Download this issue as a PDF - Columbia College - Columbia ...

Volume 40 Number 3
Spring 2013
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
Alex Sachare ’71
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Lisa Palladino
MANAGING EDITOR
Alexis Tonti ’11 Arts
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Elena Hecht ’09 Barnard
FORUM EDITOR
Rose Kernochan ’82 Barnard
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Shira Boss ’93, ’97J, ’98 SIPA
EDITORIAL INTERN
Karl Daum ’15
DESIGN CONSULTANT
Jean-Claude Suarès
ART DIRECTOR
Gates Sisters Studio
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Chris Balmer ’07
Eileen Barroso
Bruce Gilbert
Leslie Jean-Bart ’76, ’77J
Matthew Septimus
Published quarterly by the
Columbia College Office of
Alumni Affairs and Development for
alumni, students, faculty, parents and
friends of Columbia College.
SENIOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
OF ALUMNI AFFAIRS
Bernice Tsai ’96
Address all correspondence to:
Columbia College Today
Columbia Alumni Center
622 W. 113th St., MC 4530, 6th Fl.
New York, NY 10025
212-851-7852
E-mail (editorial): cct@columbia.edu;
(advertising): cctadvertising@columbia.edu.
Online: college.columbia.edu/cct and
facebook.com/columbiacollegetoday.
ISSN 0572-7820
Opinions expressed are those of the
authors and do not reflect official
positions of Columbia College
or Columbia University.
© 2013 Columbia College Today
All rights reserved.
Letters to the Editor
Pride of the Lions
I enjoyed the profile of psychology professor
Herbert Terrace [Winter 2012–13].
I enrolled in his introductory psychology
class in the early 1970s and found myself
intrigued by the subject matter. I distinctly
remember the sleepless “all-nighter”
cramming for the final exam. Afterward,
I changed majors from pre-architecture to
psychology. Professors such as Terrace and
Eugene Galanter, a noted psychophysicist,
exemplify the scientific side of psychology
rather than the pop-psychology that permeates
our culture. Professor Norma V.S.
Graham taught my first statistics class,
and I studied graduate-level statistics at
Michigan with Professor David H. Krantz,
who’s now at Columbia.
Since those college days, I’ve made a
pretty good career teaching psychology
at a South Texas community college. I am
grateful to the world-class university that
opened its doors to a confused 18-year-old
from the borderlands, and to all the great
professors who serve as role models of
academic excellence.
Ismael Dovalina ’74
San Antonio, Texas
It’s been 44 years since the night of “the
bust” in 1968, but I’ll never forget Professor
[Ronald] Breslow’s actions that long night.
As one of the walking wounded, having
been whacked in the head by a Tactical Patrol
Force billy club while simply observing
the commotion (and following orders to
disperse), I was wandering around outside
the locked campus when he magically appeared,
extremely disturbed by what had
just happened to our sacrosanct temple of
learning. It was 4 a.m. and nobody could
get back into their dorms. Professor Breslow
gathered as many students as he could
fit in his car and drove us over the GW
Bridge to his home. I remember watching
the sun rise as we headed for safety. He fed
us and allowed us to sleep a bit before returning
us to campus. I was able to wash
my bloody hair.
Professor Breslow’s freshman chemistry
class stands out in my memory. He
made chemistry magical! Now rewired
from a 35-year career as an emergency
physician, I have pivoted into fighting
climate change. Whenever discussing
ocean acidification — the process of adding
club soda to the seas — I think of him.
That means that Ron Breslow resides in
my heart and soul. Thank you, Columbia,
for Professor Breslow. He is a great teacher
and humanitarian.
Dr. Peter G. Joseph ’70
San Anselmo, Calif.
I read with great pleasure “Pride of the
Lions” [Winter 2012–13]. Of the four featured
professors, my contact was in the
mid-’60s with Professor David Sidorsky.
As an undergraduate I took a series of inspiring
courses with him. It was he who
awakened me from my “dogmatic slumbers”
(to borrow the words of Kant). I will
remember Professor Sidorsky’s lucid and
penetrating lectures as well as his quickness
of mind and amazing serenity during
class discussions. His intelligence, wit
and unfailing kindness to his students
impressed me deeply; now, many years
later, I think of him with great respect and
admiration. It is wonderful to know that
he is still going strong.
Douglas E. Golde ’66
New York City
At the end of my second year of pre-med
at Columbia in 1966, I was struggling, seriously
discouraged and having grave doubts
about my ability to become a physician. This
all changed in September of that year, when
I walked into Ron Breslow’s organic chemistry
class. As any physician knows, organic
chemistry is the course that in those days
“separated the men from the boys.”
Professor Breslow took a course with a
terrifying reputation and made it a wonderful,
exciting year of detective work and
problem solving. His inspirational teaching
turned my academic career around,
enabling me to become a physician educator.
I was happy to see that many sub-
sequent generations of Columbia students
have benefited from Professor
Breslow’s superb teaching style. I will
forever be grateful to him.
