The Grinnell Magazine welcomes your letters regarding the contents of the magazine or issues related to the College. All letters should include the author's name and address, and may be edited for length, content, or style. As many letters as space allows will be published in The Grinnell Magazine; additional letters will be posted here.

Letter to the Editor
The Grinnell Magazine
September 4, 2008

Grinnell-Sponsored Foolishness

Why is it necessary to devote college resources to promote extreme ideological positions? I refer to the article published in the Grinnell Magazine (Summer, 2008) entitled The Climate Diet. This was basically a book promotion and advocacy for the theory called "global warming." Certainly there is a time and place for discussion of this scientific hypothesis, but no one should be endorsing it as fact, and it is inappropriate content in this form for the college publication.

Only the Almighty knows for certain whether the earth is warming, cooling or in equilibrium. What, you say? You thought the case for global warming had been proven? No, for the reasons set forth below, we have been victimized by extremists who have their own agendas. Remember the old adage "follow the money?" Follow the thread of global warming back to those who benefit the most from this hoax. Meanwhile,

1. Scientific data is inconclusive as to whether the earth is warming, cooling, or just behaving normally. The oceans appear to be cooling. Air temperatures in some parts of the globe are running warmer than normal, others cooler than normal. Some glaciers are receding; others are thickening. But trying to extrapolate a few years of data and local measurements is a dangerous and foolish thing to do. Think about it – we are limited to 50-100 years of data in a climate cycle of over 100,000 years. That is like driving an unfamiliar mountain highway and predicting where it leads 5000 miles away.
2. The point is, we don't understand the macro climatic changes that are at work so we can't possibly know what lies ahead. The earth's climate has never been stable, has witnessed countless hot cycles and ice ages, and is not likely to stabilize for many millenniums to come. We do know that "normal" is to have 1.5 km of ice permanently covering most of the northern hemisphere (including Grinnell). And we know that the sunspot cycle is at a 11-yr minimum and much quieter than normal, possibly portending a mini ice age in our near future (normally a 3-yr lag). In fact, one could argue that a colder climate would put much more stress on agriculture, energy and the earth's inhabitants than a warmer climate. Yikes – be careful what you ask for!
3. To suggest than "man" is responsible for global climate change or can somehow alter the global climate defies common sense. The huge natural forces at work (sun, ocean, earth) are on a scale we can't easily comprehend
4. "Greenhouse" gases are bad? We know that plants (including crops) thrive on carbon dioxide. Plants in turn generate oxygen, and animals thrive on oxygen. When the dinosaurs roamed the earth (100 million years ago), the climate was significantly warmer and CO2 levels were 5 times the level of today. Plants thrived and so did the dinosaurs.
5. Supposedly God entrusted the earth to man to safeguard the environment. As the head of the food chain, we have such responsibility. But is it wise to endanger the human race in the process?

Of Ink and Point Size

After each issue of The Grinnell Magazine arrives, I compose this letter in my head. I've engaged in this activity ever since the format began to feature a tiny font size and pale ink, which means I've been at this silent composition business for a number of years. I've never actually written to you before, however, because the magazine was garnering awards for its design, including all the white space, and I thought nobody would care that an alumna wished to trade some of that space for larger, darker print.

There have been many fascinating, informative stories that I've had to skip entirely because attempts at reading them were simply too fatiguing, and I would put the magazine aside, never to return. The Winter 2007 issue had an especially large number of intriguing stories, which I was determined to read, so I forged ahead, eyes twitching and stinging all the way. And, with completion of that read, I decided it was finally time to write in protest.

Many publications come into our house, and I find that only The Grinnell Magazine is such a challenge for me to read. I wear corrective lenses and have aging eyes, but otherwise no particular vision trouble. I have to believe that if I have these problems, there are others as well who find the narrative difficult to read. I have to believe, too, that the editorial staff can continue to win design awards and can also win the gratitude of many of us readers by providing more legible print. I urge you to embrace a "louder" typeface.

Thanks very much for your attention to this request.

— Barbara Benda Jenkins '64
Pelham, Mass.

Editor's Note: We use standard black ink and an industry standard typeface and size (10-point Goudy).

A Remarkable Woman
I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Ms. Edith Renfrow Smith '37 at the president's reception during the College reunion. In the short time I spent speaking with her, I realized quickly what a remarkable woman she is. It was absolutely an honor to meet her; at age 91, I believe, she was as sharp as any recent Grinnell graduate. I am sure I will be seeing her again at the 2012 cluster reunion.

— Ron Medvin '73

Welcoming Diversity
Just a short note to thank you for the articles on "Dear Soldier" and "Coming Out as a Republican." From the previous issues of The Grinnell Magazine and especially its predecessor, I had concluded that all compassion for our military and all conservative political ideology had been expunged from the Grinnell campus. Virtually all of the articles were from a liberal or extreme liberal viewpoint.

You have added some welcome diversity to the magazine. Given the cultural climate at Grinnell, this took courage on your part.

I will forward you a message that I have sent to the Pioneer Fund with regard to hostility and discrimination against students who hold our military in high regard, and those who hold conservative beliefs.

Best wishes for continued success!

— David White '60
Fort Worth, Texas

Bravo
For the first time, I felt compelled to write to The Grinnell Magazine, awed by the current Grinnell student Amanda Spiegel's Student Musings. Amanda — your piece is marvelous — so creative and enlivening. You took well-known events or icons or inventions, all linked by Grinnellians, including your mother and father, making me so proud to have attended Grinnell. I would be so proud to have you as a daughter and that you have chosen "my" school. Bravo. I look forward to seeing more from you.

— Louisa Powell Livingston '64
New York, N.Y.

Dismay
Today, the spring issue of The Grinnell Magazine arrived. If I feel dismay at the continuing direction of Grinnell into the vortex of liberalism, I am comforted by the lonely observations of Messrs. White and Bates.

