental Studies Program and programs for student interns in state and national government. Finally, President Freedman has brought to Dartmouth a commitment to expand the College as an educational center that cherishes reason and open debate of all issues.

In short, Dartmouth is the right place and this is the right time. I, for one, would be delighted to join with other alumni, administration, and faculty to begin to discuss how such a center can be established at Dartmouth. As Heinrichs so eloquently put it, classical argument is "fueled by a belief that society can distinguish between good and bad, and that people can make those choices in common, can find a consensus." We cannot afford to wait another day to put in place the institutions necessary to assure that belief becomes a reality.

WASHINGTON, D.C

THE REASON WHY PEOPLE REsort to courts so frequently in our society is because our entire legal system benefits from their doing so and consequently relentlessly encourages them to do so. It has nothing to do with a search for "fairness." It has a lot to do with lawyers making money.

While I would certainly favor including in the curriculum courses on rhetoric and critical thinking, I would think it would be more important to see that all the teachers at the College incorporate critical thinking skills and philosophy in their teaching. (This probably would take a sea change in academic institutions.) In addition, it probably would make a lot of sense to include a debating course as a mandatory part of the freshman curriculum.

BOLTON, MASSACHUSETTS

ABUNDANT EXAMPLES OF FIRSTCLASS rhetoric can be found by watching "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." The latest episode of the latter, "Dax," provides an exemplary sample.

Happy viewing.

CLEVELAND, OHIO

Asian Chords

DOUGLAS HAYNES'S "SYLLABUS" column on "Imagining the Orient" in the February issue struck a number of responsive chords. I commend you for it.

I also teach on Asia (mostly on Korea and foreign economic assistance in the region), and I write extensively on Korea, Burma, and general issues of the political economy in the region. As the first (and last until recent times) exchange student from Dartmouth to China (Lingnan University, Canton, 1948-49), conveying accurate impressions of Asia is important to me.

I agree that a critical and often overlooked aspect of undergraduate Asian studies is to recognize and overcome the stereotypes that have affected everything from foreign policy to individual relations. This is not a matter of "political correctness" but one of appreciating a series of great civilizations, formulating foreign and economic policies, and accurately understanding world dynamics. I can testily to the importance of many of the works that Professor Haynes recommends, and use some of them myself. Let us not forget, however, that there is an important literature in English and in translation from those who have been colonized that is worthy of study.

It is also significant that neither the United States nor Japan produced a major novel on its colonies—the Philippines and Korea. The intellectuals in those countries were not engaged, although the political and military structures were. In contrast, India, the Dutch East Indies, and Indochina all entered into the mainstream of intellectual ferment in England, Holland, and France.

I wish Asian studies well at Dartmouth. It did not exist as a field when I was there.

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY

WASHINGTON, D.C

Biological Driving

THE LETTER ON "BIOLOGICAL Drives" by Tom Holzel '63 (February) has reached such a new low that it simply cries out for a rebuttal.

I am enclosing literature on an organization entitled "Security on Campus, Inc.," which was founded by Connie and Howard Clery '53 after their beloved daughter Jeanne was robbed, raped, and murdered in 1986 at Lehigh University by someone she did not even know.

Although it is undoubtedly true that a number of sweet, naive, innocent, and trusting young women arrive in Hanover each year, and many are no doubt in need of some freshman orientation to alert them to some of the possible dangers that may await them, Mr. Holzel has entirely missed some of the main points.

Victims and potential victims of college crime are not always women. Having served on the advisory board of the Clerys' organization, I have met the parents of several young men who were slain on college campuses.

Secondly, biological drives are by no means the only problem. All incoming freshman should be briefed not only on the dangers of sexual harassment and sex abuse, but also on alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and basic campus security.

Thirdly, it is not enough to instruct only the potential victims. Perhaps if all students were made more aware of the realities of their surroundings in a campus situation, some crimes could actually be prevented.

Fourthly, a major contributing factor to the current high campus crime rate is that college officials have never been willing to take it really seriously, and have been late and ineffectual in taking steps to do anything meaningful about the situation. Many college officials still have anachronistic attitudes toward campus crimes. They feel that "boys will be boys" or that students have the right to "sew a few wild oats" or "raise some Saturday night Cain" at their local fraternity house and that there is nothing really wrong with allowing them to do so as no harm can really come of it. They couldn't be farther from the truth, and attitudes like those of Mr. Holzel only feed the parochial blindness of these officials.

According to a recent survey by a national newspaper, one out of six students will be raped or sexually assaulted during their academic careers. Every week, nationally, a student is murdered on campus or adjacent to campus.

SATELLITE BEACH, FLORIDA

I AGREE WITH TOM HOLZEL THAT a college-age woman probably is foolish to naively agree to visit her date's bedroom without at least some suspicion concerning his motives. I strongly disagree when Mr. Holzel then goes on to insist that "one of the fundamental realities of die normal relationship between men and women is that men are biologically driven to engage women in sexual intercourse." I believe that many men are culturally so driven, but to ascribe this kneejerk response to inherent biology is a moral, psychological, and cultural copout.