Dr. Daniel L. Lorber ’68
Port Washington, N.Y.
Gutmann, a Good Man
I am reading the fabulous Winter
2012–13 issue that arrived a day or
so ago, and am brought to a halt halfway
down page 19, in the piece about
Professor [David] Sidorsky (whom of
course I never encountered as a student
though he sounds quite interesting).
You name a James Goodman as
one of his early teachers, but I think
Sidorsky must have meant philosophy
professor James Gutmann (Class
of 1918, ’36 GSAS), who together with
professor Robert Carey ’29 GSAS led a
fascinating advanced CC course that I
attended in the 1948–49 academic year,
a course that kept us all on our toes
thinking hard about where the world
we were then living in was going as
well as how it had gotten to where it
then stood. Both Gutmann and Carey
were fabulous teachers, and I believe
Gutmann should be remembered by
his correct name; he never changed it,
and was a good man indeed.
Joseph B. Russell ’49
New York City
Professor James Gutmann (Class of 1918, ’36 GSAS)
at his apartment in 1979.
PHOTO: NICK ROMANENKO ’82
Scientific Methods
Unfortunately, the article on Professor
Carl Hart [Winter 2012–13] doesn’t say
what scientific procedure he used to get
his findings on drug use. The North Star
of scientific method is double blind experimentation
but this isn’t usually used
with humans when it involves a substance
suspected of being harmful. The
tobacco industry rightly says that high
statistical correlation between smoking
and lung cancer doesn’t prove that the
former causes the latter. (For instance, a
chromosome that has a gene for a tendency
to smoke can also have a gene for a
tendency for lung cancer.) Nevertheless,
the statistics and experiments with rats
make us wary of smoking. But Professor
Hart belittles the usefulness of experiments
with rats. I see nothing unethical
about not experimenting on people. The
opposite can be unethical, as when blacks
were purposely given syphilis without
their knowledge. That may be scientific,
but not ethical. I assume Professor Hart
did nothing like that, but just what did he
do I’d like to know the details of experiments
rather than know how his personal
history gives him insights.
Donald Marcus ’55
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Who Should Be Admired
Eric Foner ’63, ’69 GSAS states [Winter
2012–13] that the talk show of Rush Limbaugh
shows “overt racism.” This is an
example of Foner’s McCarthyite smear
tactics, whereby he smears a radio show
without disclosing any facts to substantiate
his statement. Furthermore, he states
we should admire the American radicals,
as these are the “people who are trying to
make this a better society.” Really What
about all the Democrats and Republicans
who have made this a better society —
or does he think there are none In addition,
I personally witnessed the thugs
in the Students for a Democratic Society
who used force to prevent my friend from
participating in naval ROTC exercises on
the campus. Other members of this organization
burned our campus. I do not feel
that the violence and totalitarianism of the
American radicals in the past few decades
made the United States a better society. I
do agree that radicals in the 19th century
were different. I made a pilgrimage to the
gravesite of my hero John Brown in Elba
(Lake Placid), N.Y. I do not feel that the
violent tactics of the radical left will
make this a better society. That is why
my parents escaped from the horrors of
the Nazis and the Communists.
Dr. Roman Kernitsky ’62
Colts Neck, N.J.
Honoring Brig. Gen. Smith
I was pleased to see the report of Scott
Smith ’86’s promotion to brigadier general
in the U.S. Air Force reported in the
Alumni in The News section of the Winter
2012–13 issue. His dedicated service
to our country and his record of leadership
and achievement in our armed
forces clearly deserve this recognition.
As a guest at the ceremonies, I also
was impressed by the number of Scott’s
family, friends and colleagues who
gathered for this milestone in his career.
Columbia graduates who participated
in the three-day celebration in Coral
Gables, Fla., included John Murphy ’86,
Pat McGarrigle ’86, Jack Merrick ’86,
Matt Barr ’87, Arthur “Bunyan” Ajzenman
’83, Dr. Michael Goldfischer ’86
and Dominic DeCicco ’84E.
I am happy to report that neither the
appearances nor the strongly held opinions
of any of these Columbians seem to
have changed since the mid-1980s.
Andrew Upton ’85
Boston
CCT welcomes letters from readers about
articles in the magazine but cannot print or
personally respond to all letters received.
Letters express the views of the writers
and not CCT, the College or the University.
Please keep letters to 250 words or fewer.
All letters are subject to editing for space
and clarity. Please direct letters for publication
“to the editor” via mail or online:
college.columbia.edu/cct/contactus.
Manage Your
Subscription
If you prefer reading CCT online, you
can help us go green and save money
by opting out of the print edition. Click
“Manage Your Subscription” at college.
columbia.edu/cct and follow the domestic
instructions. We will continue to
notify you by email when each issue is
posted online. You may be reinstated to
receive the print edition at any time by
sending a note to cct@columbia.edu.
SPRING 2013
4
SPRING 2013
5