Letters

QUOTE/UNQUOTE "I had the good fortune to listen to yet another of Stan [Waterman]'s underwater travelogues in the early 1970s, It was, as just about everything Stan does, exceptional!" —JIM NO YES '68

Keeping Faith

"FINDING GOD AT DARTMOUTH" [May/June] says, "Nine varieties of Christians, as well as Muslims, Jews, Baha'is, Buddhists and Hindus worship on campus." This is certainly strong recognition in a school famous for an emphasis on liberal arts in education—indeed religious tolerance. I longed for statistics comparing Dartmouth to other schools but was left with a kaleidoscope confirming that "some, at best a few, religious students feel set apart from the mainstream Dartmouth life," also that "virtually all of them feel respected for their beliefs." God bless both types for their support and for their witness to each other. This is what makes up a moral majority in a free society.

Wellington, Florida

AT MY COMMENCEMENT PRESIDENT Dickey gave us,4 Dartmouth Chronicle. On page 162 President Hopkins wrote: "It is still not to be forgotten that our colleges were founded and sustained through years of drastic toil by men of religious fervor, who, in self-sacrifice, literally gave their lives for the perpetuation of institutions designed no less for spiritual inspiration than for intellectual command." Now it is reported that 25 religious groups have campus advisors.

It reminds me of the student who, fed up with Hanover winters, decided to go to Orlando. At Logan he bought a ticket and checked for the gate. To his alarm, the sign said Gates 25 to 50. At Gate 25 he asked: "Is this the flight to Orlando?" A man replied, "I'm not sure, I want to go there too, but we will just have to wait for more information." At Gate 32: "It should go there and I hope it will." At Gate 40:"I know it goes there because last week I dropped off my friend here." At Gate 44, an elderly gentleman: "Yes, my son, I know these things—the flight to Orlando will be leaving from all gates." At Gate 50, no one answered—there were just blank stares.

Voxclamantis in deserto is our heritage-with with reference to Jesus Christ as Lord God, the way" through which all must pass to heaven. There is one gate. You can find it. Don't be confused. Heaven will be better than Orlando.

New Canaan, Connecticut

THE BAHA'I FAITH MAY BE SMALL (about 6 million followers worldwide), but there are those who love it. It was gratifying to see that a Baha'i study group is active in Hanover. While followers of Baha'u'llah have no churches, we do have houses of worship: the six temples on six continents, with a seventh about to be built in Chile.

The nine sides of our temples are significant in that "9" symbolizes completion fulfillment. We believe the coming of Baha'u'llah has fulfilled all the previous divine revelations. Yes, there are nine extant faiths, but there have been countless more in ages past. Baha'u'llah has laid out the blueprint for the next level of world civilization.

Boston

Head Above Water

MY FATHER, ELLIE NOYES '32, WHO coached track and cross-country from 1932 to 1969, told great stories about Stan Waterman 46 ['A Life Overboard," May/June]. Stan was an extraordinary runner and an equally extraordinary character. Perhaps the most memorable was the story about Stan driving the Maine coast with his fiancee, Suzy, and future mother-in-law when he spotted some commercial fishing vessels, inquired as to their sailing plans, bought a toothbrush and some extra clothes—and signed on as a mate, leaving the ladies to their own devices. This story may have been embellished over time but I think I have it right.

in the early 19705. It was, as just about everything Stan does, exceptional!

Wheaton, Illinois

THE ARTICLE ON STAN WATERMAN brought back memories of cross-country runs through the Vale of Tempe and up the spiral staircase on our golf course. The author captured The Man, but failed to mention that Waterman was our cross-country captain in the late 1940s and probably the best runner in the Ivy League in our day. He had a Cadillac convertible in which he installed a bell to greet pedestrians as he passed, with a wry smile on his face.

Brevard, North Carolina

Lessons Learned

THANK YOU FOR "BORDER PATROL" about professor Lourdes Gutierrez Najera's "Welcome to America" class that studies the U.S.-Mexico border and problems related to immigrants, 11 million illegal aliens among them.

The professor says her students laugh through the screening of the 1991 film Natives: Immigrant Bashing on the Border, and I can understand how 3,000 miles and a nice seat in a $35,000-a-year college in rural New Hampshire can make this subject so entertaining. However, as a 40-year resident of California who has worked in the violence of our emergency rooms, read the crime reports, watched our schools and hospitals slowly go broke, and seen the infrastructure of the Central Valley (Sacramento to Bakersfield) become dysfunctional, I have to say this isn't funny.

Professor Gutierrez asks: "Should these immigrants be denied health care and education because they aren't citizens?" I ask: "Should the taxpayers buy these perks for illegal aliens when they are not even given to the rest of us?"

"Xenophobia" may seem "absurd" to students in Hanover, but to those of us who have watched our nation guard the Korean border for more than 50 years, the neglect of our own southern border stands as a political failure, of not only our own nation but Mexico as well.

The politician who grabs this issue and brings it into the light will be pilloried and shamed as racist, but even the legal, kind, patriotic and hard-working former Mexicans such as Professor Gutierrez know that the situation cannot much longer go on unchallenged.

Twain Harte, California

Weighing In

I AM GLAD DAM PUBLISHES ARTICLE about complex, flawed individuals. It's interesting to read about a variety of alumni and how their Dartmouth experience may have influenced their lives. If the magazine contained only positive stories of happy, successful alumni, as some letter writers suggested, it would be much less interesting and I would be less likely to read it.

Keep up the good work.

Atlanta, Georgia

RememberingBryan Randall '88 In response to reader suggestions that Dartmouth alumni start a fund to benefit the surviving children of Bryan Randall ["Coming Undone," Jan/Feb], DAM has been in touch with the Randall family and learned that a Randall Children Contribution Trust already exists. Donations, made payable to Randall Children Contribution Trust, may be mailed to DAM, Attention: Randall Trust, Suite 201, 7 Allen Street, Hanover, NH 03755 for forwarding to the trust. "Lisa and the boys are doing well," says Randall's high school teammate Jim Kwitchoff, who is now an assistant basketball coach at the University of Buffalo. "Julian and Regal are happy, healthy and quite active. Lisa is appreciative of the concern for Bryan's children shown by his Dartmouth family."

Write to Us We welcome letters. The editor reserves the right to determine the suitability of letters for publication and to edit them for accuracy and length. We regret that all letters cannot be published, nor can they be returned. Letters should run no more than 200 words in length, refer to material published in the magazine and include the writer's full name, address and telephone number. Write: Letters, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine, 7 Allen Street, Suite 201, Hanover, NH 03755 E-mail: DAMletters@dartmouth.edu Fax: (603) 646-1209