Naval Intelligence
As a retired career naval officer, I am shocked by Ambassador William Crowe's statement that the U.S. Navy is anti-intellectual ("An Admiral at the Court of St. James's," September/October). The sole reason for permitting officers to gain knowledge on a full-time basis--with full pay and allowances--is to qualify them for higher command, and it is evident that such study did not hinder his advancement.
Concerning the anecdote about the lack of interest on the part of a superior to Crowe's paper: rejection of a staff officer's idea is not per se anti-intellectual. I would be extremely surprised if Admiral Crowe at some point in his distinguished career had not rejected the considered advice of a subordinate.
Paul D. Speer Jr. '53
Northfield, Illinois
Wall Street
Charlie Webster's article, "My Uneasy Truce with Wall Street" (September/ October), conveys a familiar Stanford conflict. Reflected in the pages of Stanford, with its ads for corporate jets and luxury cars alongside articles championing justice for the marginalized, it may be crassly phrased: To be a truly successful Stanford grad, you must save the world and become a multimillionaire.
The University's predominantly liberal agenda fosters an acute and informed sense of the injustices of our society, while the overwhelmingly preprofessional campus atmosphere privileges earnings and status. Stanford ought to be honest about the sacrifices its teachings involve. Sooner or later, the world demands a choice.
Dwight J. Zscheile, '93
New Haven, Connecticut
Not-So-Naughty Professor
As the step-granddaughter of Thorstein Veblen, I was interested to read Alex Beam's article, "The Naughty Professor" (September/October). Especially interesting was the fact that he took his information about Veblen's "domestic affairs" from Joseph Dorfman's biography, even though a great number of researchers have discovered how erroneous this work is.
Dorfman's papers, now available for study at Columbia University, show that he was in possession of information about Veblen but chose to ignore it because it made Veblen look less "naughty."
The fact was that Veblen had a very unhappy marriage with his first wife, Ellen, which was never consummated because she was physically unable to have intimate marital relations. In addition, Ellen was unstable and had spread unfounded rumors about Veblen's purported womanizing. Nonetheless, Veblen was very protective of his wife and stoically suffered her slanders.
Esther Meyers Baran
San Francisco, California
Thorstein Veblen is often rated the greatest critic of the capitalist system. He also has been quoted as saying " . . . but it works." Many of us feel his dismissal was related to his outspoken critique of the few wealthy, circa 1907. The piece seemed to emphasize the "naughty" handle.
Alton S. Kuhl, '42
Erie, Pennsylvania
Extreme Computer Hell
In reference to your article "Computer Hell" (September/October): There used to be a very nice computer available. It was called NeXT, and I had one. It ran continuously for five years with never a problem. It was the only computer I have ever enjoyed.
My colleagues badgered me into replacing it with a PC. They called my computer a LaST. They called it an Edsel. They insisted that I needed to be on the same platform they were on so that we could share documents. I gave in.
I now have a PC with all the MS and MS "compatible" software packages. I live in extreme computer hell. I won't trouble you with my stories; you wouldn't have room to print it all anyway. Maybe this is the PC world's way of exacting payback for my NeXT purchase.
Mark Linne, MA '79, PhD '85
Golden, Colorado
Another View of Hong Kong
In the 10 months that I've been in Hong Kong, I've seen creeping changes elicit reactions other than the "sense of optimism" and "feeling of relief" described in Lydia Chiu's article, "Sailing Into History" (July/August). I've seen new police, sporting olive-drab uniforms, hassling tourists and expatriates for their passports and visas. I've seen immigration and customs officers shamelessly singling out Indian, Filipino and Middle-Eastern travelers. For the non-Chinese Hong Kong residents, the handover is anything but glorious.
I don't doubt that the Hong Kong I (like Ms. Chiu) fell in love with will continue: a vibrant, glitzy, 100-mph, in-your-face city that lives, breathes and dreams free-market opportunity.
However, I also don't doubt that the Hong Kong I hate--a city where the newspaper routinely publishes maps showing respiratory cancer rates, and where the water color changes daily based on what the textile factories are doing--has lost any chance it had to get better.
Richard Marshall, '92
Tai Tam, Hong Kong
Just Two Sexes?
Our culture conceives that humans come in two clearly distinguished sexes. The fact that many people are born with ambiguous sex contradicts this world view. Since the 1950s, it has been standard medical practice to use drastic surgical means to alter these children's bodies, rather than the faulty world view. Sally Lehrman notes that about 20 children are treated this way at the Stanford Medical Center each year (Stanford Today, " Woman," May/June).
These surgeries are based on untested models of sexual development, and follow-up has never been done. This year the issue finally erupted in the media. Courageous former patients are now overcoming shame and secrecy, stepping forward to report that these medically unnecessary genital surgeries have left them with pain, scarring, stenosis, sexual dysfunction and emotional trauma. Sadly, many physicians have been hesitant to listen to these former patients.
It's time to acknowledge that our 40-year experiment in treating genital ambiguity with surgery has been a failure. By listening to adult intersexuals, we can learn how medicine can help, rather than compounding an already difficult psycho-social issue.
Cheryl Chase
Executive Director
Intersex Society of North America
San Francisco, California
Virginia, not Houston
It is easy to be optimistic about Stanford basketball when the front line will be anchored around the 7-foot, 240-pound Collins twins.
But I am perplexed by Jeff Brazil's statement that the original Twin Towers moniker "was first coined in the 1980s when Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson starred for the University of Houston" (Stanford Today, " Twin Towers," September/October). I think you will find that Sampson attended the University of Virginia.
