How Selective?

ANNUAL FUND LETTER RAISES QUESTION

CORNELL ANNUAL FUND CONTRIBUTORS recently received a thank-you letter from Hunter Rawlings, who noted that "Cornell set a new record in admissions this year, with 28,000 applications for this year's entering class of 3,000," and that therefore the Class of 2010 was "the most selective class in the history of Cornell University." It seems to me that Rawlings's conclusion, while probably accurate, is not justified by the facts presented. If admissions accepted all 28,000 and only 3,000 are coming, that would not be very selective. If they accepted only 3,000-or even 3,100- then their selectivity is very impressive.

Lonnie Hanauer '56, MD '60
West Orange, New Jersey

Ed. Note: According to Cornell's official "Profile of the Class of 2010," there were 28,098 applicants, of whom 6,935 were admitted, for an admit rate of 24.7 percent- the lowest in the University's history, and thus the "most selective." Of these, 3,238 enrolled. (For more on the Class of 2010, see page 11.)

Not Horsing Around

CORNELL ALUMNI MAGAZINE IS GREAT -but how about a polo update once in a while? As a polo player, I'm always interested in how the Cornell team is doing.

Kenneth Kuscher '71
Boynton Beach, Florida

Ed. Note: Our apologies for not including a polo wrap-up in the May/June issue. The men's team was 14-6, ending their year with a loss to Texas A&M in the national semifinal match. The Big Red men (and horses) had won the national title in the previous year. The women's squad suffered a similar fate, falling to Colorado State in the national semifinal and finishing with an 8-13 record.

A Lion Roars

YOU PROUDLY BOAST OF NEW YORK-Presbyterian Hospital, "the teaching hospital of Weill Cornell Medical College," placing sixth in the nation in U.S. News & World Report's ranking of America's best hospitals (From the Hill, September/October 2006). In truth, it is the teaching hospital of two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell and Columbia. The strength of this combined institution could perhaps serve as a forerunner of a football powerhouse, the Big Red Lions.We Columbia fans could certainly use such help!

Martin Oster, MD
Columbia College of
Physicians and Surgeons
New York, New York

Ed. Note: Dr. Oster is married to Karen Strauss Oster '70.

Broad Brush

TAGGING THE ISSUE OF RACE AT CORNELL with broad-brush terms does not capture a complex situation (Correspondence, September/October 2006).My own experience allows me to illustrate the point, perhaps. During the agitated period of 1969-71, marked by sit-ins and takeovers, I worked on admissions as a faculty member in Arts and Sciences. COSEP [the Committee on Special Education Projects] had been granted a monopoly on minority admissions, and the activists there were simply not prepared to "waste" scarce places on middle-class black students who, they felt, would surely get into a good college somewhere.Many of us-faculty and admissions staff-worried about losing good applicants, as well as about sending a terrible message to families struggling to overcome barriers and give their children a good start. But we were simply powerless to do anything.

Paul Hohenberg '55, BChemE '56 T
roy, New York

Ed. Note: Paul Hohenberg is professor of economics emeritus at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; he taught at Cornell from 1968 to 1972.