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Comments and Opinions from University of Miami Alumni and Friends |
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FIRST WORDS “There is no sense in living in Miami and having the same education you would have in the middle of Nebraska.” This quote published recently in The Miami Herald is from Ambler Moss, director of the North-South Center at the University of Miami. Moss was making a case for international studies and foreign language programs at Miami-Dade public schools, but his words carry a deeper message about the value of living and learning in a culturally diverse environment. In its annual guide to the nation’s best 345 colleges, The Princeton Review this year ranked the University of Miami sixth among colleges where students of different racial and financial backgrounds interact. The significance of this honor is not the demographic variety of our student body; many colleges can claim the same. It’s the fact that UM is a place where students use their differences to understand and appreciate a medley of cultures on a personal level—without fear, threat, or anger. A quality education in today’s global marketplace requires the kind of cultural interaction that attracts students like 18-year-old Devi Sridhar, the youngest-ever U.S. Rhodes scholar, to the University of Miami. Growing numbers of top-tier students are choosing to be at this hub of heterogeneity, a place where french fries are still called “french fries” and people of different nationalities are colleagues, not allies or adversaries. Despite our nation’s heightened suspicion of the motives and mores behind its international faces, the University of Miami must continue to be a model for the kind of patriotism that embraces, not alienates, differences in ancestry as well as opinion. —Meredith Danton |
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JUDGMENTS ARE IN
My life changed and handed me new responsibilities as a single mom with a full-time job and new ministry. If you visited a mall during the holiday season, you may have noticed an Angel Tree. This is a Ministry of Prison Fellowship to reach out to the nearly two million children in the United States whose parent or parents are incarcerated, children who are in many ways the saddest casualties of crime. People often do not think about this situation until they or a loved one is incarcerated or excessively sentenced. But, in a way, the family, friends, and other loved ones are “doing time” on the outside. Today I look at life differently and think I have been blessed. I stop to listen to the birds. I stop to watch my son play. I listen to others patiently and pray for them. I will conquer this fight with my Lord on my side. Name Withheld It is entirely appropriate for Miami magazine to report on efforts within the University to overturn erroneous criminal conviction, especially those invoking capital punishment (“Errors in Judgment,” Fall 2002). But, it is highly inappropriate to lace this commentary with condescending remarks implying that capital punishment itself is unjustified. The second sentence in the article sets the tone: “You might want an eye for an eye, a life for a life,” in other words, vengeance. This is insulting to supporters of the death penalty who seek justice and peace for collateral victims. Why should a son whose father was brutally murdered have to contemplate the murderer living in prison, eating turkey on Thanksgiving, working out in a gym, maybe even studying law? What is the basis for the writer’s claim that “public support for the death penalty has pressured prosecutors to aggressively seek it”? Regardless, I hope they continue to seek it aggressively for the sake of justice. Robert B. Frary, M.A. ’61
What a fine publication you have in Miami magazine! Congratulations for bringing due recognition to the work of T. Nejat Veziroglu (“Fuel for Thought,” Fall 2002). He is a brilliant, tireless worker for his goal of a hydrogen economy. Geraldine D. Rasmussen, B.M. ’47 I’d like to add a few important points to the article about hydrogen research: Success indicates that gas production will be steady until 2011. After 2011, production will start a downslide as existing oil fields and new, smaller strikes around the world dry up. Demand will increase quickly as supply quickly decreases and countries stop exporting and start hoarding. If you do the math, you will come up with the following: We will need to be a hydrogen economy no later than 2020. In other words, kids born in 2002 will be entering college when gas is about $16 per gallon and more than 50 percent of available reserves are dry. By 2028, gas will exceed $1,000 per gallon. By 2040, reserves will be dry. Could I be wrong? You bet! I was conservative with the inflation rate. The bottom line is simple: When it costs too much for gas, the other sources will take over. We need all the alternatives—hydrogen and fusion, geothermal, wind, and solar, but fusion will need to be online to make the hydrogen we will need to keep the world rolling. Joe Fabian, B.S.E.E. ’72 DEGREES OF FULFILLMENT This article shows that no matter what your daily life entails, returning for a degree in your later years is worth every bit as much as getting a degree fresh out of high school. Mistaken Identity I enjoyed seeing your article about the Sixties course taught by Drs. Bowen and Spivey (“That ’60s Course,” Fall 2002). However, there was an error. Although I was an anti-Vietnam-war activist, I was not a member of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). I viewed that group as antithetical to our goal of winning the hearts and minds of the American people. Their radicalism was counterproductive. David L. Wilson |
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Letters: We welcome your letters. All letters must be signed (your name will not be printed if you so request in writing) and may be edited for clarity and space. Address letters to: Meredith Danton, |
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HIGH ON HYDROGEN
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