The tragedy is that today's Grinnell has increasingly manufactured students with political identities indistinguishable from one another. The creation of political clones does not honor any school. But while the partisanship is disturbing, it is the homogeneity that appalls. A 90 percent support for Mr. Kerry is disappointing, not because he is a cleverly manipulative fool, but because it shows a lemming-like unanimity. I would be equally disturbed if they were all conservatives, but the faculty is the guardian of that avoidance. Surely something is seriously wrong when substantially no one possesses a different vision. A herd view, particularly of an educated herd, is unfortunate because it is the view only of something from an assembly-line.

Ninety percent votes smacks of Hitlerian Germany, and historically liberals have opposed fascism and supported individuality. Surely such identicality of political views is a sad conformism. Good minds should not have uniforms. The creation of the identicality of political views is the first step. The next is intolerance, and the text of Messrs. White and Bates supports that thesis. Neither identicality of thought, nor its bloodline, intolerance, are Grinnell traditions, nor representative of a Grinnellian view. It seems diversity at Grinnell stops at the political door.

Where are the iconoclasts? Those blessed nonconformists who have given us so much in religion and elsewhere? I wrote a book about liberalism and conformity at Grinnell in my day. The prophet of nonconformity in thought and action at Grinnell was a teacher at the College who influenced several generations of Grinnellians, and whose observations appear in that non-influential book. He lies as dead in the cemetery there as do his ideas in the student body and faculty.

So we have a new and revealing concept abroad at Grinnell. Conformity. That has not been in the tradition of liberalism. Conformity in all areas has historically been opposed by the liberals. What has happened? Have the liberals won and now the revolution in thought and action has arrived? What about the historic clash of ideas in places of learning? Instead of collisions of ideas, we have such conformity such that 90 percent of the students hold the same electoral views. It is not a comforting augury.

The world of tomorrow will not come from conformist ideologies. They do not serve well. They hinder and destroy. And they are not driven by the genuine Grinnell tradition.

— David Hammer '51
Dubuque, Iowa

Electoral College Reform
As a 1956 graduate of Grinnell, I read with great interest the reprinted article, "College Dropouts," by Ben Weyl and Brendan Mackie, which appeared in the Spring 2007 issue of The Grinnell Magazine.

You may be interested that Maryland has recently taken the lead in the clever way mentioned in the article that tries to circumvent the unfair representation that the Electoral College provides. In [a recent] issue of The Washington Post, columnist, E.J. Dionne Jr. addresses this issue and clearly points out that an electoral vote in Wyoming has nearly four times the value of a vote in California. No matter how the electors are selected, however, they may exercise their conscience in selecting a president despite the advice of a popular choice.

It seems more appropriate that the U.S. Constitution should be amended to abolish the Electoral College in favor of a national popular election in which each voter has a weight of one vote no matter where he lives. Past generations amended the U.S. Constitution to abolish slavery. We must amend the Constitution to honor our current sense of "one person, one vote," which is not embodied in the Electoral College. Now most states assign all their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote, allowing the winner to take all the electoral votes in these states respectively. The fewer the number of persons who actually exercise their vote in a state, the more weight they have. In a national popular election, each voter would have the same weight, no matter how many voted.

Besides the general election, the primary election of the U.S. president also needs to be reformed. All Americans should have the same chance to vote for the nominee of their choice in the primaries. That could be accomplished through the use of a uniform ballot of candidates in a primary election held on the same day in every state. Many people don't get the chance to vote for their choice. Voters in states with early primaries get a longer list of candidates from which to choose, because only the top two or three vote-getters in early primaries survive to participate in later primaries.

All the candidates should have an equal opportunity in having a basic presentation broadcast to the voters. Public funding could be used for such broadcasting and for allowing the candidates to participate in question and answer forums that would be televised several times in all 50 states. Is it necessary that candidates visit each state? Whether voters live on the East Coast, West Coast, or in the Midlands, most of them would view the candidates on television or read about them in newspapers.

— Ralph Krause '56
Bethesda, Md.

What Have We Learned?

Grinnell represents a new, post-patriotism society where one's loyalties reside with the "world," not nasty corporations, political parties, or nation states, and where, with sufficient education, one can rise above crassly narrow backgrounds. Assuming, of course, there is someone else to fund and defend one. Let us consider the most recent issue of The Grinnell Magazine, superb in the quality of its paper, color photography, and candor. Inside the front cover is an article "Déjà Vu in a Whisper," … concerned with "how governments can abuse citizens, silence dissenters, and rob us all of our essential liberties. Bush equals Nixon, Iraq equals Vietnam. The author ends with the ominous and true observation, "Those who don't understand their history are doomed to repeat it." … I think we have, hopefully, learned, at the cost (to others) of 2 million Cambodians in the killing fields, half a million boat people, etc. (Historical facts are ugly things.) … On page six, we find two young women in the class of '08 who have "taken a stand" against the genocide in Darfur. They have "organized and executed a letter writing campaign and a campus-wide die-in, and they sent representatives to a springtime demonstration in Des Moines." They, evidently, have not learned much yet. The major article celebrates Joseph Welch ['14], an alumnus who should be considered a hero by all Americans. McCarthy was an alcoholic bully, some of his counsel … were thoroughly distasteful human beings, and their behavior unworthy. Why then, should we bring the article up? Because "what have we learned" since that time, primarily via … encoded Soviet correspondence regarding espionage in the United States, that … McCarthy was basically correct in his assumptions regarding Soviet spies in the United States and the U.S. government. … Such an acknowledgment would make a useful footnote in any discussion of the Army/McCarthy hearings. … Henry-York Steiner ['56] is featured in an article on page 36. Not much mention of the good work he did for President Leggett and the College during difficult times …. Steiner is an alumnus Grinnell can be proud of. Finally, there is a delightful discussion "Diversity on the Dating Scene" by someone named Carly Shuna '06. She is clever, funny, and insightful. Would be a fun person to know. Talks about something she terms "polyamorous relationships." No wonder Grinnell is popular.

- Richard Kuiper
Fairfax, Va.

