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idols, or learning tools?

Regarding the article by Tyler Bridges about John Rick’s discovery of a Peruvian underground maze (“What Lies Beneath,” January/February), it seems out of place to refer to these artifacts as “elaborate carved idols,” or to areas as “chambers [that] housed rituals designed to win converts and strengthen priests’ influence.” These comments show an ignorance of the knowledge base in schools and temples of initiation. Anywhere there is a maze, there were initiations going on, and the initiations were to press the student into experiencing knowledge that was taught. The “chambers” could have been teaching areas, or areas to practice
what was taught until the students had accomplished particular experiences.
The so-called “idols” [could have been] symbolic representations of tremendous ancient knowledge, not worshipped but focused upon to trigger in the brain
of the initiate what he had been taught and to catapult him into the experience
of that knowledge.

I am a student in such a school, and that is why the language describing the Peruvian archeological site sounds so mismatched and out of place. My school is a Gnostic school, an ancient school of wisdom, fully equipped with elaborate maze, teaching hall, areas to practice and press ourselves into experiencing the knowledge by becoming it. For reference, you can contact the Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment in Yelm, Wash., or www.ramtha.com.

Leilani Macmillan
Yelm, Washington

after the accident

Your article on Joe Kay really applies to my situation (“Boy, Interrupted,” January/February). I am a 27-year-old woman who had a spinal cord injury about nine months ago. I was bicycling with my boyfriend near Santa Rosa when we were hit by a drunk driver. My boyfriend was killed instantly. My injuries were extensive: a T-12 spinal injury and brain injury. I have a bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and a master’s degree from San Jose State, but my memory is so bad now.

Being in a wheelchair is so different from the active life I used to lead. I know it can be good still, but I feel that I have lost so much. Because I am all about research, I would be willing to try out anything. Thank you for publishing that article.

Jill Mason
Grass Valley, California

memorable links

I thoroughly enjoyed “Green Acres” in the January/February issue. It brought back great memories of playing the Stanford Golf Course, which is five years older than I am. Just getting better every year.

During the late ’60s I was a graduate student and employee at the computing center. We used to play about once a week back then—mostly only the front nine, as other duties prevented taking the time for 18 holes. I have also taken some pride in playing the same course Tiger played while he was at Stanford, although he played it some 30 years later and probably in about 30 strokes less.

Now I am retired and playing once a week again in the Vancouver, Wash., (and Portland, Ore.) area. My handicap is about the same as back then, as there were many years of playing about once a year in the interim. The article got me thinking how much fun it would be to come play the Stanford course again. Perhaps one of these months, when I visit my son and three grandchildren in San Francisco, we’ll just come down the Peninsula for a quick 18. Thanks for the memories.

Lyle Smith, PhD ’69
Vancouver, Washington

stem cell funding

In the story entitled “What the Stem Cell Initiative Means” (Farm Report, January/February), you write: “An August 2001 presidential decision restricts the use of federal funds for embryonic stem cell research to pre-existing cell lines.” You fail to mention that prior to August 2001 there were no federal funds available for embryonic stem cell research.

Stacy Mazzalupo, ’93
Tucson, Arizona

winners and sinners

Your magazine gets better with each issue. I really enjoy the broadness of the coverage. Just about all the articles were of interest.

Especially so was the note about the late George Yardley (“Hall of Famer,” Class Notes, January/February). He was one of my sports heroes when I was at Stanford. In that regard, I am always interested in what happened to prominent sports or other figures after their careers finished.

Keep up the fantastic job. You have the touch.

Mark Thomas Jr., ’51
San Jose, California

I’ve just read your news report on the Class of ’99 (Class Notes, January/ February) and stumbled on “a couple triathlons.” Which correspondent is responsible for that ghastly solecism? Or is the magazine editor to blame for dropping the “of”? Anyhow, let’s not see it happen again.

Charles Getchell, ’51, JD ’54
Ipswich, Massachusetts

'Leave us alone'

Nathaniel Corum’s parry (“Native Names Revisited,” Letters, January/ February)
to my critique of his involvement with the Turtle Mountain Ojibwe said, “I always refer to tribal communities by the names they use themselves. Laura McDaniel took the same approach. . . .”

What Corum and McDaniel fail to realize is that “Chippewa” appears on Turtle Mountain tribal letterhead and license plates because it is the name forced on the Turtle Mountain people by the federal government. Their federally recognized name is Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians. Therefore, they refer to themselves as “Chippewa” in their dealings with “white” people and, it should go without saying, they are not from India.

Since Corum is either zhaa-ga-naa-shi or muk-ah-day-wii-yas (both non-Ojibwe), he doesn’t have the opportunity to hear how native-speaking Ojibwe actually refer to themselves. He doesn’t know “the names they use themselves.”

