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Please send letters intended for publication to: mactoday@macalester.edu.
We reserve the right to edit letters for conciseness and clarity.
Journalists
I read with interest Doug Stone's article in the Winter Macalester
Today, "Do You Trust These People? Five Alumni
Journalists Reflect on the State of Their Profession."
The media doth protest too much. Journalists feign to be shocked
and outraged when one of their own proves to be less than credible,
but they flatter themselves. The real surprise was that well regarded
(particularly well self-regarded)
publications such as The New York Times and
The New Republic were caught with
their pants down. These publications too often rely on the reputation
of their reporters as well as the publications' own reputation rather
than on the actual quality of writing and reporting. In other words,
they rely on a system of snobbism that is rarely acknowledged.
I have worked as a free-lance writer and editor for the past nine
years, and of the various publications I've contributed to, the
one that applied the most stringent standards in terms of fact-checking,
editing and research was Hustler.
Of course, no one wants to hear that, and professionally speaking,
puff pieces written for Forbes and
Travel & Leisure get more respect
than investigative news features published in pornographic magazines.
I was an intern at Forbes Digital Tool in
1998, and assisted Adam Penenberg with his exposé of Stephen
Glass. While the revelation of Glass' fabrications was appalling,
it wasn't shocking. By that time, I'd seen countless examples of
bad journalism<em dash>critics who rearrange press releases
rather than write their own reviews; critics who feel qualified
(and apparently do qualify!) to write long-winded book reviews after
reading little more than the book's jacket flap; editors who recycle
stories from other publications rather than generate their own;
journalists who knowingly take quotes out of context in order to
make their stories more salacious. Are these behaviors less reprehensible
than or even different from fabrication? They're certainly more
widespread.
Amanda Ferguson '93
Los Angeles
Purple Hearts
In a letter in your last issue, John Klatt '82 characterized the
Purple Heart as "once highly esteemed, and now vile."
The day after I read this, 14 U.S. Army soldiers were killed in
Mosul, Iraq, while many more were seriously wounded. The injured
soldiers will be awarded Purple Hearts while the next of kin of
the deceased soldiers will receive posthumous Purple Hearts. Over
the last several years, well over 1,000 posthumous Purple Hearts
have been awarded and thousands of Purple Hearts have been awarded
for combat injuries.
Mr. Klatt, like anyone else, is entitled to his opinion on the wisdom
or merits of our nation's military operations. However, his description
of the Purple Heart as "vile" is a gratuitous insult to
those who have been injured or killed during combat while serving
their country. The Purple Heart, far from being "vile,"
recognizes the noble qualities of valor, sacrifice and duty.
I encourage Mr. Klatt to visit Arlington National Cemetery and reassess
his grossly insensitive remarks.
Rich Galvin '85
Pembroke Pines, Fla.
John Klatt '82 replies: In the presidential campaign,
I kept hearing John Kerry's opponents referring to his medals using
a tone of voice I associate with cussing and swearing. After some
repetition, I began to wince when I heard the words. I associate
these medals with the greatest honors, and I had issues with anyone
choosing to discredit a person by shaming them with their own medals.
My letter compared this situation with the 1980s when the National
Endowment for the Arts turned around from being held in the highest
esteem to the lowest. My point was that the tone of the criticism
was the same.
No offense was intended to the medal winners; I am very inspired
by them.
Political correctness
MacWire recently informed alumni that Macalester is seeking a Dean
for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Why such a narrow deanship?
Most deanships are broad in scope, e.g., arts and sciences, liberal
arts, business.
Thousands of university-based Ph.D.s get grants to research and
study this topic; Macalester is neither a large university nor a
research institution. Where's the funding, especially if it was
so necessary to cut both Mac's prestigious Communication Studies
Department and its teacher education program? It sounds like something
right out of the '60s when, even then, such a narrow deanship would
make neither budgetary nor academic sense.
While at Mac, I was a state Y-DFL officer. I am still heavily
involved with the JFK assassination-research community. But over
the years, many factors made me more conservative. And as that change
occurred, I watched Macalester sink deeper into the silliness of
political correctness and liberalism that the rest of the nation
no longer finds valid or credible.