On "Dr. C"
How wonderful for you to print and for Hanghang Wang to write the inspiring piece on Ken Christiansen. … Nearly 50 years ago, Hanghang Wang's "Dr. C" was Kenny Christiansen, biology professor, faculty adviser, and faculty friend to Cowles Hall. The vitality and enthusiasm for life, exploration, and learning sounds like the same wonderful fellow from the '50s. A familiar sight was Kenny riding his bicycle to class across campus with a woolen sport coat, the ever present large green neck scarf, and his green Princeton book bag slung over his back, rain or snow. In those days, few students and professors rode bicycles, and Kenny would cheerfully be waving hellos and how are yous to students - always cheerful, open and engaging. When most of us from 40 or 50 years ago see Kenny Christiansen at our class reunions, where he always has a special invitation to attend (and he always does), he is the same loving, quick-witted, friendly guy. His joyful flashing eyes are alert to everything that is transpiring around him, and he calls us by our names or nicknames from 50 years ago. "Well, look at you, you old 'Uncle Remus.'" "How are you? You still shrinking heads?" "And how's your old roomie, 'The Weitz ?' How about Johnny Copeland? Is Cope here?" "Where's Noldy?" Kenny Christiansen and his lovely and gracious wife always had their wonderful old home open to the students for home-cooked meals or cookies and wonderful evenings or afternoons of stimulating conversation and hilariously good times. Kenny Christiansen is the personification of a great professor, mentor, intelligent adviser, and friend. He and the president of Grinnell at that time, Howard Bowen, have remained two of the most inspiring and respected men in many of our lives for more than half a century. Leaders, administrators, and advisers like these men are what make the Grinnell experience unique.

- Bob "Uncle Remus" Clark '59
Tonasket, Wash.

On S.P. Zitner
Professor Kissane achieved something very remarkable in his tribute to Professor S.P. Zitner in the summer issue of The Grinnell Magazine. I had the good luck to be a student in Professor Zitner's Shakespeare course in the fall of 1960. He really held all the students in his thrall for an hour and a half each class session, as he peeled back the motivations of the characters in the plays. As formidable as his intellect was, he still seemed very approachable, as he revealed a twinkle in his eye from time to time and told us more than once he was more concerned with our coming away from the course with a lasting desire to read Shakespeare in coming years than that year's class performance. He was a great teacher. Professor Kissane did justice to his blessed memory. … Thanks for your work with the magazine. The piece "Justice for All" was particularly impressive. It struck a chord with me, as a now retired federal government attorney, who, over more than 30 years, filed innumerable grievances and unfair labor practice charges against my employer, the National Labor Relations Board(!).

- David Nixon '61
Overland Park, Kan.

Jim Kissane, in his tribute to Sheldon Zitner in the summer 2005 issue of The Grinnell Magazine, had it exactly right. Zitner was a lightening strike in a placid landscape. The whole experience of Grinnell for me, 1955-59, was an extraordinary opening up. I remember Presisdent Howard Bowen's maiden address to students at the opening convocation, in which he described a liberal education in a way that has defined "liberal" for me ever since - meaning the exploration of mind, the deflating of prejudice. I had wonderful teachers. Jim Kissane himself was one, the only one I'm still in touch with. Joe Wall, Alan Jones ['50], Kenneth Christiansen, Evelynn Boyd, Luke Luckenbill, and others made deep impressions. I was "a girl from a little mining town in the West," as the radio soap opera, Our Gal Sunday, put it. (I listened when I was occasionally sick in bed, but that was enough to follow the plot and remember how absorbing it and other soap operas were.) I had grown up in Ogden, Utah, and was probably admitted to Grinnell as a kind of regional affirmative action student. Before I left Ogden for Grinnell, my father advised me not to worry about grades. I had four years in front of me, he explained, to explore ideas and I'd never have it again. With his permission and the array of superb teachers, I blossomed intellectually. I took Zitner classes in Shakespeare, the metaphysical poets, and possibly Milton and poetry writing. They were extraordinary. Sheldon illuminated the Shakespeare plays by close analysis of particular passages that opened up the entire play. He did so with acerbic wit and precision. He taught me how my mind encountered the written word and at least tolerated my own poetic effusions. I also associate him with Friday afternoon coffee hours held in what was then a men's dorm parlor; discussions by faculty of the great world of politics and citizenship; and a series of Bread-and-Circus conversations at various faculty houses about literary and worldly matters. All of these encounters were good examples of the way a liberal education should work, challenging, shocking, jarring, waking. I became friends with Sheldon and his wife, Dona, and stayed in touch for a few years after I graduated and went to the graduate school - Brandeis University - he'd urged. I'm sorry he has died and enormously grateful for my brief encounter with him at Grinnell.

- Liane Ellison Norman '59
Pittsburgh, Pa.

On Harry Hopkins and Iraq
Bill Baar's ('76) letter made my day. A liberal arts education and brave leadership in difficult times are both invaluable. Harry Hopkins declaration to Churchill brought a tear to my eye as well. Like Bill, I hope that we will be with the Iraqis until the end. Tony Blair, Winston Churchill, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Hopkins ['12] all remind us that the need for courage and resolution is eternal. Thanks for the ongoing education.

- Joe Kingma '78
Atlanta, Ga.

Back to Iraq
I certainly hope that in the interest of free speech and intellectual diversity you will print points of view that differ from your article on Iraq in the Spring Issue. For instance, opinions of representatives from U.S. Labor Against the War (Bush's stand against union organizing [is] as bad as Hussein's), of anti-war Democrats, Green Party members, the views of some military families, and Lynn Woolsey's resolution on withdrawal.
-Alice Rogoff '71
San Francisco, Calif.