Further, Corum states his “objective . . . is to build positive, cross-cultural relationships while constructing sustainable buildings. . . .” He fails to appreciate the fact that the Ojibwe have lived in the cold north for a long time, and they really don’t need his help. If he wants to achieve his “positive, cross-cultural relationship” objective, he needs to learn a lot more about Ojibwe culture and values. When he is trusted and accepted by at least one traditional elder (gi-zhe-aya’aa), he might be able to provide culturally acceptable “sustainable buildings” that will actually be used after he is gone.

The Ojibwe have endured the horror of Christian missionaries and their boarding schools and, more recently, President Johnson’s VISTA workers. We have survived, but with significant cultural scars.

While I am required to leave it to the Turtle Mountain Anishinabe-Ojibwe to make their own decisions about Corum’s buildings, I hope he never discovers the Leech Lake community. The Leech Lake Ojibwe, like many other indigenous communities, have incurred irreparable harm by “well-intentioned” people like Corum. I realize it’s a pipe dream, but I wish the well-intended would simply leave us alone so that our language and culture can recover.

Gi-zhe ma-ni-doo, zha-we-ni-mi-shin, wii-doo-kaw-wii-shin. Ji-gwa-ya-ko bi-mo-se-yaan ah-king.

Robert A. Fairbanks, MA ’84
Leech Lake Ojibwe
Norman, Oklahoma

conventions and values

There are two things in David Brodwin’s letter (“Thoughts on Torture,” January/February) that I cannot let pass without comment.

First, it is not the kind of war we are fighting that insures that the Geneva Conventions do not apply. It is the kind of war the terrorists are fighting. It is the lack of command structure, lack of uniforms, beheadings instead of prisoner exchange, and ignoring the rules of war between states that are spelled out in the Conventions in their attempt to “civilize” war. We have every right to take these prisoners out and shoot them as irregulars or spies. The fact that the conventions do not apply is not based on a “legalistic argument,” but rather on the plain language of the treaty itself (third Convention, article IV, paragraph 2).

Second, I am appalled that the author excuses the methods used by the terrorists on the basis that the Muslims might lose otherwise. If terrorists would lose without terrorist methods, then when they eschewed such acts, there might not even be a war. Is this a game, like golf, where we handicap the weaker players just to make things “fair”? Absurd.

I think Brodwin probably reaches the correct conclusions, but it is sophistry to claim that adhering to the language of the agreement is “legalistic,” and to condone terrorist methods is as vile as his stance on torture is lofty.

Clay Thomson, ’51, MD ’56
San Francisco, California

Greg Miller’s article on torture (“Bound by Convention,” November/December) was interesting, but chilling. Our collective hatred and fear of terrorism has clouded our conscience. The question seems to be what we can get away with. Torture is just plain wrong. Do we want some future enemy to treat his American prisoners that way?

Consider that several hundred Guantanamo prisoners were released about two years after being taken, only because of some legal proceedings. Obviously the captors concluded they had no legitimate reason to keep them. But after two years of limited torture? What has happened to our values?

Richard Deich, ’49, JD ’51
Lake Oswego, Oregon

population and pollution

It would take a complete disregard of knowledge to ignore the dangers of both global warming and overpopulation. However, linking the two as Jackie Leonard-Dimmick does just proves that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing (“Preventing Nineveh,” Letters, January/February).

First, what is the positive correlation when the industrialized nations are both the ones with the lowest population growth (negative in a few instances) and also, by large margins, the largest contributors to global warming through pollution of the environment?

Second, poorer nations tend to have higher populations for such reasons as the need for more children for agricultural or menial work to support a family. Rather than giving the yuppie answers about double-paned windows and the types of light bulbs to use, Ms. Leonard-Dimmick would be of much greater help if she’d spend more time supporting both better regulation in the First World and more advancement in the Third.

David Teich, MS ’88
Petach Tikva, Israel

rancher's heritage

Paul Rogers’s narrative about what Cindy and Roger Lang are doing to protect the heritage of the Montana ranchland is a wonderful example of Stanford graduates utilizing successes in one area to foster successes in a totally unrelated activity (“Betting the Ranch,” November/ December). I am not surprised by Roger Lang’s accomplishments in either field, because he had excellent role models, including his father.

Roger Lang Sr. trained in anesthesiology at Stanford in the 1970s, when the department of anesthesia was undergoing rapid change and growth. Roger proved to be an ideal resident who provided stature and leadership to his resident colleagues as well as to the department. Upon finishing his training, Roger went into private practice in the East Bay where he became a highly respected, sought-after clinician. He has represented Stanford well in his professional career, as well as providing his son with the guidance and resources necessary to achieve his own aspirations.

