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The FBI at Cal I read with dismay the article by Seth Rosenfeld '81 ("The FBI at Cal," September). Doesn't the Monthly have anything interesting to print? Who gives a rip about his 20-plus-year investigation? His use of FOIA requests has eaten up tons of taxpayer dollars that could have been used for something beneficial, all because of his self-centered vendetta. President Kerr should have been fired for his patronizing of the disruptive activities on campus in the 1960s. Of course the FBI was investigating people who were breaking the law and setting off bombs at ROTC offices and other areas on many campuses. What has Rosenfeld discovered that we didn't already know? Find something interesting to print or just print Class Notes and save some paper. Russell Porter '62 Portland, Oregon
I am basically a conservative when it comes to government intervention, and I am very disturbed by these "police state" tactics. We need to maintain our national security, particularly in these troubled and trying times, but not at the risk of using the Orwellian methods of J. Edgar Hoover and his pals. Roger Q. Williams '59 Dana Point Many thanks for Seth Rosenfeld's excellent piece on the FBI's hounding of Clark Kerr in the 1960s. I was a graduate student on the Berkeley campus from 1963 through 1975, and Seth's work has confirmed our worst fears about what happened at the time. I've been following Seth's extraordinary career in journalism for many years, and am delighted to discover that he's a Berkeley grad. Lucy Watson Sells '61, M.A. '67, Ph.D. '75 Berkeley Cultural relativity I greatly value the fair and balanced treatment of letters to the editor that appear in the Cal Monthly. However, as a graduate of the anthropology program at Berkeley, I must respond to the letter written by Karl Kettler ("Letters," September). I fear that Mr. Kettler does not understand the basic tenets of 20th- and 21st-century anthropology. The principle of cultural relativism, which is a fundamental aspect of anthropological inquiry, maintains that all cultures deserve to be understood within their own contexts. It is not true that this perspective considers all cultures to be "equal," but that cultures (and the people who live in them) have equal value within the broad context of humanity. Further, technology as a sign of a culture's "progress" or "advancement" is a spurious notion. Humans invent technologies to serve the purposes that their existence presents, and it is quite a relative judgment to say that rocket science has more value or meaning for all humankind than Paleolithic cave art. I suggest that Mr. Kettler consult the growing literature that has explained the very complex relationship between Ishi and Kroeber. He might then understand the photograph published in the Monthly in its proper context. Ishi dressed in contemporary clothing while living in San Francisco, and was asked by Kroeber, Saxton Pope, and T. T. Waterman to dress in his native clothing while demonstrating his traditional lifeways during a field excursion to his home territory. Sandra E. Hollimon '83 Jenner Another twist Something finally provoked me to write a letter to the editor: the offerings by William Gray '47 and Cary Petzel '83, MBA '85, under the title "Twisted priorities" in the September issue ("Letters"). Despite the decades that separate their Cal experience, their intolerance of humor that (no pun intended) gores their own ox is quite similar. Heaven forfend that we should make a joke at the expense of a sitting President! I can only presume that Gray and Petzel have short memories and don't believe in history. William Morley '56 Los Osos Terrorist victim The obituary for Marla Bennett '00 ("Talk of the Gown," September), murdered by terrorists while studying in Israel, painfully reminded me how my alma mater has failed its Jewish alumni and students this past year. The University lagged on protecting pro-Israel supporters on campus. Yet, when confronted by a frankly anti-Semitic graduate student whose stated "educational" purpose was to celebrate violence against Israel, our faculty retreated under a cowardly and misguided application of academic freedom. I chose to withhold my annual donation to Cal as a measure of my disgust. Make no mistake: The actions and voices we permitted on our beloved campus contributed to the death of that young woman. Charles Schnee '86 Los Angeles Brahm's mom Your amusing article about music professor Robert Greenberg ("The music man," September) surely bears a mistake about Brahms, claiming that his mother was 17 years old when she married, whereas she was in fact 41 years old and 17 years older than Brahms's father (see Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians). Alice Leighton '42 Seattle, Washington |
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