Your articles featuring a congressman from "a conservative district" and a "former Republic congressman" read like justification for failed initial planning. And … no one talks about the unprecedented massive level of death and maiming. And here is something else they miss. Right-wingers talk endlessly about their bogus economic theory, which features the phrase "trickle down." Now they have a new version happening before their eyes and being ignored-trickle down budget imbalance and shortages. This selectively munificent administration raises any budget item related to defense and lowers any budget item that has redeeming social value. Then, states and local governments run short of money for services once partially funded by the federal government. Thus, all these services are eventually cut. The result will be a well-protected country with a wall around it, filled with a citizenry of uneducated, unhealthy, unmotivated dolts. The only job most will be qualified for is running for office.
-Roger J. Crotty '54
Cincinnati, Ohio

A War of Words
… Are you actually telling your readers that the Associated Press Stylebook won't "let" you name a group if that name contains the word "pro-life"? The late Dean Evelyn Gardner, shaper of young women and arbiter of good manners in my day, must be turning in her grave at such rude behavior. Aside from the dangers of uncritical application of any guidelines, … [I believe] that the Associated Press is notoriously "pro-abortion." We can expect that their perspective on the definition of "straightforward" and "unbiased" is in itself neither straightforward nor unbiased. Turn to page 26 of the same issue where David Mura '74 writes that he and his wife found Grinnell to be "a school for those who liked to make their own road maps, for smart kids who didn't always toe the line." Let us hope Grinnell is still a school for that kind of smart kid. The Grinnell Magazine, at least, seems to have chosen another path by opting to toe the political correctness line. Those of us alumni who are also pro-life are cheering on the Grinnell Pro-Life Group.
-Mary A. Wilson Jocums '60
Nampa, Idaho

I am not an alumnus. I am merely a town person who reads your magazine whenever I see it. I was reading "The Last Word" in the Spring 2005 issue, and your response to Ms Geddes, Pro-Life Group co-leader. You pointed out that you follow the AP's stylebook by using "anti-abortion" and "pro-abortion." You might want to question your use of those terms because they perpetuate a divide that does not need to be the chasm it currently is. For example, I would describe myself as "pro-life," not "anti-abortion." What does that mean? Aren't the two the same? I believe that women need to be given the choice as to whether they have an abortion or not. But that does not mean automatically saying, "Oh, you don't want your child, have an abortion." Instead, we need to examine why women have abortions and address those issues or needs. If it is a concern about not wanting to raise a child, then we need to make adoption available. If it is health concerns, then we need to make prenatal care available. If it is because the sperm donor does not want the woman to have a child, we need to address that issue (I have known several women who wanted the child, but the man did not). There are also economic, inconvenience, and other issues, which we need to address to support a decision for life, but if a woman ultimately, wants an abortion, that is her choice. Pro-life is not the same as anti-abortion.
-William Crosby
Grinnell, Iowa

Plans Rule
I just picked up The Grinnell Magazine the other day, and I noticed a short blurb about the Facebook website. With all due respect, I'm curious as to why you included it. It is functionally and socially irrelevant to the campus and alumni community, and was founded by a Harvard student. On the other side of the coin, the Plans weblog system was designed by Rachel Heck '01 and is heavily used by the students, alumni, and faculty of Grinnell College. It is designed specifically for the Grinnell community and maintained entirely by Grinnell students, and I find it somewhat odd that you would write about Facebook when a system so prominent in recent Grinnell culture has been ignored. In any case, I strongly recommend that you look at the website (www.grinnellplans.com) if you have not already done so. I hope that in the future the alumni community can learn more about this unique aspect of recent Grinnell life.
-Jonathan Horowitz '04
Cambridge, Mass.

The Perversity of Plagiarism

I read and enjoyed [the article on plagiarism] in the alumni magazine. Despite the far greater resources today, it appears that a writing assignment in college today is tougher than it was in my time-40 years ago. Maybe it is some kind of payback for the invention of the word processor. I will admit that your piece incited my curmudgeonly nature to [mutter], "The darn woman is too darn understanding,' or "Look at her: she puts her sidebars right in the text." But on further reflection, taking plagiarism seriously is hardly the slack student's idea of "understanding." And even more, "She puts her sidebars right in the text" is a heck of a lot better that putting them in sidebars and hence avoiding that modern question: when am I supposed to read the sidebar? So I put my skepticism aside and conceded a "Well crafted for the job at hand." The "well crafted" is too often taught pro forma in college, and varying it for the "job at hand" seems at times to have escaped notice. When most of us write about what we know intimately, we do fairly well. If we know it, the organization is understood, albeit not always explicitly. The idiom is imbued in the stories and talk from our experience. The pace is what judgment and perspective we have on what we know. This has little to do with college essay type writing, for how much does a 17-year-old know? One of my favorite examples of good writing is by poorly educated, English-as-a-second-language writer named Hashim Khan, who was also a world champion squash player. Try "Squash Racquets." Of course, I like that as a contrast to the writing world of government reports and legal testimony I live in (which, alas, your students are more likely to write in than something akin to Mr. Khan's). Anyway, I wish you and your students that best wherever they write.
-Marty Ringo '65
Concord, N.H.

I was pleased to learn in Judy Hunter's article "The Perversity of Plagiarism" of the commitment Grinnell's faculty and staff make to teach the norms of scholarly writing. Too few institutions ensure that their students (and faculty, I might add) know how to avoid plagiarizing and penalize those who still do misuse sources. This summer I wrote in the Chronicle of Higher Education that I was nearly a plagiarist's victim. A graduate student presented my doctoral dissertation as his own three years after I received my degree. When I brought this to his university's attention, they revoked his degree and alerted the other university that had hired him. He lost his degree, job, and reputation. Dozens of people from all around the world wrote to tell me similar stories of outrageous theft and to congratulate me for insisting upon reclaiming my work. Many stories made me feel fortunate that my case was resolved so quickly to my satisfaction. I learned two lessons. First, plagiarism is extremely seductive. For the desperate or devious writer, copying is simply so much easier than thinking, collecting data, and writing. For the professor/editor/grantor, ignoring suspicions or accusations is, in the short term at least, far easier and (apparently) less embarrassing than ensuring a submission's originality. Second, the principle of providing appropriate credit to other scholars for their ideas, data, and words remains a fundamental value of scholarship. People who wrote to me work passionately to uphold it as they teach, write, publish, and fund research. Grinnell's faculty taught me the importance of that value and the skills to honor it; I'm thrilled that you continue to do so for other students. Congratulations.
-Kim Lanegran '87
Frederick, Md.

