Letters policy
We invite letters of 300 words or fewer. Letters may be edited for clarity, style and space and will be published based on their relevance to issues discussed in Macalester Today. You can send letters by e-mail to: mactoday@macalester.edu. Or: Letters to the Editor, Macalester Today, College Relations, Macalester College, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105-1899.

Camel correction

I notice that on page 8 of the Summer issue there is a photograph of Joseph Patton '07 sitting astride a shaggy, four-legged beast. The caption indicates that the creature is a yak; however, I think closer inspection will reveal that the animal is in fact a Bactrian camel.

Asa Tomash '95
Portland, Maine

The Summer issue, as usual, is a fine piece of work. It really keeps us up on things.

I do not wish to be thought of as a know-it-all, but with a liberal arts degree there is no end of possibilities for breadth of knowledge and interest, even for an old Econ major. To wit: the photo on page 8 shows Joseph Patton '07 mounted on a Bactrian camel, the two-humped species found in Asia, not a yak. Camelus bactrianus is distinct from the Arabian camel or dromedary, Camelus dromedarius, which has only one hump, and the yak, Bos mutus, which is a member of the cattle or bovine clan and found in high altitudes in Tibet.

May I add that the letters and articles warmly remembering my professors and fellow students which appear every issue resonate with me in that Mac taught me that all learning pursuits are interrelated and it is the job of the educated person to make these connections, to interpret and acknowledge and use these relationships wherever we are and with whatever we do.

Katha [Ukena Chamberlain '69] and I have just returned from Reunion Weekend where we celebrated Dale Warland's years as inventor and director of the Concert Choir. Our reunion, which consisted of rehearsing and performing, was musically satisfying beyond expectation, and seeing old friends from other classes was absolutely wonderful. And of course singing for and being with Dr. Warland, as we still feel we need to call him, is at the summit of choral music in America today. We are lucky people.

John A. Chamberlain '69
Le Sueur, Minn.

Jim Smail

The letter in the Summer Macalester Today evoked great memories of Dr. Smail for me. I was in his classes very soon after he arrived at Macalester. His embryology class (the discipline is now called developmental biology) had six students; we spent much of our time gathered in the dark around the Trisimplex (a low-power microscope that projects the image of the slide on a wall or desk). He opened wonderful new vistas for me by inviting me to join him in his research on the hatching muscle in chick embryos.

It is a direct result of his influence (and help in choosing a graduate school) that I have been successful as a principal investigator in developmental biology, with funding from the National Institutes of Health for 26 years. Dr. Smail also did a wicked imitation of Tom Lehrer. He was the epitome of Macalester College for me.

Trish Olds-Clarke '65
North East, Md.

The Rock

I enjoyed Dwight Chamberlain's story about Macalester's painted rock [Summer issue]. There must have been an epidemic of rock art at that time. In the spring of '59, I was a freshman at De Pauw University. The Phi Delta Thetas had a small boulder on their lawn, painted black with their Greek letters in gold, as I recall. The other fraternities' pledges took turns repainting it in various hues. My Delta Upsilon group went one better (or worse) by tarring and feathering it.

Dick Geier, DePauw '62,
father of Heidi Geier, Mac '91
Rochester, Minn.

Globalization

The Summer issue of Mac Today included an article about Thomas Friedman's inaugural address for the newly created Institute for Global Citizenship.

Friedman is a well-known advocate and booster for globalization, which he claims is about individual empowerment. He gives as an example that more people have been brought out of poverty in India in the last 20 years than in all of previous history. But his very example betrays the weakness and biases of his claims for globalization.

First, when there is a developing middle class in a country that has previously had only the poor (and a relatively small wealthy elite), unless there is redistribution of income, a widening income gap develops between this new middle class and the still vast numbers of poor people. Then the economy, which had previously been geared towards this vast number of poor, starts catering to the new middle class, leaving the poor even less able to meet their needs than before.

Second, there is the predatory nature of the wealthy countries and big players in this new global competition. As reported by Alexander Cockburn in The Nation, July 17/24, 2006, U.S. subsidies to its cotton-growing industry allow the U.S. to sell cotton in India at a price that undercuts poor Indian cotton farmers. As a result, there is a rising number of suicides among ruined cotton farmers in India, with 550 such deaths reported between 2005 and 2006. As many as 325 farmers have killed themselves since January.

Against Mr. Friedman's motto, this would seem to be a case of "doing wrong for globalization reasons."

Kenneth Lux, Macalester parent
Rockland, Maine

Bob Amerson '50

It saddens me to hear of the death of Bob Amerson '50 [In Memoriam, Summer issue].

Bob had concluded a distinguished Foreign Service career. Most important of all, he was a great and devoted internationalist and cosmopolitan. Bob was the first Macalester alumnus who showed a consistent interest in understanding and knowing China. We had been in close contact first through sending letters and then via e-mails for more than two decades. We frequently exchanged views on contemporary international affairs, including such sensitive issues as the Taiwan problem. In April and May of 2005, Bob earnestly hoped that I could attend the 1950 class reunion held in June. Realizing that I could not make it, he suggested that I make a videotape recording speech for the reunion. I happily did so.

The death of Bob Amerson is a tremendous loss to our Macalester alumni. I hereby express my heartsore condolences to his family.

Guangnan Tu '50
Beijing

I was very sorry to hear of Robert C. Amerson's death. Apart from his long and distinguished career in the Foreign Service, Bob was a great friend to Macalester. Nancy Robb Amerson '49 and he welcomed alumni from the Class of 1919 onward into their home in Boston in October 1981. Both raised money for the Campaign for the '80s and re-established a community now known as the Boston Club of Macalester.

When I moved to Boston in 1979, the Amersons were the first Macalester alumni I met. Their kindness and warmth in that reserved city led to friendships across many generations of alumni. Bob and Nancy's wide-ranging interests and understanding of international issues made them delightful company--and ideal representatives of America abroad.

Anne Harbour '64
London

Thomas E. Hill

I learned recently that my old philosophy professor, Dr. Thomas E. Hill, was on his deathbed. I studied under him for only two years, but those few days left a deep, lasting mark on my thoughts and feelings, even though I came to disagree strongly with some of his beliefs. It was the man and his manner that finds me still grateful, respectful, even envious of a life so well lived.

Ed Nauss '49
Morgan Hill, Calif.