letters

QUOTE/UNQUOTE " The photographs of 9/11 were but what struck me most was how many members of our Dartmouth family were touched by this tragedy." NANCY GREEN OEY '81

Photo Chasers

I read with great interest your montage on Peter McBride '93 ["On the Edge," Jan/Feb]. I was reminded of similarly inclined contemporaries I admired as I toiled through my premedical requirements and classics major. There was Christopher Knight '65, who, with a brave crew, first crossed the Iron Curtain via the mighty Danube tor National Geographic, and later circumnavigated Japan in kayaks. The rest of us went vicariously.

I still hold retired Sports Illustrated photographer Heinz Kluetmeier '65 as one of my special icons. It was his ability to capture not only the Dartmouth experience for the Aegis, but also go out into the world for SI and go to the top of that industry with humility as well as creativity.

Although most of us live lives of quiet desperation, there are always some in every generation who belay for hours to bring back the almost-impossible or crouch under the basket for the shot that will somehow keep the twinkle in our eye.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Casualties of War

I could not let "War and Remembrance" [Jan/Feb] go without comment. Unaware that Dartmouth had done anything to honor the memory of her sons fallen in the Vietnam War, I am appalled at the shabby treatment they receive in the monument described.

This "memorial" appears to consist of a graceless and nondescript hunk of metal hauled off some dump. The tablet over which it looms contains a vapid inscription that could as well refer to some plane crash or tragic earthquake, citing years that have little if any meaning for those under 40 (not to mention future generations), and ending with well-beloved lines of Robert Frost that bear no relationship whatsoever to men who have fallen in combat for their country.

May I suggest that the memorial be given the Hovey Mural treatment: Throw a white sheet over it, to be removed only at the request of a concerned alumnus or suitably cleared passer-by. In the 19th century Dartmouth eventually overcame the stigma of having been led by a Civil Warera president who believed slavery was justified in the Bible. I hope that before the close of the 21st century, Dartmouth will produce a leader courageous enough to pay suitable tribute to all of her sons who gave America their last full measure of devotion. Until then, the 21 brave men of Dartmouth who gave their lives in the Vietnam War will at least be beautifully remembered by an understanding nation at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the national capital.

Scarborough, Maine

Glen Wilson '55, a fighter pilot, was shot down over North Vietnam, spent about seven years as a POW and died following his release and return to the States. Is his name on the memorial plaque? If not, is it possible to put his name on it?

Portland, Oregonjohn@amfibre.com

Mr. Wilson's name does not appear on theplaque, which honors only those alumni killed inaction.

The Editors

Charm School

On page 4 of the Jan/Feb issue the Tuck School advertises that it can "Give your son or daughter a career jumpstart" through a summer cram course for undergraduates on how to apply for jobs. The course supposedly provides "the competitive edge." The business of the College, and of its schools, is to educate young people for life, not for job interviews. The Colleges view should be that competitiveness ought to depend on character and on education, which cannot be developed in a month. Let others run charm schools.

Crested Butte, Coloradopeterbridges@earthlink.net

Boot Camp

The interesting aspect about a body reaching physical exhaustion is that the "boot" response (throwing up) is a function of the nervous system and not of the muscular system ["Workouts From Hell," Jan/Feb]. Granted, the entire neuromuscular set-up requires the interplay between nerve impulses and muscle contractions, but it's because the nervous system is overloaded that an athlete might throw up from exertion. The muscles themselves simply quit—and soon undergo their own radical adaptations—for better or for worse.

New York, New York

Poetic License

The class of '29 column ("The Classes," Jan/Feb] contains a short, thoughtful poem explicitly calling for the deferral of "dreams" of civil rights "while Evil runs amok." I observe with respect that whenever our national response to evil has been to deny the strength of our democratic republic, we have been shamed. Witness detention of American citizens of Japanese descent during World War 11. Witness the McCarthy era. It was President Eisenhower's admonition in 1953 at the graduation of our class that we "not join the book burners" as much as anything else that helped end that sorry episode. We need not diminish that which is an integral part of the greatness of our country. It is precisely our civil rights that our current enemies are attacking. It is precisely their lack of civil rights that has spawned the evil. Let us not give them a victory.

Great Neck, New Yorkwellinvest@aol.com

September 11

Thank you for your issue on September 11 [Nov/Dec]. The photographs were extraordinary, but what struck me most was how many members of our Dartmouth family were touched by this tragedy.

During January and February of 2001,1 wrote and co-produced a documentary on the World Trade Center for the History Channel. My co-producer and I prowled the World Trade Center from its observation deck to the very depths of its foundation. We spoke to historians, engineers, architects and workers. We also shot and collected reels of footage. By the time we finished we had come to appreciate the World Trade Center as an amazing feat of engineering. What surprised us, however, was the number of people who told us how much they loved the complex and enjoyed working there.