The Great Divide
I am writing to express my disappointment that The Grinnell Magazine exclusively used the term "anti-abortion" in the Winter 2004 article on the formation of the student Pro-Life Group. It was even more concerning because the original articles on which the magazine version was based used the terms "pro-life" and "pro-choice," not such deceptive alternatives. I would expect a higher standard from College-affiliated material. The term "anti-abortion" is inherently inaccurate because it implies that pro-life people are only concerned about preventing abortion. Nothing could be further from the truth. Pro-lifers, as the term clearly expresses, work to support life itself. Thus, they oppose abortion, but also similar phenomena, such as capital punishment and euthanasia, to name a few. They also support alternatives to abortion, because women are life, too. I hope that, in the future, The Grinnell Magazine will recommit itself to accurate journalism, and perhaps mention student groups by name when devoting articles to them. Many Grinnell students attended the two speeches the group sponsored for Pro-Life Awareness Week, and listened to what was said, as evidenced by the extremely active, yet respectful, question and answer sessions after both speeches. Other students, sadly, chose to perpetuate bigotry by ripping down or defacing signs advertising the group and its events. They refused to even try to understand. Which example will the magazine follow?
-Patrick Busch '08
Grinnell, Iowa

Editor's note: The Grinnell Magazine follows the Associated Press Stylebook, which recommends the use of "pro-abortion" and "anti-abortion" in the interests of using the most straightforward and unbiased language available. Omission of the group's official name, Pro-Life Group, was an oversight, and we sincerely apologize for the error.

Praise for G
[I'd like to] express my enthusiastic appreciation for the outstanding job you and your staff are doing with The Grinnell Magazine. Every issue leaves me pleasantly stunned, both at its visual beauty and at the equally excellent quality of its contents. The College is fortunate indeed to be so well represented by a publication of this caliber.
-John R. Wiles '68
Corona, Calif.

I would like to express my appreciation for the excellent article by George Carroll ['02] on the Nisei students who attended Grinnell College during the World War II internment years, and for Quintus Sakai's ['46] account of his experience at Grinnell.

My only quibble is that these articles needed a much stronger lead-in than, "Many academics believe this action was in direct contradiction to the U.S. Constitution." As we all know, "many academics" can be cited on any side of any issue. In fact-although it took decades-Congress in the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 (Public Law No. 100-383) acknowledged that the wholesale incarceration of West Coast Japanese Americans in 1942 was an unconstitutional violation of their fundamental human rights, apologized to the internees, and authorized a (very token) financial restitution to be made to each person so detained by the U.S. government.

-Linda Klepinger Keenan '65
Newport, Vt.

Edward Steiner

Thank you for the interesting article on Edward Steiner and Steiner Hall, where many
of my Grinnell classes met. I found it ironic that I discovered a passion for Judaism in a
building named after a theologian who left Judaism.
It is unfortunate that Steiner was not exposed to the richness of his mother's Jewish
tradition. He certainly would have appreciated teachings such as the ancient Talmudic
debate about the Hebrew Bible's most basic principle. Rabbi Akiva claimed that it is
love based on the verse, "Love your neighbor as your self." Ben Azzai, however,
claimed that the Bible's most basic principle is the equality of all humans and the
preciousness of human life. He based his opinion on a verse in Genesis, which teaches
that humans were made in God's image. Like these ancient rabbis, Steiner taught his followers eternal values. And like Tolstoy,
he may be correct that many religions teach the oneness of humanity. Still, one hopes
that in the 21st century, our commitment to this fundamental belief does not blur cultural
and theological differences that exist between religions.
In the Bible's account of creation, the world's biodiversity is described as "good."
The world's great variety of religious doctrines and rituals is also "good," as long as adherents live with Genesis' other teaching-the inherent equality of all human beings and the preciousness of human life.

-Rabbi Alexander Davis '91 Minneapolis, Minn.

False Victims?
If David Horowitz is truly so concerned that students should be exposed to conservative
ideas, perhaps he could direct them to the media, which is a conglomeration of conservative
interests (Rupert Murdoch, General Electric, etc.). Or he could have them visit the U.S.
House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate, or the White House, which are currently
controlled by Republicans. Or he could direct them to corporate America, the management
of which Forbes Magazine and Fortune Magazine have shown to be overwhelmingly
Republican. Or he could direct Grinnell students to any number of state or private schools
where conservatives are much more prominent in faculty and staff (Robert Jepsen,
a professor in the Department of Journalism at the University of Texas-Austin, takes
Mr. Horowitz to task for promoting the "myth of the radical university" in an article
available online at . Mr. Horowitz falsely victimizes himself and his ideas. The truth is, conservative ideas are not in danger or under-promoted, on college campuses or anywhere else. All a Grinnellian needs to do to be exposed to conservative ideas is to turn on the TV, log on to the Internet, open the newspaper, discuss the experiences of their friends at other schools, or find a job. I am proud that Grinnell stands (mostly) against the otherwise overwhelming tide of conservatism in our nation.

-Uriah Melchizedek '01 Chicago, Ill.

