“An Indomitable Spirit”

I applaud the resilience and positive attitude of Cameron Monesmith (Questrom’24) (“A Cancer Diagnosis, Two Brain Surgeries, One Experimental Drug—And Now a BU Degree,” Summer 2024). In 2022, I underwent two procedures—a supraorbital craniotomy and an endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery—to remove two noncancerous tumors. I subsequently received six weeks of radiation treatment. As difficult as it was for me to deal with my own personal health issues, I can’t even begin to imagine what Monesmith endured, especially given his age. Big-time props to him and his family for exemplifying an indomitable spirit that more should be emulating.

Douglas J. Gladstone (COM’82)
Gansevoort, N.Y.

More Nuance Needed

I have concerns about some of the assertions made by BU faculty members in “Is Our Democracy at Risk?” (Summer 2024). First, the United States is a constitutional republic, a restrained form of democracy with checks and balances among three coequal branches of government, a two-house national legislature, and an electoral system of selecting the president. To simply say the US is a democracy is to raise assumptions our Founders never intended.

Second, no evidence is presented with the assertion of voter suppression. Indeed, required photo ID is easily acquired and is not a barrier to the franchise. While there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud, as long as humans and not angels are voting there will be fraud, and voter IDs help in maintaining trust that our votes truly count. I trust that future articles of this sort published in the Bostonia will be more balanced and nuanced reflecting the complexities of our federal system.

Joe D. Marlow (Wheelock’78)
Olathe, Kans.

I want to commend Sophie Yarin for her excellent article, “Is Our Democracy at Risk?” The answer, unfortunately, is yes.

I want to also remind your readers that back in the sixties, BU founded a chapter of the Bull Moose club to counter tactics of the John Birch Society and others.

It was the conservative Senator Barry Goldwater (R-Ariz.) who famously claimed, “…extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”

John McLennan (CAS’65)
Chicago, Ill.

US, Not China, Was First to Destroy a Satellite

Three cheers for BU alum and General B. Chance Saltzman (CAS’91), commander of US Space Force (“The Next Space Race,” Summer 2024). But it’s hard to believe, as the article says, that he studied history at BU. The piece cited China’s destruction of one of its own worn-out satellites in 2007 as highlighting the need for the recently created Space Force. “A country has demonstrated the ability and an intent to destructively take out a satellite, and you can only draw certain conclusions once that happens,” Saltzman is quoted as saying. “There’s no peaceful need for that. The only reason you’re doing that is because you want to take out another country’s satellites to try to achieve a military advantage. That’s the only conclusion you can draw. And we just hadn’t seen that activity before.”

For the record, the US was the first nation to blast one of its own satellites out of the heavens in 1985, 22 years before China.

Mark Thompson (COM’75)
Kensington, Md.

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