I am saddened by the destruction of the World Trade Center, and grieve for those I knew and those I did not who are now gone.

Sherman Oaks, California

What's the Score?

Last fall I received a phone call from my brother, a Princeton man. He was surprised to learn that I didn't know that Princeton had whipped Dartmouth in football—the final game of the season. "Doesn't your alumni magazine keep you informed?" he asked. My reply was, "No." In the Nov/Dec issue, there was nothing about football. The only reference to sports was a nicely presented page covering Nina Kemppel '92, a strong contender for the women's 2002 Olympic ski team ["Continuing Ed"], and mention of a few other candidates for the Olympics ["Seen & Heard"].

Perhaps this is due to the Colleges emphasis on achieving intellectual excellence, and that men's sports have little to contribute to this area. Maybe a person like me is simply out of touch—and football should be outside an intelligent person's sphere of interest.

Newark, New York

For Big Green scores, go to www.dartmouth.edu/athletics/ or call DART-line at (603) 646-3278. For Ivy' League results, seewww.ivyleaguesports.com.

The Editors

Power to the People

In discussing electrical energy you have to get the units right, or you are totally lost. "Dartmouth's Power Surge" [Nov/Dec] states in the text that "Dartmouth used 44 million kilowatt-hours of electricity last year." That is, 44 million kilowatt-hours of electrical energy. The very nice graphic, however, reverted to unthinking blather by calling it "44 million kilowatts of electricity."

By the conventional conversion of 42 gallons (1 barrel) of crude oil yielding 1,700 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy, the 4 million gallons burned (according to the article) are the equivalent of 162 million kilowatt-hours, not just 44 million, so perhaps some of that total energy represents the waste heat in the form of low-energy steam used to heat the dorms.

By way of clarification, does Dartmouth convert all of its energy needs from oil into steam and electricity, or does it also purchase electrical energy from a public utility?

Largo, Floridatradrjim@tampabay.rr.com

Heating plant manager Bill Riehl replies: "In FY2000 the campus consumed44 million kwh ofelectricity. The heating plant cogenerated18,6/6,000 kwh, 42.4 percent of the College'stotal electrical consumption. (The College buysthe rest ofits electricity from a local utility.) TheCollege heating plant is a cogeneration plant,meaning that its primary purpose is to providesteam to campus and that it makes electricityas a byproduct of sending this steam to campus.The statement that 42 gallons of oil can produce1,700 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy is truewhen you do a simple conversion of the BTUcontent of oil to kwh. In our plant, however, wemake steam with fuel oil in our boilers at about85 percent efficiency. About 90 percent of thatsteam goes through our turbine generators (10percent is used in power plant processes) to makethe cogenerated electricity. Last year we cogenerated 94 percent of the electricity possible basedon our total steam delivered to campus. Thereare many factors that dictate the way we run theplant, and I regularly provide tours of thefacilityto anyone who would like to learn more aboutour operations."

Civil Unions Strife

The Beth robinson article("A Civil Action," July/August] reminded me of an interesting 2nd-century Jewish legal source. Sifrah, Sec. 8, discusses Leviticus 18:3: "Do not do like the deeds of the land of Egypt in which you dwelled; in their laws, you shall not walk." Says the source: "And what did they [the Egyptians] do? A man would marry a man, and a woman, a woman; a man would marry a woman and her daughter, and a woman would marry two [men]."

The source deals with legal affirmation of relationships through marriage, rather than with the relationships themselves. Could this be the real issue underlying todays controversy over same-sex weddings?

Most Americans would agree that our private lives should not be overly subject to societal scrutiny. On the other hand, the public legitimization and advocacy of behavior that is antithetical to longstanding traditional values might not be wise policy for a modern, healthy society.

Jerusalem, Israelyisraelr@atomica.com

Wallace Rusterholtz '31 ("Letters," ters," Jan/Feb] rightly invokes the master teacher, but to press the lofty ethic of Jesus, free of interpretive discipline, into the service of a same-sex politic, is to go considerably beyond Jesus's intention. The command to "love one another" in the terms Jesus used (that exalted Christian concept known as agape) does not apply to sexual expression (Greek eros) of any type. Under agape, men in fact are commanded to love men, and women women, and to love all of them, not just "good" men and women, as Mr. Rusterholtz suggests. But how (or if) the sexes should engage erotically is outside the scope of Jesus's saying. That is a question to be addressed on other grounds.

Denver, Coloradolgregg@den rescue, org

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