Bostonia: The Alumni Magazine of Boston University

Whose Moral Responsibility?

Moral responsibility — now that is a term I have not seen in print in some time (“Teaching Against Indifference,” Winter 2006–2007). As a six-year med and religion minor, I was a fortunate enough to be a student in Elie Wiesel’s first class at BU, circa 1976, Jewish Literary Reactions to Persecution. As I recall, there were supposed to be about seventy-five students, but there was no way to stop many, many more from coming. I think what differentiated Wiesel from others, then and certainly now, was his teaching about moral responsibility. This has been replaced with the postmodern and morally hollow philosophy (if it can be called that) of moral relativity.If I may paraphrase from Harold Kushner in his book Who Needs God, moral relativity is an ideology reflecting a return to premonotheistic might-makes-right. In effect, postmodernism is really prehistoricism in terms of values. Wiesel was the antithesis of today’s postmodern nonsense. At a time of radically increased extremism and anti-Semitism in the world, to a degree that we in Wiesel’s 1976 class would have not thought possible thirty years later, his lessons are more timely and critical to learn than ever.

Scot M. Silverstein (CAS’77, MED’81)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

As someone who got an undergraduate degree at Boston University and had two parents who also graduated from BU, I was deeply saddened to see Elie Wiesel being featured in the recent Bostonia. Along with Wiesel’s picture were the words, “A Nobel Prize Winner Teaches Literature — and Moral Responsibility” (emphasis mine).

Why isn’t BU ashamed to have a professor who teaches moral responsibility but refuses to practice it? Wiesel refuses to condemn Israel’s war crimes, its brutal crimes against humanity, and all its other flagrant violations of international law, some of which go back as far as Israel’s establishment in May of 1948. (In December 1948, the UN ordered Israel to allow the dispossessed Palestinians to return to their homes and lands.)  

Wiesel’s hypocrisy is well known, though denied by many Jews — and uninformed Americans. Distinguished Jews like Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein and Christopher Hitchens, who is not Jewish, have vehemently criticized Wiesel’s hypocrisy.

President Carter’s book Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, the work of the American Friends Service Committee and statements by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the World Council of Churches are gradually informing Americans about Israel’s profoundly immoral practices. I would expect that BU would become increasingly embarrassed by its professor who refuses to practice what he teaches.

Edith Cacciatore (SON’60)
Novato, California

I had a great time reading the latest BU alumni magazine and was wonderfully shocked to see my picture with Elie Wiesel from thirty years ago. I was wondering if you know what class the picture was taken in and whether I might be able to get an enlarged picture or negative. Many thanks.

Gail Schwartz Schonfeld (CGS’75, SAR’77)
Washington, D.C.

I read about the Rock and Roll Museum from the point of view of a native Clevelander (“Rock of Ages,” Winter 2006–2007). Your article implies that New York should have been the home of this fabulous and gorgeous museum. Alan Freed, the Cleveland DJ who is credited with the term “rock and roll,” had a weekly teen dance program with a loyal following. It was our version of American Bandstand. It is rather insulting that the hall of fame induction ceremony is held in New York, instead of at the museum in Cleveland, on the shores of Lake Erie. If football players can go to Canton, Ohio, for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, certainly inductees of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame can jet to Cleveland and allow us to enjoy a well-deserved experience at this wonderful institution.

Linda Gross Sanders (SED’66)
Moreland Hills, Ohio

I am enjoying the winter issue of Bostonia. However, I note that since the departure of John Silber from the University, the politically correct way to refer to it seems to have reverted to BU.

It sounds and looks fine in the context of “One BU,” but for some reason “University” and “Boston University” sound and look so much better than just BU (“Setting the Course for the University,” Winter 2006–2007). The latter seems so ordinary for such a great university.

Stephen F. Hall (CGS’60, CAS’66)
Scottsdale, Arizona

It is difficult to make a quarterly publication — for a very diverse audience — a compelling read. However, one thing that would greatly assist its readability is the type size. (No, I am neither going blind nor do I subscribe to large-print pubs.) The type size for Bostonia, however, appears to have been designed by a fairly young designer without regard for his or her audience. In other words, it’s one of those things that looks pretty but is impractical.

Karen Kennedy (COM’63)
Great Falls, Virginia

Extraordinary! That is the word I have to use in describing the Winter 2006–2007 issue. I was a certificate program student at BU in the early 1950s, and although I did not complete the program due to being relocated to Pittsburgh for work, I have been receiving Bostonia as far back as memory permits.

Other university publications (Northeastern, Harvard, etc.) come to my attention, but while very good in their own right, none measures up to the overall quality of Bostonia — this issue especially. I have to single out as exceptional articles “Inside Sleep,” “Teaching Against Indifference,” and “Learning Hollywood.” They were outstanding. But the gem was in Perspectives, “Out of the Dark Ages.” More should be written about the science of human behavior, and the article, though very short, could be the starting point. Let’s hear more about this.

Melvin Clere (GRS’54)
Boston, Massachusetts

Invariably, I thoroughly enjoy receiving and reading Bostonia. The magazine is unfailingly informative and delightfully enlightening — a great way to maintain connection to the BU community.

Ronald L. Ragland (MED’82)
Washington, D.C.

I enjoy the new format and editorial content of Bostonia. I read many of the articles now, whereas I used to just leaf through the magazine.

Carolyn Black (SMG’61)
Dunedin, Florida

There clearly are significant grade inflations and depressions at various colleges and schools throughout the country (“Making the Grade,” Summer 2006). Grades do count — besides standardized exams, they are the single most objective method of differentiating people and their abilities and merits.

Recognizing grade inflation, the Association for Graduate Medical Education asks that medical schools send out both grade reports and a summary sheet of where that student’s grades fall in comparison to others in their class. One Ivy League medical school, Columbia, gives more than 75 percent of its students honors in surgery. Another 15 to 20 percent get high pass. By comparison, Boston University School of Medicine gives approximately 10 to 15 percent honors in surgery. Needless to say, an honors in surgery at BU is worth a lot more than an honors in surgery at Columbia. The only way that residency programs (or hospitals or jobs) would know this is [to send out] if they saw? those summary reports in addition to simple grades.

My congratulations to Wayne Snyder. I had him as my computer science advisor from 1993 to 1996. He always told it as it was — and for that, he ought to be respected. My organic chemistry professor, John Snyder, did the same. A common policy in many courses and colleges is the ability to “drop” one of a series of exams so that your final grade is higher. At the outset of class, John Snyder stood up and stated that he did not follow that policy. Why? “If you kill a patient, you just can’t forget about it and move on to the better three. It’s not like that in real life, and it’s not like that in my class.” It’s a lesson I hold to very dearly to this day and profess to others (while giving him credit!).

Ron Landmann (CAS’00, MED’00)
New York, New York