I have been in many bedrooms (at workshops!) with men who have never automatically assumed that the situation called for intercourse. I have known many younger women who have been in bedrooms with men (yes, real men!) for whom intercourse was not an automatic outcome. It's a decision, Mr. Holzel, not an automatic biological reflex.

ANDOVER, CONNECTICUT

PROVIDING ADOLESCENTS AND young adults with sex education, disease prevention information, and prophylactics (condoms, rubber dams) in no way promotes rape or sexual assault, as Edward Marshall asserts. If Mr. Marshall is confusing rape, a criminal behavior, with sexual promiscuity, let me remind him that rape involves nonconsensual, forced sexual contact. The two are vastly different and should not be used as interchangeable terms.

Most disease-prevention studies show that knowledge about sexuality and sexually transmittable diseases decreases the number of adolescents and young adults engaging in risky sexual behavior. One study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that during the period when AIDS education increased significantly in schools, the percentage of students actually engaging in sexual intercourse declined.

As for his assertion that "there is virtually no work being done on restraint and abstention," this is patently untrue. When I was a student, Dartmouth's health-education materials clearly stated that the best way to avoid both pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including AIDS, was to avoid sexual intercourse altogether. Those students who chose to be sexually active were given accurate information about the prevention of pregnancy and STDs. Moral posturing does not stop people from becoming ill or dying; appropriate sex education can.

As for Mr. Holzel's logically questionable letter, I can only state that his entire premise is incorrect. If he had done some research, he would have discovered that the purpose of women's studies is not to focus on how heterosexual women should deal with priapic men. Rather, its purpose is to study and discuss the long-unexplored historical, literary, and philosophic contributions of women throughout the world. It is offensive to assume that women students' first priority when coming to Dartmouth is to learn all about "natural" male behavior.

His assertion that "men are biologically driven to engage women in sexual intercourse" is an old, tired line of reasoning. Men other than Mr. Holzel are certainly capable of regarding the women they work, study, and live beside as more than sexual objects. Of course, given the oppressive forces of sexism that are alive and well in the United States today, it is not surprising that college women are sexually assaulted and raped. But stemming the epidemic of violence against women will not be solved by teaching women to accept and justify violence. The key to halting this problem is to teach our children and our peers that both men and women should be regarded with equal respect—in and out of bed.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Trivializing Art

IT IS REGRETTABLE THAT THE October cover story, "The Stuff of Art," however heartening as evidence of the College's commitment and pride in one of its greatest appreciating resources, its art collection, still betrays a trivialization of the visual arts.

The career of Marcel Duchamp, whose meditations on the power and construction of art and its social institutions have been hallmarks of this century's intellectual history, is reduced to an aside: "Duchamp, if you remember your art-history class, promoted the artistic qualities of urinals." As they say in Wayne's World, NOT!!! R. Mutt's Fountain helped to introduce this country to the serious consideration of authorship and display in the creation of the art object. Duchamp's role in this entire affair is still open to consideration three-quarters of a century later, in much the same way that Einstein's slightly earlier theory is hardly a closed subject. What art-history class would say that the issues here revolved around the "artistic qualities of urinals"?

Thanks for informing your readers of one of Dartmouth's great resources. May I suggest that you walk over to Baker Library and read the framed quotation from Dwight Eisenhower: "Don't join the book-burners." The visual arts are partners in the creation of our culture equal to literature.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

The Senator

THERE IS A GLARING ERROR IN the obituary of my classmate, Senator Thomas J. McIntyre '37, in the February issue. Tom was elected to the United States Senate in November, 1962, not 1966, to succeed the late Styles Bridges, a Republican and a supporter of McCarthy.

At 1937's 25th reunion, Bill Clay from Kentucky; Walter Johnson, chairman of the history department at the University of Chicago; and I, from Maryland, all Democrats, convinced Tom, who had been considering entering the race, that he could win. The Republican party in New Hampshire was split asunder. Everyone, it seemed, including Mrs. Bridges, thought they should be the candidate. Tom and his wife, Myrtle, were to have breakfast with some of us on Sunday morning, but they left very early. On Tuesday he filed, won the election, and became a distinguished senator for 16 years, not 12. He lost in 1978 because of his vote for the Panama Canal treaty.

He also received an honorary LL.D. degree from Dartmouth in 1970.

ST. CROIX, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS

Required Reading

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE February issue. I find something of interest almost every month, but in this one all the articles were excellent. In fact, I was impressed enough to decide that this year I will double my contribution to the Alumni Fund. Don't dash out and buy anything on the strength of this promise, my change won't make any ripple on the operating budget. Still, as the fable of the grain of wheat and the chessboard teaches, if continued, this doubling business could really amount to something.

While I'm on the line may I add that I haven't done as much as I might for Dartmouth in the past mainly because I haven't noticed any ideas about education which were attractive to me. Most of them seem to involve higher salaries and lower scheduled contact time with the students—just about the same innovations that the elementary school teachers in Georgia bring up. Perhaps we should revive the Great Issues theme and require undergrads to read the Alumni Magazine.

ARNOLDSVILLE, GEORGIA

Bring Back the Gray

METHINKs I DO PROTEST TOO little. Enough. Enough of this scatterbrained "graphic design" whose only claim to renown is its complete and utter disorganization!