C. Philip Larson Jr., MD ’51, MS ’87
Professor emeritus, anesthesia and neurosurgery
Los Angeles, California

museum clarification

“Telling Untold Stories“ (Showcase, November/December) states that Elizabeth Colton “started the Women’s Heritage Museum in Palo Alto.” She would be the first to tell you that when she was “scouring the Bay Area for a place where her daughter could learn about women’s achievements” she found that there was such a place, and it was indeed in Palo Alto, and it was called the Women’s Heritage Museum. But it had been founded by my wife, Jeanne Farr McDonnell, in 1985, and she was its unpaid director for over a decade, in Palo Alto and after it moved to San Francisco. The quarterly newsletters she mailed out were eagerly read. She had a book fair every year, and the museum board created the Jeanne Farr McDonnell award for the best book written by a woman during the year.

When Jeanne retired a few years ago, Elizabeth took it under her wing, and deserves the credit for it since. She changed its name to the International Museum of Women, to emphasize her more global interests.

Eugene McDonnell
Palo Alto, California

revisiting the professor

I was delighted to read the tribute to Professor Charles Fairman (“Unforgettable Teachers,” Class Notes, November/ December). He was my adviser from 1950 to 1952 and I took each course offered by him. I went into the Army in 1952, and at some point he moved to Washington University in St. Louis. I started Harvard Law School in 1954 and Professor Fairman joined its faculty in 1956, when I again had the opportunity of taking a course on American legal history from him.

After his retirement, he moved to La Jolla, Calif. Professor Fairman wrote Volumes VI, VII and the supplement to VII of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise History of the Supreme Court of the United States. I made yearly trips to La Jolla to visit with the Fairmans, and each trip gave me real joy.

Paul L. Davies, ’52
Lafayette, California

america asleep

President John Hennessy’s column (“Getting Serious About Science,” November/ December) spoke to the need for revitalization of American science and technology. Welcome as his message was, we see that the wake-up call has already come, but it has been ignored. The wake-up call is known as global warming.

There was a seminal feature of the Sputnik threat that is missing from the global warming threat. Sputnik could be and was characterized as a military threat of godless communism. The Kremlin bogeymen were howling at our nation’s gates—well, over our skies, actually. Worse, it was a profitless economic system that had gotten into space first.

Had we real leadership in Washington today as we had then, global warming would be the great cause to unite and galvanize our nation into action. A sense of excitement in working together toward a common goal would again lift our nation’s spirit and stimulate our industry to great achievement.

Ironically, nations that are even now responding to this looming catastrophe will experience growth in science and technology, which will bring them substantial economic and cultural riches to our own detriment. America will one day be forced to deal with its wasteful ways. But when we do finally take action, we will be buying essential equipment and processes designed and built in Europe and Asia.
The cost to our quality of life and to our national pride will be steep indeed.

Robert G. Shelton, ’57
Walnut Creek, California

about palestine

Parroting the mantra of Osama bin Laden and Yassir Arafat, STANFORD has published a letter propagating the myth that “Palestine” exists today (“Ethics for Some?” November/December) and repeatedly publishes pieces referring to “Palestine” as if it were a sovereign Arab country. That’s false. There has never, ever been a sovereign Arab state called Palestine. Palestine hasn’t existed for nearly six decades, and back then it was a British mandate for Jews. This land is now called Israel. I know; I live here.

Of course, bin Laden and his followers avoid using the name “Israel” because it recalls that this is the historic homeland of the Jews.

In truth, as the PLO’s Zahir Muhsein admitted to the Dutch newspaper Trouw (3/31/77), “The Palestinian people does not exist.” He explained that there is no difference between Arabs in Israel, Syria or Jordan, but that for tactical reasons the PLO has fostered the image of a distinct Arab population in Israel so that it could claim all of Israel and displace Jews from their Biblical homeland. That’s not just discrimination on the basis of religion. That’s bigotry. And that’s the goal that Stanford advances when it propagates the propaganda of Osama bin Laden and other suicide bombers. Shame on you.

Naomi Robinson, ’89
Bet El, Israel

unsanctioned love

While you probably do not want to engage in a long exchange of letters on the subject of gay marriage, I feel that I must respond to those who failed to read my previous letter correctly (“Sexuality, Marriage and Vitriol,“ November/December).

My statement about the love between a 60-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl was, admittedly, an outrageous example. My point was that all forms of love do not need to be formally recognized by society, a point that many correspondents seemingly agreed with even though they may disagree as to where the line should be drawn.

Ronald G. Bailey, ’66
Dilsen-Stokkem, Belgium

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