Letters
THE NEW LOOK
Let me take this opportunity to congratulate Bostonia on its wonderful new magazine format. It is excellent and makes it more of a pleasure to keep up-to-date with all that happens at BU.
Joel Caverly (CFA'61)
Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies
I have always enjoyed perusing each issue of Bostonia. The articles are always so interesting and thought-provoking. It has always impressed me that my alumni magazine is such a quality piece of work.
However, I recently opened the
current issue and was immediately
put off. I quickly realized that you
have changed the format of the
copy so that it now reads in long,
thin columns as well as changed some of the headings to a different font. I was dismayed to find that this continued throughout the entire magazine, and I simply could
not follow it. I am not a journalism expert by any stretch of the imagination. In my layperson's opinion, I do not understand the benefit of these changes. I feel that the look of the magazine, as well as the way the information is presented, has gone way, way down in quality. It made me not want to spend the effort trying to read any of the articles.
Isabel Askenase Stover (CAS'92)
Oakland, California
I just wanted to drop a note and let you know how pleasantly surprised I was about the redesign. I have always enjoyed Bostonia and felt like it was a magazine that could have interest beyond the BU
community. I always dread hearing about beloved publications' impending redesigns, but I thought this one was great - very fresh, and I like the traditional text font with the bolder headline font.
Keep up the great work for 'our' magazine - looking forward to the next issue.
Leigh Montgomery (COM'95)
Wakefield, Massachusetts
I'm a BU alum and an employee of AARP. I'm pushing fifty, and I suspect I'm not the only alum who feels the need to read Bostonia with a magnifying glass.
Perhaps it's the font choice or perhaps it's the line spacing, but Bostonia seems really unfriendly for aging eyes (like mine). I just picked up the recent issue of O (Oprah's magazine) and so started comparing some pages. O isn't exactly using large type, so I suspect it's more the font and the white space, but I find it much more readable than Bostonia.
Perhaps you folks are really after the younger alums, in which case these design choices make more sense. But I hope you'll keep us older alums in mind too.
Beth Mazur (CAS'81)
Arlington, Virginia
I live in Paris and just received Bostonia. It is, as always, superb, but this issue is even more striking
in its layout. I work in development
and marketing so am particularly sensitive to how publications like
this one look. I work at the International School of Paris, where
I am the director of external affairs, so I intend to copy and steal from you for my own publications (imitation is the sincerest form
of flattery!).
Thank you for your good work and for finding me all the way over here in France. It makes me feel good about my alma mater.
Carrie Levenson-Wahl (CAS'72)
Paris, France
OVERTHROW - PRO AND CON
In Chris Berdik's interview with Stephen Kinzer about his new book, Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq ("Perspectives," Summer 2006), the author seems unable
to spot any positive examples of U.S.-mediated regime change during the past 100 years. America's involvement in the Adolph Hitler regime change seems
to have occurred beneath this New York Times reporter's radar. Likewise, the numerous regime changes following our country's victory in the Cold War have failed to stimulate Mr. Kinzer's interest. These regimes together were responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of innocent people and most folks seem to feel that these regime changes were on the whole pretty positive developments.
David Bolger (CAS'75)
Margate, New Jersey
"Overthrows 'R' U.S." by Chris Berdik is a seminal article on America's failure to rise to the obligations of a great power. It brings to mind the Joe Palooka character of my childhood: a powerful but naive young man, easily manipulated by malevolent forces. One hopes that Kinzer's important book will awaken America's leaders, but I'm not counting on it.
Irwin J. Kappes (GSM'50)
Arlington, Virginia
Why do you see fit to showcase an
article about a former New York Times reporter whose new book claims that our war in Iraq is nothing but a continuation of a series of mistakes in interpreting history? Your "blurb" jumps off
the page, as if to say, "Well, we
know that you hate the Bush administration, so here is some red meat." Your bias is all too apparent. Guess what? Not all
alumni agree with such sentiments.
Moreover, given the current con-
troversy over the New York Times decision to publish details of a secret anti-terror program in the midst of a war on terror, why is it incumbent on the staff of your publication to trumpet the work of a former New York Times reporter? The Times has not distinguished itself in the view of many Americans, and your zeal to give voice and endorsement to all things NYT clearly reflects a bias. If anything, this makes me much less likely to read your publication. I would be much more interested in a piece featuring a variety of voices from the school of journalism on the question of whether the New York Times has become a seditious organization. I do not need to hear the predictable rant of a "former NYT reporter" telling us that all things Bush-related are evil. We have all "been there, done that." It is extremely old news and extremely uninteresting.