The Tide Is In Thanks so much for Eli Zigas' exceptionally clear explanation of his study on low-flow toilets and sink faucets. As a former town councilman for a small town with its own water and wastewater systems, I too have thought a lot about toilets. But Eli's figures still surprised me. I have a few caveats to homeowners who might think that they could experience the same water and cost savings with low flow toilets and sink faucets. For one thing, the costs of treating water and sewage are mostly fixed costs (infrastructure and salaries) and the marginal costs per gallon for things like electricity are a very small part of the total. (By my calculations, the Norris student's two months' worth of sewage used 24 cents worth of electricity to pump and treat, vs. the East Campus student's 13 cents. It would take a long time to pay off a new toilet at that rate.) For that reason, most utilities charge a fixed monthly fee, which is the majority of the bill. Also remember that bathrooms are only a small part of residential water use. Kitchens and laundry rooms use a lot of water too. I don't know if Eli's figures include the laundry rooms, but I know they didn't include the kitchen. So a 45 percent reduction in bathroom water use in a home may only be a 15 percent overall reduction. And that is only for in-house use: if you put lawn watering into the equation, the savings are really negligible. Where I live (admittedly dryer than Iowa), two-thirds of the summer water use is for outside watering. I do still agree with Eli's implication that low-flow toilets would be a good investment for the College. Dormitory bathrooms are a place where low-flow plumbing fixtures pay for themselves much faster than they do in houses, simply because there are more people using each fixture.

-Nancy V.A. Smith '77 Carbondale, Colo.

Some letters in the Spring 2004 issue about your article on Bruce Friedrich's important work for nonhuman animals show what anti-intellectual stunts even some Grinnell-educated folks will pull when faced with reality that contradicts commonly held but false assumptions.
[One letter] complains that too much space was given to Bruce's work and none to the animal industries ("PETA Feedback"). But animal-industry propaganda is ubiquitous, and its products still appear on the vast majority of dinner plates. … [Another letter] falsely portrayed PETA and its supporters as criminals-apparently failing to realize about one in 380 Americans is a PETA member, more than support the Sierra Club. Having worked at PETA for seven years and long having encountered such silly stereotypes, I can assure the Grinnell community that PETA is an educational organization, plain and simple. PETA-phobia is heavily promoted because the organization threatens private interests with easy mass-media access. Devoting one-third of page 32 and one-sixth of page 33 on a fellow alumnus' contribution to a crucial justice movement is hardly an unfair bestowal of space. The next issue gave so much space and prominence to more conventional activist causes that the article spanned six full pages-the first not even containing any copy! I doubt if anyone complained-those causes, also worthy, being more familiar and less threatening though no more dedicated to justice and a better future. Let me recommend nutritionist Marion Nestle's award-winning 2002 book Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. All cannot share my experience … as [an] animal-rights full-timer. But all can comprehend that the typical American diet is not a product of science, the pursuit of good health, or even old traditions blindly followed, but of industry self-interest placed above compassion and decency. So keep it up, Bruce!

-David Cantor '77 Executive director, Responsible Policies for Animals Inc. Glenside, Pa.

I was saddened to read the letter to the editor attacking PETA. As a parent of Aaron Gross '96, I expect intellectual honesty, not ad hominem responses from graduates of Grinnell. I run a business-consulting firm, but I also volunteer about 30 hours per week for PETA, and I do this because I think that PETA has done more good work to decrease violence in our world than any other group I can think of. For example, prior to PETA's successful campaigns against McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Safeway and others, no restaurant chain or food retailer had transparent and verifiable animal welfare standards. None! The McDonald's improvements marked the first time in U.S. history that any large corporation had done anything at all for farmed animals. Furthermore, since the U.S. government [does not] cover birds under the Animal Welfare or Humane Slaughter Acts, before McDonald's implemented its new standards egg and chicken farmers could do anything to these animals with complete impunity. Dr. Peter Singer, professor of Bioethics at Princeton University and the author of Animal Liberation, called McDonald's capitulation to PETA "the biggest step forward for farm animals in America that I can remember-certainly since 1975, when Animal Liberation was published." PETA takes stands and refuses to tone down its message, and that upsets some people. I think it helps them stay on message and make positive change in the world. We should applaud that, not attack it.

-Steven Jay Gross Amherst, Mass.

… My girlfriend of eight years, Mary Ester '83 is a PETA member, and I am PETA's lobbyist. PETA promotes nonviolence and compassion. The mindset that allows the oppression of certain groups of humans is the same mindset that allows the oppression of other groups of beings. Animal liberation is human liberation.

-Liesel Wolff Arlington, Va.

In his letter in the Spring 2004 edition of The Grinnell Magazine, Thomas Rayfiel '80 explains the recently debated absence of Republican leanings on the Grinnell campus as being due to Grinnell attracting students "of independent intelligence who can think for themselves," and thus these students would naturally not hold Republican positions, such as on the Iraq war. Apparently, according to Mr. Rayfiel, the only "independent thinkers" are those that adhere to a particular position. That does not sound very "independent" to me.

-Mark McAllister '81 Johnston, Iowa

Whither the Right?
I felt compelled to respond to Judith Jensen's letter in the Winter 2003 The Grinnell Magazine. I am the mother of a [current] student ... and she prides herself on being a moderate Republican. I must say that it has not been an easy adjustment for her at Grinnell College, and we have had numerous conversations about her viewpoints and her discussions with her classmates at Grinnell.

There is no question that the "political diversity" at Grinnell is almost nonexistent. Grinnell is definitely an extremely liberal school; "masturbation seminars" are something that comes to mind that my daughter has informed me are held on campus. Don't get me wrong, we're from California, 45 minutes south of San Francisco, so we know what liberalism represents.

When my daughter applied to Grinnell she applied knowing about [its] liberal reputation, but hoping that [the] reputation for being an outstanding academic school would help to level the "playing field."

Unfortunately it has not. Her academic experience has been an excellent one, no question, but her social experience has been a tough one. She has constantly felt under attack and ... on the defensive, especially with the most recent events in Iraq. It appears that in fact the community at Grinnell College really only embraces the liberal viewpoint of life. If you feel otherwise, you are quickly dismissed.

In closing I just want to say that through the eyes of a mother, Grinnell has a long way to go before [it] could consider [itself] a diverse political and social campus. ...

-Muriel Sivyer-Lee
Mountain View, Calif.

Alas, Poor Cubs ... and Red Sox
Back in the '50s, making the drive from Chicago to Grinnell each September, the route went past Serena, Ill.

