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Critical Thinking Thank you for the refreshing and inspiring interview with Laura Nader (“Q&A,” November). Unlike my mother’s experience (she graduated from Cal in the 1960s), I did not find Berkeley to be the hotbed of radical thought and action I had anticipated. When I first came to Cal, I thought I was finally in an environment conducive to rigorous debate and challenging ideas. I thought my peers would be consumed by a desire to learn, discuss, question, and even argue. I quickly realized that two things motivated the majority: avoiding conflict and obtaining a high paying job. I chose Berkeley because I wanted to go to a school where “rocking the boat” would be something I had in common with my peers. And, yes, there are those who “rock the boat,” but they are not the majority. Cal is becoming increasingly conservative and conformist. I wish I’d taken a class with Professor Nader. C. Adams ’00 Berkeley Professor Nader’s informative anecdote of an incident makes an excellent point for “critical thinking.” Eight or nine years ago at Reagan National airport, she said, a pilot listened to the tower telling him to take off even though he saw ice on the wings, and everybody died. Nice story, and easy to state in an interview. Unfortunately, I was trained in “critical thinking” at Berkeley and found a few discrepancies. 1) It wasn’t eight or nine years ago; it was 1982. 2) It wasn’t Reagan National, it was Washington National (renamed in 1998). 3) It’s unlikely the pilot could see icing on the wings from the cockpit of a 737. 4) Not everybody died; five survived. 5) Most likely cause was “Crew inexperience in icing conditions”—not tower error. In my 35 years in aerospace engineering, I was taught to avoid quoting incidents that you were not really sure of, because one slip can cast doubt on everything else you said. Robert Sullivan ’51 Stanton Laura Nader replies: I thank Mr. Sullivan for his corrections, but they do not negate my main point. A survivor, Joseph Stiley, told reporters that Air Florida Flight 90 seemed to falter as it sped down the runway, as if the pilot was trying to abort the take-off. We will never know what the crew was thinking, but there seemed to be hesitation. The lesson the anecdote conveys is: even though air traffic controllers clear a flight for take-off, the crew has to trust their own judgment when reviewing safety conditions first hand. Pilots regularly walk through the cabin to do so. I might add, they have to have tough egos because they may be criticized, disciplined, or fined for exercising their authority in a conservative manner. The Human Comedy Your November issue gave us an outstanding variety of stories about Cal’s and Berkeley’s past. I enjoyed them all, but my enjoyment was marred by the awful error near the end of “Ode to Elmwood.” The Time of Your Life was written by William Saroyan, not Somerset Maugham. Bob Arey ’53 Jersey City, New Jersey Pie in the Sky Patricia Cambron’s article “Slicing the pie” (November) reveals a one-sided version of the economic prosperity of the ’90s. It should not come as a surprise that there is an opposing (and in my opinion more compelling) view of the subject. This is detailed in an Institute for Policy Innovation (www.ipi.org) issue brief by Lawrence Hunter. Scott Robinson ’69, M.D. Mill Valley More Blowback feedback Your readers seemed equally divided on the merits of Chalmers Johnson’s argument in Blowback that U.S. imperialism would increasingly reap the fruits of terrorist vengeance (“Letters,” November). All I can add is, when I heard of the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, I immediately thought of your fascinating discussion with Johnson. Kennedy Gammage ’79 San Diego It is amusing that many Cal alumni are disturbed that Chalmers Johnson changed his mind—some even resort to questioning his mental balance. Having taken many classes from him, Robert Scalapino, and other UC faculty supporters of the prevailing U.S. foreign policy in the early 1970s, I recall their disdain for the “ill-informed” masses who considered that policy ill-founded. So are these readers worried that Johnson’s hubris has merely continued, but down the wrong path; or that he has discovered humility? Mark Kilkenny ’73 Lakewood, Ohio Back to Top |
Have an opinion? Write to “Letters,” California Monthly, Alumni House, Berkeley 94720-7520; 510/642-6252 (fax); calmonthly@alumni.berkeley.edu. Letters may be edited for length.
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