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IN A RECENT TWO-PART SERIES, CAM
outlined some of the best ways to encourage
participation in alumni groups
("Spreading the Word,"Alma Matters, January/
February and March/April 2007). I'd
like to address the issue of connectedness
with Cornell from the point of view of the
target--me. I had been at best an indifferent
alumnus, going to regional meetings
rarely and to reunions inconsistently.
What transformed my relationship was
connecting with a specific activity on campus;
in my case, the Friends of the Cornell
Chimes. When I return to Ithaca in the
fall, it is with a purpose: interacting with
Cornellians who have become friends and
who share that purpose, and trudging up
the stairs of the Libe Tower to admire the
skill and athleticism of the students and
alumni who perform on the chimes. I recommend
to my fellow alumni that they
get involved in supporting a specific campus
activity, whether it be the Library, the
Plantations, an athletic team, or the Cornell
Chimes; this makes returns to campus
purposeful, interactive, and exciting.
The other unsung treasure in reconnecting
with our alma mater is Cornell's
Adult University (CAU). The faculty are
enthusiastic and gifted teachers, the participants
are bright and interested in learning,
and the accommodations abroad are
extremely comfortable. As travel, the trips
are fascinating; as learning experiences, they are the way education should
work. If the foreign trips are too
pricey for you, go to a summer session
on campus, with accommodations
that are more modest but less
costly. You won't ask for a refund.
George Ubogy '58
Greenwich, Connecticut
Wrap It Up
AS A FOOD SCIENCE GRADUATE, I
very much enjoyed Beth Saulnier's
cover story about the department
("Eat Up!" May/June 2007). It was
especially gratifying to note the work
done by Julie Goddard '99 on packaging
technology. The best scientifically
developed foods are useless if
they can't be shipped to consumers
in shelf-stable packaging--the food
package is a lot more than a pretty
advertisement sitting on a supermarket
shelf! And during the Korean War, I
was in charge of food rations for the 160th
Regiment, 40th Division, so I well understand
Napoleon's need to "preserve food
for his troops."
Lew Klotz '56
Teaneck, New Jersey
Police Story
CONGRATULATIONS TO SHARON TREGASKIS
'95 for her interesting article on the
Cornell University Police Department("On the Job,"May/June
2007). It brought
back a flood of good memories.
I helped pay for my Cornell education
by working as a student officer for the
then-Cornell University Safety Division. It
was a close-knit group of about twenty
real professionals, and we enjoyed excellent
relations with the FBI, the city police,
and the Tompkins County Sheriff 's Office.
Those four years determined my future.
After graduation, I was hired by the Naval
Investigative Service, now the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS),
and went
on to become the first civilian director of
that federal law enforcement agency.
It appears that the CUPD has grown
with the times and continues to be a premier
law enforcement agency. I will always
be proud of my time at Cornell and even
prouder of the agency that gave me my
start in the business.
J. Brian McKee '61
Malone, New York
Olber-mania
THANK YOU FOR THE EXCELLENT ARTICLE
on Keith Olbermann '79 ("Smart
Bomb,"March/April 2007). Even though
he is nearly alone as a liberal commentator
on the mainstream media among the
likes of such right-wing hate-mongers as
O'Reilly, Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, and
Ann Coulter '84, it is amazing how coverage
of a single newsguy who doesn't slavishly
bow to the Bush-Cheney line draws
the venom of some of your readers (Correspondence,
May/June 2007). Not content
to control the media, they can't tolerate
even a single voice of reason.
Thankfully, such people make up only 28
percent of the American public today.
David Sonenshein '69
Merion, Pennsylvania
Full Circle
AFTER READING YOUR ARTICLE ON
Paul Wolfowitz in July/August 2004, I sent
a letter that was quite critical of Wolfowitz
(Correspondence, September/October
2004). Events have a way of coming full
circle--and Wolfowitz's character flaws proved his undoing at
the World Bank.His
shabby actions on behalf of his girlfriend
brought him down from what should have
been a dream job, paying around $400,000
tax-free and giving him an opportunity to
make a real difference in the world. I am
not proud that this man is a fellow alumnus.
But--stuff happens!
George Miller '50, MBA '55
Deltaville, Virginia
Job Satisfaction
I WAS AMUSED TO SEE THAT BECAUSE
of concern about "the seventy-hour workweek,"
Cornell's Office of Human Resources
will be conducting an experiment
"to see if online exercises designed to
increase gratitude, social skills, character,
and citizenship boost a person's wellbeing,"
and if they do, to "offer these exercises
to the entire Cornell community"
("The Pursuit of Happiness," Currents,
May/June 2007).Why not skip the attitude
manipulation and simply reduce the seventy-
hour work-week?
Felicia Nimue Ackerman '68
Professor of Philosophy, Brown University
Providence, Rhode island
So It Goes
I DREAMT ABOUT KURT VONNEGUT
last night. A lost memory, if not for NPR's
announcement this morning that he had
died. The dream, clouded with gaps and
uncertainties, was enigmatic and beautiful.
I was seven or eight, eagerly digging
through boxes at a book sale. An elderly
man approached; his loose wool sweater
wore his bony frame like a wire hanger;
baggy pants stained with years of coffee
spills--his face reflected an active mind
with a smile that gave me the trust to
engage him like a shy grandson.
My "novel" interest intrigued him.
"Kurt Vonnegut?" he questioned. I
responded, "Yes, he went to Cornell."We
spoke about Vonnegut until I awoke with
the gasp of a student who slept through
his alarm. Halfway through my drive to
campus, I heard that the author in my
dream had died.
Logic defines this dream as random;
recent life experiences organized into a
"sleepy conversation"--a mere coincidence
of thoughts and occurrences. As a
dreamer and a product of a liberal arts education, however, I'll
accept the explanation
of a man reaching out to a fellow
Cornell alumnus, to tease the skeptic, to
consider possibilities of different levels of
the universe, waving while on the road to
something new and wonderful. That's
what I want to believe.
Zachary Weil '04
Miami, Florida
Research Request
I AM SEEKING CORNELL ALUMNI WHO
were members of the Cornell Folk Song
Club in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s for
oral history interviews. I am doing research
on the folk music revival for my PhD dissertation
to be submitted to the Department
of American Civilization at Brown
University. I am particularly interested in
asking why you joined the CFSC, whether
you preferred learning traditional songs or
writing songs of your own, whether you
thought some folk songs and folk singers
were more "authentic" than others,
whether you thought folk songs should be
tools for social change, and--more important--
what folk music meant (and means)
to you. Please email: tachi@ L.chiba-u.ac.jp
if you are willing to participate.
Mikiko Tachi
Associate Professor
Division of International Languages and
Cultures, Faculty of Letters
Chiba University, Japan
Corrections--May/June 2007
"Who Runs Cornell? (Part 2)," Currents,
page 19: The article mentions the "proposed
dismantling of the College of Art,
Architecture, and Planning"; the correct
name of the college, of course, is Architecture,
Art, and Planning.
"The Science of the Very Small,"Currents,
page 27:We identified Professor Carl Batt
as the co-director of Cornell's Nanobiotechnology
Center; he is actually the
co-founder and former co-director.
"A New Song,"Cornelliana, page 112: Laurene
Gilbert, project manager for the refurbishment
of the Song of the Vowels statue,
points out that the height of the original
pedestal was eighty inches (6' 8"), not eight
feet, as the article stated.Also, Professor Jack
Squier,MFA '52, compared the statue to a
Sherman (not German) tank. |
