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Cover story Norden H. (Dan) Cheatham's photograph on the cover of the November issue is truly timeless. The Campanile's south-face clock reads 8:50. The west face reads 7:43. We are of two minds: 1) the shot was taken as the timekeepers adjusted the clock; 2) the conflicting times are intended to confuse visiting Stanford alumni. Marcus Parr '70 and Leslie Cheney Parr '70, M.A. '71 Sandy, Oregon If there is some symbolism in the cover photo of the November issue, it is too subtle for me. Ed Gordon Kensington Perhaps the cover has something to do with football coach Tedford's plan to run more reverses? Bob O'Connell '65, MBA '68 Atherton The position of our Sturdy Golden Bear statue with the Campanile behind it is not possible in the real world. While reversed images are common in print, it's a shame; one never knows whether it was just a careless error or it was done on purpose to achieve an effect. Lawrence Lew '74 Pleasanton The editor responds: We're disappointed that none of you could decipher the secret message intended by the reversed photo and the "67-minute gap." Nor, alas, can we. The photo was flipped inadvertently, not to say incompetently. But since when have the Campanile clocks coincided? For an answer to that question, see "CalZone." Fashionable speech? Watson Laetsch ends his review of a book on the FSM ("Berkeley's great divide," November) by saying that a quoted statement "tells why the FSM was successful." Whether it was successful depends on its goals. If the goal was freedom of speech, the movement was not successful. I venture to remind you of some memorable occurrences. In 1983, the Jefferson lecturer was heckled so viciously at her first lecture that she canceled the second. In 1985, the Maranatha Fellowship reserved a room in the Student Union Building and prepared to show a film. When the showing was about to begin, protesters marched into the room and damaged the equipment so that the film could not be shown. About half a dozen years ago, the invitation to David Irving to deliver a lecture was canceled because the police could not guarantee his safety. Perhaps the goal was not free speech but fashionable speech. Professor Raphael Sealey Department of History Berkeley I'd like to correct a couple of errors in the review of the book in which I have a contribution. "Course evaluations...were a result of the FSM." In 1963, Cal became the second university in the country to provide student-written course evaluations when SLATE, a student organization, began the SLATE Supplement to the General Catalogue. Indeed, one could argue that these course evaluations were one of the causes of the FSM; they weren't a result. You say that "Chancellor Ed Strong...closed the Bancroft Strip." Dean of Students Katherine Towle wrote the letter informing student groups that they could no longer set up their tables at Bancroft and Telegraph; but it was Vice Chancellor Alex Sherriffs, not Chancellor Strong, who initiated the closure. "Some leaders in the FSM had been in Mississippi registering voters the summer of 1964" repeats a common myth. Mario Savio was the only one who fits that description. The civil rights movement was the inspiration for FSM activists, but it was the spring 1964 Bay Area civil rights movements, not Mississippi Summer, that was their training ground. I cover all of this in more detail in my own book, "At Berkeley in the Sixties," which will be published by Indiana University Press next year. Jo Freeman '65 Brooklyn, New York Watson Laetsch responds: SLATE was student-run and unofficial; following the FSM, course evaluations became official campus policy. The letter closing the Bancroft Strip was signed by Dean Towle but it came from, and represented, the chancellor's office. Finally, it is correct that much of the civil rights experience for FSM members came from the Bay Area in 1963-64; this is covered in detail in a number of chapters in the book. World views Steven Weber ("Q&A," November) notes that he observed Americans boning up on Islam and Afghanistan right after September 11. I was one of them. He wonders what short-circuited a constructive discussion and pitched it into "What's wrong with Islam?" That's easy to answer. I learned that Islam is not just a religion, it is a way of life, combining both religion and government. Laws come down from the top; there's no need to vote. Somehow these seem like bad ideas to me. Eric Phillips '51 San Ramon Thank you for the exceptional interview with Professor Weber, whose insights go to the heart of the Middle East crisis--oil. I also appreciate Weber's comments on the use of "evil" as "an effective political strategy" that is "infantilizing the American public." Someone has to be demonized to keep Cold War thinking alive. Finally, thank goodness for Berkeley--people who do the research and speak the truth, and publications that print it. Julianne Jones '61 San Francisco The FBI and Cal I must disagree with Russell Porter's letter to the editor (November) in which he criticized Seth Rosenfeld's article, "The FBI at Cal." It is indeed sad that many taxpayer dollars had to be spent in fighting for the release of information that culminated in Rosenfeld's story. However, the truly sad features of the story are the clearly indefensible actions of J. Edgar Hoover and others, and the subsequent reluctance to admit them that necessitated the numerous Freedom of Information Act requests. Rosenfeld should be commended for his Monthly article describing his efforts to make it known that government officials grossly crossed the line with their dirty deeds concerning Clark Kerr. The article reminds us of what can happen during periods of stress, even in our free country. In troubled times like these--as in the years of campus unrest and the Vietnam War--it is important that Berkeley grads be in the forefront of efforts to distinguish between legal and healthy dissent and subversion and illegal acts. If well-educated people are not vigilant in protecting our freedoms, who will be? Peter Van Houten '56, M.A. '62, Ed.D. '73 Twain Harte |
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