Thirsty for love

Ben Fong-Torres seems to be content with fond reminiscences of what was, but the Berkeley Lothlórien co-op is part of a large community of young people still concerned with embodying the moral and political ideals popularized in the ’60s—vegetarianism, feminism, activism, but most of all, love. Sure some things have changed, but we do it for the future, not the past. If love is not still in the air, at least in some areas it is still in the drinking water.

Ben Fong-Torres’s Summer of Love article should be read in conjunction with a far more realistic Wall Street Journal op-ed by Ted Nugent, “The Summer of Drugs.” The deaths and ruined lives of so many young people were not needed to promote civil rights, peace, or ecology, feminism, organic farming, holistic medicine, and alternative spiritual disciplines.

Cuba’s conundrum

Pico Iyer’s article highlights the conundrum of post-Castro Cuba. Friends have said we need to stop the Cuban embargo. Lifting the embargo may not be the best thing for Cubans. I cringe at the thought of American tourists, franchises, developers, and expatriate Cubans flooding into the country, even if they have the best of intentions. The experience of reuniting Germany gives a hint at the social upheaval that will result.

Malcolm Thornley Jr. ’66

Atheists and criminals

In fact, the C. Baier and B. Wright study (cited by Professor Mike Hout in "Glad you asked," May/June) found that religion did not have a major role in deterring criminal behavior. As Baier and Wright state, “The results of the meta-analysis show that religious beliefs and behaviors exert a moderate deterrent effect on individuals’ criminal behavior.” Second, an examination of studies as to the effect of religion upon all behavior taken as a whole leads to the conclusion that religion is at best a moderate factor in improving behavior. For example, a recent study by M.A. Huelsman, J. Piroch, and D. Wasieleski examined the effect of religion upon academic honesty of students. The researchers found that religious students did not demonstrate being significantly more or less honest than non-religious students.

Stephen Juan ’70, M.A. ’75, Ph.D. ’81 University of Sydney

Keep on tryin’

Paul Dalmas asked the question, “What are the hidden costs of my middle-class complacency?” The answer appears to be that, just as the Summer of Love gave way to the “Me Decade,” nearly everything we were taught in school, except perhaps by Professor Litwack, appears to have been irrelevant to the world in which we find ourselves today. We now have the best-educated and most informed citizens in history, but not enough keep trying, too many drop out, and most still don’t care.

Anthony St. John ’63

Pass é Panisse?

Alice Waters, who founded a fine restaurant and is well known everywhere—for at least about 30 years—is not exactly one of the “ideas from the leading edge,” nor is fresh farm food without contaminates a new idea.

Warwick “Rickey” Griffin Wolfe ’71

It is nice that Alice Waters is teaching children where food comes from, but this is not a new idea. In about 1980 Bruce Haldane and the Organic Farmers of Berkeley helped the children at the Berkeley Arts Magnet school install an organic vegetable garden so that they could eat food they had grown. I have a photo of my son Joaquin digging goat manure into the soil at Willard Junior High. Bruce wasn’t famous but he was obviously ahead of his time!

Terri Works ’70, MLIS ’88

Of course, alice is right.

Diana Donlon Karlenzig ’85

CV CX

Mike White ’58 (March/April, “More notable alumni”) not only played for the Golden Bears in Cal’s last Rose Bowl appearance, but he went on to be head coach for Cal’s football team, head coach for Illinois’s Fighting Illini, and head coach for the NFL’s Oakland Raiders—much more, you see, than merely “assistant coach for NFL teams.”

Paul L. Watts ’67

Editor’s note: As we went to press, Mike, Camp Blue manager for the Lair, was also inducted into the Cal Sports Hall of Fame, along with former Lair staffer and manager Bob Albo. Congratulations!

China is big

As director of the Berkeley China Initiative, I am very pleased to see the frequent coverage you give to China activities around campus. Our programs reach across disciplines and professional schools, and make use of the unparalleled resources in the Bay Area as well. Interested readers are invited to check out our website at bci.berkeley.edu.

Thomas B. Gold

Class Notes Online

Some people have had difficulties finding the online class notes from the Centennial edition. To assist you, here are the directions. The direct URL of the Centennial edition class notes is alumni.berkeley.edu/calmag/200703/kit_1930s.asp.

The first page contains the class notes from the 1930s, so if you are in a later class, scroll down to the very bottom of the page. You'll find the other class decades highlighted in gold. Click your decade to see the page with your class notes on it.

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