It was always a mystery to me why anyone would name a town after a Cub third baseman who couldn't hit or field his position (or keep a steady job when another of their heroes-Handsome Ransom Jackson-appeared in the dugout).

George Drake '56 rhapsodizes about Roy Smalley, who was the reason fans didn't sit behind first base where they were in danger of being skulled by one of his throws.

Out on the South Side, we changed the "a" in his name to an "e" whenever he came up in conversation. Which was a rarity.

That was then, this is now. Alas.

The place (Grinnell) now has a Cubs Room, and the magazine features a letter from an alum complaining that the Republican point of view (whatever that is this week) isn't being heard or published there.

Don't send me any more of this.

You can resume when there is a Sox room and complaint letters from the left.

-Roger J. Crotty '54
Cincinnati, Ohio

[Editor's note: The Cubs Room was dedicated in 1985 in honor of trustee and chief minority Cubs stockholder Joseph Rosenfield '25, one of Grinnell's foremost graduates and supporters-and an avid Cubs fan. And in this issue, we're proud to note that we have letters of complaint from across the political spectrum.]

PETA Feedback
Thank you for your revealing and timely article about the work of Bruce Friedrich '96 to end the terrible plight of nonhuman animals so egregiously abused in today's food industries.

I first met Bruce when I spoke at Grinnell College's South Lounge in 1996 on animal suffering in the same industries. I was PETA's senior researcher then and have now worked full time on behalf of animals going on 15 years. Despite emotional reactions against PETA's and others' animal-advocacy work-expressed on my Grinnell class listserv as elsewhere throughout our society-ultimately our work relies far more on science and education than do people's egg, dairy, and meat eating habits.

Those habits long predate empirical science. Science has long since demonstrated that the animals most commonly exploited for food are intelligent and have complex emotional lives utterly thwarted by the animal industries; humans are natural herbivores whose animal-food consumption is a prehistoric cultural development contradicting our anatomy and physiology; egg, dairy, and meat consumption is harmful to human health; and raising animals for food much too rapidly pollutes ecosystems and depletes the food-production resource base.

Sure, family customs, scare stories, a need to belong, and other factors hamper recognition of what we've wrought and where we need to go. But it is easy and economical to cast off our enslavement to animal products. ...

Consistent with my experience at Grinnell, The Grinnell Magazine is to be commended for furthering rather than stifling this discussion. ...

-David Cantor '77
Executive Director
Responsible Policies for Animals, Inc.
Glenside, Pa.

Ah, Jello ...
The article about jello wrestling in the Winter 2003 magazine brought back fond memories of Vylar Kaftan's ('98) birthday party, shortly before graduation. I wasn't involved in making the stuff, but those who were said that there was just barely "room for jello" in all the dorm fridges on campus! I remember that it stung our eyes, being acidic, and was very sticky as it dried, but a good time was had by all, and we managed to clean up afterward without doing any permanent damage to the lounge or adjoining hallway.

I'm very grateful to Grinnell for allowing us to do such wild and crazy things without formal approval (or knowledge). Needless to say I haven't had any opportunities to wrestle in jello since then and probably won't again, so it was the chance of a lifetime. And may we all, like Vy, hope to have friends who are willing to make gallons of jello in our honor.

-Ben Stallings '98
Minneapolis, Minn.

New Dorms
Hey, kid! Get your feet off the furniture! [see cover, Winter 2003] Show some respect for others who might use it! Where are the housemothers when we need them?

-Duncan Fleming '56
Naples, Fla.

It just keeps getting better and better. I read every article on every page in the Winter 2003 issue.

I am looking forward to being on campus for my 60th reunion in June 2004 and seeing that amazing new East Campus. I'd still probably choose to be a Haines Hall Heller, but the new dorms certainly look opulent.

Bobette Brown Sanders '45
White Plains, N.Y.

The Tanager
I found the article on The Tanager by Catherine Rod and Lisa Otte of interest. I note that there was no mention of an attempt to resurrect a new Grinnell literary magazine in 1959-60 called the Grinnell Review. The quality of the student work was surprisingly good. If the Grinnell Review persisted after 1960, I am unaware of it. In 1958, there was also a short-lived humorous publication named the Malteaser. Again, it appears to have lasted only one year.

-David Leslie White '60
Fort Worth, Texas

[Archivist Catherine Rod's Response: There have been at least four publications titled Grinnell Review over the years. The first was published from 1905-21 and was basically an alumni association newsletter. From 1959-66 another Grinnell Review, this one a literary magazine, was published. In 1974-75, another Grinnell Review appeared. It was tabloid format and only two issues were published. The current Grinnell Review was begun in 1982 and is still going strong. There is a nice website about student creative publications at .

The Malteaser was originally published from about 1920-36. We have volumes from 1921-34 in the Iowa Room. Another Malteaser, the one David mentions, was published in 1958. As far as I know only two issues were published.

Student publications come and go, and keeping track of them is challenging, to say the least.]

A Different Vision
Tom Walsh's article "Keeping the Vision Alive" (Winter 2002) mistakenly attributes diverging opinions about the trustees just to a lack of information about their role in the College. But instead of clearing up the scene, Walsh clouds it, flaunting the "deep concern and heartfelt passion" of the board, without really demonstrating it. Readers are led to believe that the board's biannual weekend stay at Grinnell was not simply in keeping with its own regulations, but was a great act of courage, "full of obligations that had kept them running, from session to session, ever since dawn." Stranger and more audacious is a sidebar accompanying the article, claiming that the trustees "are often among the most successful Grinnell alumni in whatever field they have chosen-be it education, science, business, public service, or some combination thereof." Unfortunately, little sense of the board's vision emerges from the article. By not explicating the board's intentions and reasoning, Walsh prevents readers from evaluating them. In the interests of critical thinking, I believe the magazine would do well to focus more authentically on changes to curriculum, tuition, housing, and campus planning-issues facing the College now and in the future. To do this, the magazine would need to represent more faculty, students, and alumni, and to represent trustees, instead of celebrating their workings.