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Small world?
Mac alumni share their stories.
We invite alumni to tell us about unexpected encounters
with other Mac alums<em dash>whether a friend or someone
previously unknown to them. Write: mactoday@macalester.edu.
Or Macalester Today, College Relations Office, Macalester
College, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105.
From Tehran to St. Paul
Way back in 1957-58 when the Shah was in power,
we lived 40 miles northwest of Tehran, Iran, while working
on a dam to supply water for the city. Our employer provided
us with a station wagon and a driver who spoke some English.
One day the driver told me knew a young man in Tehran who
was going to America and would like to meet me. We arranged
a meeting and when I asked the young man where he was going,
he replied, "To a small college in the Midwest that no
one ever heard of." I told him I had graduated from a
small college in the Midwest and may I ask where he was going?
I could hardly believe it when he said, "Macalester College."
And he couldn't believe I had graduated from that college.
One of my friends here in Olympia attended Macalester and
even played a bagpipe. It certainly is a small world!
Louise Anderson Benoit '44
Olympia, Wash.
Encounter in Africa
I own and run an art gallery/studio in a warehouse in Durban,
South Africa. We recently had an exhibition entitled "Maid
in Africa," which has been very popular and a bit controversial.
A group of American university students came to see it. I
usually welcome people to the space, so we started talking.
One of the adult lecturers and a few of the students were
chatting about the fact that they were from Maryland. I said
that I went to Macalester College in St. Paul. The lecturer
looked at me and said he, too, went to Macalester! His name
is Eric Singer '76; he is associate dean of international
studies and a professor in the political science department
at Goucher College in Baltimore.
I tell you, even living down here in Africa, it's a small
world!
Karen Dicome Bradtke '79
Durban, South Africa
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I believe the majority of Mac alumni feel as I do: The Mac Today
image of the typical Mac grad is an old-line liberal Democrat
who works in government or at some PAC. I'd wager that the majority
of Mac alumni are political moderates who went into the business
world.
This letter will be hit with many arrows and labels. But can students
get the broad, analytical education at Macalester that prepares
them for the real world? Not if what alumni are reading parallels
what students must tolerate in their classes. It appears the faculty
and administration of Macalester have no clue what life is like
beyond Grand and Snelling avenues.
Roger S. Peterson '67
Rocklin, Calif.
The following is adapted from a eulogy for Maximilian H. Von
Rabenau, coordinator of the Mexican-American Program at Macalester
from 1971 to 1979.
Max Von Rabenau, 1922-2005
Max Von Rabenau loved bringing out the best in people. This love
was probably best illustrated in his work at Macalester. Max knew
that education was the great equalizer and he spent a fair amount
of his life assisting young Latinos in attaining higher education.
Over the years hundreds of Macites benefited from his counsel and
advice. Many of us Mac alumni wouldn't be where we are today if
it weren't for Max's efforts in bringing out our best.
Max lived with my wife, Lee, and me for about 10 years. During that
time we became very close. We had the opportunity to learn a little
bit about what mattered most to Max. Anyone who knew Max knew him
to be a voracious reader. He especially loved books on history,
art, cooking and travel. Max was a man of culture and refinement,
and he considered himself to be a member of the aristocracy. His
books allowed him to live with kings, visit countries he would never
step foot in and experience the works of the world's greatest artists.
Max loved to travel, and some of my fondest memories of Max are
of the numerous trips we took together around the States, in Mexico
and Europe. He loved exposing us to new travel destinations and
sharing his vast knowledge of the culture, history, art and food
of the places we would visit.
Max was a life-long learner. After retiring from Macalester, he
studied numerous disciplines like jewelry making and gourmet cooking.
He loved cooking for friends and we enjoyed many a fine meal that
he prepared with love. I heard it more than once: Max could sure
cook a mean Paella.
I thank God that Max was blessed with a full and rich life. I also
thank God for sharing Max with us because Max made our lives fuller
and richer.
José Cervantes '84
St. Paul
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