Graphic Design Professor Ray Nash is churning, not simply turning, in his grave.

Whatever happened to readability, to the nice gray of a page of type, of decent and careful page make up? It is as if the print world had dumped all the type cases on the floor and what we see today on the page is what was picked up, in just any old order.

Your ads, your articles, your index, your class news pages all echo this randomness (I won't use "chaos," because it, after all, reveals some organization, at least in the contemporary sense).

I predict your nifty design will go the way of all fads in three point two years and we will be left with the feeling of "Hunh, wha' happened?"

The so-called "Post-Modern" home design falls in exactly this same category.

Bah, humbug. Ptuii.

BOULDER, COLORADO

PC Investing

REGARDING ROSS NOVA'S COLumn on College investments in the February issue ["The Campus Takes a Crack at Dartmouth's Portfolio"], is it not the Trustees' primary fiduciary responsibility to invest endowment funds to maximize growth and yield? If political choices in investments cause the College to lessen services to our students or place greater pressure on the annual fundraising efforts, then the losers are not those companies who invest in South Africa or Hydro-Quebec but rather the primary constituencies the students and the alumni. Would the Board be willing to quantify the cost of these politically correct investment decisions?

MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA

IT IS DISHEARTENING TO SEE THAT Dartmouth's investment of $8 million in the Hydro-Quebec Power Generation Development is in the process of being withdrawn. After all, there are 28,000 Cree Indians cooped up in the 410,000 square miles of the largely uninhabited land under discussion. This is seven times the area of all of New England. The Cree tribe in question had been living in degradation and poverty until recently when the activities connected with this power project have brought about a 50 percent increase in tribal numbers and a significant decrease in infant mortality.

While I realize the opponents of this project are, as I am, basically in favor of nuclear power, which will displace no one, this is carrying sensitivity to a ridiculous length. If we truly wish to honor and protect the Native Americans, why not call our teams the "Indians"?

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI

Institutionalized Racism

I WAS SADDENED UPON READING the notice that the name of the program space of Cutter Hall will be officially changed to El Hajj Malik El Shabazz. Twenty years ago I was one of those who had the privilege of living in Cutter Hall (three of four undergraduate years), and I was a very active member of the African-American Society of that day. I attended the meetings, served in the leadership, participated in the demonstrations, and watched the painting of the murals that were acknowledged again on the third of February.

I am saddened because I believe this action signals the institutionalization of racism/separatism at the College, and because it does so by honoring a system of thought that is antithetical to the Judeo-Christian ethic that has made Dartmouth and our nation great.

If the vision of Dartmouth that reached out to me and other minority youth 20 years ago is to be true to us, our people, and the foundations of the College—and if that same vision contemplates the social elevation of racial minorities—it must assist us by a policy of inclusion other than "separate but equal," and a call to consider the great ideas of Judeo-Christian thought deeply.

In my view this was the precise point of failure some 20 years ago. Instead of concentrating on bringing us into the mainstream of campus life, we who needed the challenge of mature minds and stout characters to avail ourselves of the vast resources of the College were allowed to languish in an " African- American" world of our own making. At this point the vision failed, but it need not fail for future generations.

ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI

The Third Party

FOR YOUR INFORMATION, AND for Ross Nova's, the Libertarian Party is the third strongest in the United States ["The Other Presidential Candidate," February.] The Natural Law Party doesn't even come close. Andre Marrou received nearly 300,000 votes for President. He was on the ballot in all 50 states, not just 32. Libertarian candidates for U.S. Senate in 20 states received a total of more than one million votes. New Hampshire now has four Libertarian state representatives.

BOKEELIA, FLORIDA

Kemeny's Legacy

I FEEL A PERSONAL LOSS WITH THE passing of President Kemeny. Without the wisdom and foresight he showed I would not have been allowed to attend Dartmouth. As a poor student from a small, rural, isolated reservation in the western United States I did not fit the typical profile of an Ivy League student. Fortunately this leader had the academic brilliance and humanistic vision to lay the foundation for a new Dartmouth that judged students' potential not by their differences from the norm but by their individual ability to positively contribute to the mythical "Dartmouth Experience." As a Native American at Dartmouth, I, along with the women, international students, the lower economic class, gay students, students of color, and all nontraditional Dartmouth students, owe a debt of gratitude for Kemeny's efforts to shape the Dartmouth Family to reflect the world around him.

The Dartmouth of today has benefited from the ideals of President Kemeny. The strength of Dartmouth rises from the sum of its parts—female and male; rich and poor; multinational and indigenous; alumni and student. The barriers crossed by President Kemeny were only a beginning. He started this institution down a path to a goal we must continue to strive toward.

We must shape the Dartmouth of tomorrow not in our own image or how we remember it when we were there but rather to meet the needs of an ever-changing world. It is a world that is growing constantly closer yet with a continued need to maintain a respect for distinct cultures, languages, and knowledge bases. Acknowledgement of our common humanity and acceptance of our separate identities will honor the sagacious legacy left by President Kemeny. Dartmouth must always seek to listen to the voices crying in the wilderness.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA