Letters to the Editor
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‘100 Words One Should, But Does Not, Know’
While my response may indeed be captious, carping, please, don’t throw out the baby with the bath water [New York, “100 Words One Should, But Does Not, Know,” June 13, 2007].
“Interpolate” is a perfectly functional term when used, or “inserted,” mathematically to indicate that .4156 is “slightly more than one-third” or that .4796 is “slightly less than one-half.”
Both of these “interpolations” can be termed “spurious” or “false” but they are based upon technically valid and educated conclusions derived from arithmetical averaging.
I “interpolate,” in the mathematical sense, nearly every day. Although I may not “insert” the result in any positive form, except as a personal “judgment call.”
Specialized words, such as “palimpsest,” “interpolate,” and “abstemious” are of use by and to the educated population although they may be of little use to the general public. Such terms ought to become part of a non-“abstemious” high school graduate’s expanded vocabulary.
EDITH RIGHTS
Retired librarian
Upper Montclair, N.J.
‘Yeshiva Seeks Boycott Solidarity’
Your readers might be interested in knowing that CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein issued the following statement on June 4, 2007 [New York, “Yeshiva Seeks Boycott Solidarity,” June 19, 2007].
“The recent boycott motion passed by Britain’s University and College Union against scholars who work in Israeli universities deeply puzzles and disappoints me. There is no place in the global theater of open scholarly exchange for such damaging actions. On the contrary, what we need is the encouragement and expansion of interaction across borders among researchers who have important findings to contribute for review and discussion. I hope that those responsible for this misguided call for a boycott quickly rescind their directive.”
JAY HERSHENSON
Senior Vice Chancellor for University Relations
Secretary
Board of Trustees
City University of New York
New York, N.Y.
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