Letters to the Editor
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
‘Brooklyn College Says’
The recent controversy surrounding the Brooklyn College students’ art exhibit at Cadman Plaza contrasts with the recent no-confidence vote concerning Harvard’s president, Lawrence Summers [“Brooklyn College Says It Deplores Closure of Exhibit,” Joseph Goldstein, New York, May 10, 2006].
At Harvard, Mr. Summers was hounded from his job for suggesting that there might be testable differences in math ability between males and females. At Brooklyn College, a student’s public description of homosexual encounters involving the use of Dick Cheney’s name is defended in the name of free speech.
What has become of higher education institutions that view academic hypotheses that test rigid, politically correct orthodoxies as impermissible thought-crimes, while viewing obscenity and defamation as important academic freedom issues?
Does the public owe support to higher education institutions that legislate against the pursuit of scientific discourse and insist on rights of obscenity and defamation?
MITCHELL LANGBERT
West Shokan, N.Y.
Mr. Langbert is an associate professor in the Department of Business and Economics at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.
‘Dr. Clinton’s Diet Plan’
In his piece “Dr. Clinton’s Diet Plan – Or Else,” Andrew Wolf succinctly pinpoints the absurdity of expecting imposed diets to achieve their intended goals and reminds me of the farmer, looking to cut expenses, who decided to cut the huge mound of oats his horse ate by one thimbleful a day [Opinion, May 5, 2006].
“He’ll never miss one thimbleful,” the farmer reasoned.
Walking into the horse’s stall six months later and finding the horse dead, the farmer exclaimed: “How do you like that? I just got him used to eating nothing and he dropped dead on me.”
Dr. Clinton’s plan to wean children off the quick energy foods that have nourished youngsters, fat and skinny, from time immemorial is no substitute for the active physical program that Mr. Wolf advocates. The case for their elders is another story.
AVRUM HYMAN
Bronx, N.Y.
‘A.M. Rosenthal’
Thank you for the editorial on A.M. Rosenthal. Your comment, “His emergence as an emotional and loving supporter of Israel was a beacon for many readers of the time, as was his outspoken voice against the persecution of Christians….” captures his essence [“A.M. Rosenthal,” May 11, 2006].
His 1997 New York Times essay, “Persecuting Christians,” and similar follow-ups, were a loving outreach. It bespoke his reminder that all human beings are brothers and sisters and that love and respect must impact worldwide issues.
JOSEPH A. GANNON
Levittown, N.Y.
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