Jesse McClelland '01 Chicago, Ill.

A Survivor's Story
I read with great interest the story about John Stoessinger. I graduated from Grinnell in 1952 with a major in philosophy, so the mention of Prof. Klausner brought all kinds of memories back. I was in the class that John took over for the ailing Prof. Klausner, and he was really very good as a substitute. John and I were very good friends during the two years we knew each other there-having a lot in common, as I was also a Holocaust survivor (Schindler's list) and also on a scholarship, the College taking a chance on me. The last time I saw John was in 1953 in New York while I was going to Columbia. Now I live in California, having retired from 27 years of teaching. I was glad to find out that he now lives not too far from us. … You did a great job in writing the article-I heard from many friends commenting favorably on it.

-Celina Karp Biniaz '52 Camarillo, Calif.

Poetry and Motion
My father was a huge fan of Grinnell sports and would have been ecstatic with your football article. I'm sure he would have carried it around in his wallet for months. As the next best thing, would you mind terribly sending a copy of the magazine to my mother, who will think it's a hoot? Whenever I scored a touchdown, one of my friends, who was the game announcer, would mention that my parents were present, and my mom would stand up and wave her arms in the air like a boxing champion. …

-Edward Hirsch '72 New York, N.Y.

To Err is Human
I join with my fellow Grinnellians, especially Curt Scribner '73, my classmate, in singing the praises of the new format of The Grinnell Magazine. But I do have one criticism-the spell check during the editing process. Referring to p. 5 of the Winter 2002 issue, the title of the article is, "Grinnel [sic] Gets Greener." I just sat there and smiled. Holy, moly, how in the world could you ever misspell GRINNELL? I feel a sense of comfort, though, in knowing that even the very best and the most professional can make misteaks [sic].

-Alan S. Rosenfield '73 Valencia, Calif.

[There are] two errors in the caption for the picture on page 32. The mistakes are: The United States Air Force did not exist until 1948. The man next to Joe Louis was a member of the United States Army Air Forces. The term "airman" refers to an enlisted member of the Air Force. The person described as an airman is actually a major or lieutenant colonel as evidenced by the oak leaves on his shoulders. Since the picture is not in color there is no way to determine if the oak leaves are gold (major) or silver (lt. col). I appreciate that some would call this nitpicking, but you do have veterans of the armed forces who read the magazine who can spot mistakes like this. … I neglected to compliment you on the magazine; it is first class. Unlike some, it doesn't avoid controversy and is interesting and not bland. Keep up the good work!

-Laird Campbell '51 Denver, Colo.

A Rare Find
My son was browsing in a London bookshop before Christmas looking for suitable gifts, among them for his American mother. His eyes lit upon a volume titled True Tales of American Life, and as he picked it up, it fell open in the middle. The first words he read were "Grinnell College Campus," so he knew it was meant for me. It was an anecdote contributed by Mary Parsons Burkett '48 about her father, who upon graduation from Grinnell in 1917 joined the Red Cross Ambulance Corps and was sent to Italy. Which meant my mother and aunt, Dorothy and Helen Ogier, both '18, would almost certainly have known him.

-Dorothy (Dorsey) Laurie Taylor '53 Warwick, CV 34 6PQ, England

To Promote the General Welfare
Professor Victoria Brown duly applauded Louise Rosenfield Noun's legacy of activism (The Grinnell Magazine, Winter 2002), a lifestyle Noun chose while enjoying the security of inherited wealth. However, Brown obviously did not live during the '30s and plays the parlor game of historical revisionism enjoyed by too many. The economic affluent of the '30s did more than show concern for the plight of the nation's society in general. Agreed, a few may have been unwilling to change and they continued to embrace the laissez faire of the early '30s. But the majority of those so blessed economically recognized the need to move toward a socialist society. " … to promote the general welfare" is the mandate of the preamble of the Constitution, and it provided the basis for the federal government's intervention into the lives of the citizens of this nation. "Unwilling to change"-I think not! Though the statement had not been coined at that time, the movers and shakers, including many of the economic upper class, recognized, "That if you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got." They had no intention of allowing the multi-caused Depression years to occur again. Brown's blanket statement needs to be challenged based on historic fact. Philanthropy and activism by those of great means and those of modest means was active in the '30s and is at the start of the 21st century a "growth" endeavor (to wit the current number of 501(c)3 organizations.) Let us hope that Brown will think better of those of wealth. Grinnell's endowment and growth depends on those of modest and great economic well-being.

-Frank L. Frable Aurora, Ind.

Associate Professor of History Victoria Bissell Brown responds:
Fortunately for the historical profession and the production of historical work, historians are not required to have lived in a period in history in order to write about it. Historians are, of course, required to engage in revision, which none regard as a game. Just as biologists are required to examine new data and revise existing narratives in their discipline, so, too, historians' business is to constantly seek out new information to expand and revise historical narratives.
In the case of Louise Noun, however, I cannot claim to have attempted any sophisticated revisionism. The data on Iowans' waning support of the New Deal is readily available in any basic history of the state, which shows that Des Moines, where Louise Noun was living, went back to electing Republicans to the state legislature by 1936, the General Assembly was dominated by Republicans by 1936, and the Farmer-Labor Party got only 14,000 votes that year.
More to the point, Louise Noun's lengthy oral history, on file at the Iowa Women's Archives, makes clear that many of those in the social circle she was pouring tea for in her pre-activist years were not bent on social reform nor were they enthusiastic supporters of the New Deal.
As students in Grinnell history classes quickly learn, it is risky to apply general trends to particular cases. The article I wrote was not about the interesting question of whether the wealthy supported the New Deal in general; it was about Louise Noun. And the only comment about the 1930s related to her particular experience, based on primary materials dictated by her. It requires no game-playing revisionism to attend to the relevant evidence and draw careful conclusions from that evidence. Such practices are what parents pay to have their children learn when they entrust them to our care in Grinnell history classes.


-Victoria Bissell Brown Iowa City, Iowa.