Steve McKae, '69
Danville, California
Keeping Us Up to Date
Just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed reading the " Class of 2000" articles as well as " A Year in the Life of the Farm" (Stanford Today, July/August). Both did a good job of keeping alums up to date about life on campus.
Brian Border, '95
San Francisco, California
More on the Mommy Maze
I was happy to see in the letters column of your last issue that I was not the only one offended by the narrow assumptions in " The Mommy Maze" (July/August 1997). The article implies it is the mother who has to take time off to raise kids. After 10 years of both my husband and I working full time, it was my husband who volunteered to stay home last year. We have a very simple lifestyle and are fortunate that my income as an internist can support this. I expect that in the future I may reduce my work schedule and my husband may re-enter the work force.
Except for being the childbearer and the source of the breast milk, the dad can (and probably should) be equally involved in every aspect of child rearing.
Mary A. Shepard, '74
Vancouver, Washington
I read with amazement the bitter and sexist letter written by Professor Marjorie Perloff in which she disparaged Wendy Petersmeyer, '76, for staying home to raise her family (Letters, September/October, 1997). Professor Perloff apparently made the decision long ago to let her own family be raised by "a wonderful housekeeper who never went beyond the ninth grade." Wendy Petersmeyer, however, chose a Stanford graduate to raise hers!
Helen Mahtaban
Alpine, New Jersey
It saddens me that in 1997 Stanford would have a professor as narrow-minded as Marjorie Perloff. Her letter revealed prejudices that are out of place at an educational institution. For example, her reference to children as "mindless" and her belief that one's ability to raise a family is not enhanced by an education beyond the ninth grade evidence her disrespect for the value of nurturing the next generation. I may respect Ms. Perloff's academic achievements, but I invite her to open her mind and see the value in raising a child.
Caroline Seibert Goray, '81
Raleigh, North Carolina
I am glad that Professor Perloff has been able to accomplish her goals and delegate most of the child-raising responsibilities to her housekeeper; I am appalled by her arrogant position that child raising is an inappropriate task for an educated person.
James P. Hodges Jr., '80
Atlanta, Georgia
The best mother for any child is a happy mother. If the woman is wishing she were somewhere else, the most immediate recipient of her unhappiness is the child in her care, or the partner who is co-parenting the child. If the CEO of a prestigious company thinks she is shortchanging her child, she is probably right. If the stay-at-home mother thinks that child-rearing is sabotaging her career path, and it would be different if she were back at work, she is probably right. Each woman needs to choose what is right for her and for her child.
What Professor Perloff seems to be advocating is that women who make a choice other than the one she made are inferior and not worthy of a Stanford education. While I am not the Sadie Dernham Patek Professor of Humanities, I did manage to get three school bond measures passed; get a computer lab at an elementary school started; get books into the school libraries; supervise children on the playground at lunch; run the fund-raiser that provided the extra classroom aide for the overcrowded classroom; write and distribute the press releases and newsletters that provide information to the parents who aren't at the school. And, most importantly of all, be the mother who loves my children to pieces, right or wrong, good or bad, clean or dirty, laughing or miserable. While a nanny might be able to pack the lunch or drive the carpool with the best of us, I refuse to believe that anyone could replace all the things I do for my children (and yours), no matter how much they are paid.
Gina McMillan Wulff, '80
Mountain View, California
I cannot believe that Stanford magazine chose to publish Professor Marjorie Perloff's absurd letter.
Giving birth and raising children are the ultimate creative expression of our lives. Children emulate in words and actions the people with whom they spend their time. To state that a high school dropout is better qualified to raise her children than a Stanford graduate is insulting to those of us who are at home with our children and to all women who are exploring home and career options. We cannot spend just a few hours each day with our children and hope that they will learn how to successfully function in our society. Life is full of mundane tasks regardless of whether we have children or not, and not everyone has a housekeeper to perform them for us. Opinions like hers lead to the failure of our children to function and grow into responsible adults. Children need their parents.
Khristine Holterman, '90
Belmont, Massachusetts
Professor Perloff writes that her ninth-grade educated housekeeper has the skills and energy to drive, shop, cook and bathe the children in a manner comparable to Wendy Petersmeyer, Stanford grad and at-home mom.
She and the rest of the self-absorbed professional women who pay others to take care of their children so they can have what they want have missed the entire point. Providing for the physical safety of children is only the tip of the iceberg of what motherhood is all about. And yet, it's all that those day-care kids really get.
You can pay a nanny to shuttle children, wash and feed them. You cannot pay someone to love your child as only you can love them. You cannot pay someone to be a mother to your child.
Dugan Carlson Slovenski, '81
Brunswick, Maine
My Swiss husband and I made an important decision together 19 years ago when our first son was born. Since much of my personal satisfaction came from my work here with future teachers, my husband realized that he would have an unhappy, homesick wife if he had expected me to stay home all the time. So, he announced that he was reducing his workload, and spending the rest of his time at home raising his children and sharing the household duties.
Our three children have had the special privilege of having both parents for part of the time (we both work 60 percent), and never having to have other caregivers, except for the occasional grandmother, neighbor or aunt for a day or two. I have met with lots of setbacks in public and at work, but this "conservative" Swiss society did allow for a solution that sounds more like equal rights than what I read about in your article.
Pamela Gasser-Newman, MA '69
Oberneunforn, Switzerland
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