Neal Glick (LAW'76)
Cohasset, Massachusetts
KUDOS TO STUDENT VOLUNTEERS
As the mother of a BU grad, Sari Berman (SED'81), I would like to personally thank the young people who came to help with the rebuilding of the Pensacola area ("Getting Hammered in Florida," Summer 2006). My community and I extend our sincere thanks for their concern, energy, and support. Their generosity in spending their spring break vacation repairing homes and assisting families is greatly appreciated. I am proud that my daughter is a graduate of your institution, which instills such dedication to its philosophy to give back to others.
Arlene Berman
Gulf Breeze, Florida
REMEMBRANCE OF DELIGHT
Tribute to Leroy Stephens Rouner (5 August 1930 -11 February 2006) ("Obituaries," Summer 2006).
What to do when you learn,
five months late,
the death of a grand sway in your life?
You must get past feeling cheated,
somehow betrayed by tardy news.
And come to terms with your lack
of clout to affect outcomes.
Then you have to face prospects of
your own finish - all the while
hurting from the loss without
making it all about you.
So what, he never knew how
he bent your mind toward delight.
Delight's the thing and he was
filled with it; that suffices.
Lawrence Willson (STH'72, GRS'80)
Birmingham, Alabama
CROSSING BORDERS
I really enjoyed the article on nanotechnology ("Small Is the New Big," Summer 2006). Having been a university professor myself, it was particularly rewarding to
note that the scientists on the project were from different academic departments and excited about
the many possibilities of interdisciplinary effort in spite of the many hurdles. It makes me proud of BU, too, that the institution is beginning to address the problems of interdepartmental issues that arise in traditional university structures, and that faculty see the value in sharing resources. I hope the researchers involved are appropriately rewarded!
Irene G. Casper (SED'67)
Professor Emerita,
Temple University
GRIDIRON HOPES
I'd love to see President Brown lead the effort to bring back foot-
ball as part of the overall collegiate experience. I know he wants alumni more involved. This is a great way to accomplish this.
Clark Broden (CAS'64)
Framingham, Massachusetts
THE DECADE-LATER GRADUATION
A photo caption in the Commencement pages of the Summer 2006 issue noted that Jeffrey Dennis (CAS'70, MED'74), whose 1970 graduation ceremony was canceled due to campus unrest, finally received the "appropriate pomp and circumstance" by seeing his son graduate from SMG this year. Congratulations to the Dennis
family. But your caption is historically incomplete. We members of the Class of 1970 were invited back in 1980, and we wore caps and gowns and marched in the 1980 Commencement procession. I will always be grateful to BU for awarding us the "appropriate pomp and circumstance," even though it came ten years late.
Richard Grayson (CGS'68, COM'70)
New Rochelle, New York
ART FOR ALL
I recently received the summer issue of Bostonia, which included an article on the Ducklings sculp-
ture installed some years ago in
the Boston Public Garden ("CommonWealth"). It is always a delight to see it celebrated and to have
the contribution of Nancy Schön acknowleged. She wonderfully captured the form and spirit of McCloskey's Ducklings, and how she did so is a story in its own right.
I am concerned, however, about the impression given by the article that I initiated the sculpture simply
to respond to my children, who noted the absence of the ducklings when they arrived in Boston from Australia. In fact, the argument I put for their being there was a good deal broader and more community-focused than that.
My professional work has been
much concerned with the hospitality of the city to those special groups whose voices are not always fully heard. In particular, they include children, who as participants in the city can rarely, in any collective sense, muster the same level of advocacy as other groups and to whom the city can often be intimidating and unwelcoming. My interest and advocacy on their behalf has been directed at all city provisions and features, at all levels, from downright prohibition - "No children allowed here" - to urban and building design that forgets them and makes access and opportunity prohibitive to their inclusion as equals in the constituencies of people for whom
the city should be made an enjoyable and delighting experience,
as, for example, in the provision
of public art.
Suzanne de Monchaux
Brookline, Massachusetts
Correction: In the summer
2006 issue of Bostonia, the
Web site for the Golden Decade Foundation was incorrect. It is
www.goldendecadefoundation.org.
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