Pillar of Truth I could not agree more with Paul Pillar ’69 [“A Dissenting Opinion,” Nov/Dec 2010]. I was in Vietnam for almost two years with the Marines. I have wished ever since I could think reasonably (post-Dartmouth) that our generals and admirals would have the courage to say, “No, Mr. President. I will not send my men and women into harm’s way, this is not in the country’s best interest and flies in the face of lessons learned from Korea, Vietnam and Iraq.” Those senior officers should resign in protest on behalf of the nation and their serving men and women. Veterans of Korea, Vietnam and the mess we are in now must wonder whether it is really worth the treasure and blood. Not since WW II have we been able to say yes.

Howard V. Bucknam ’58 Minneapolis

Picking up your Nov/Dec issue I intended to scan it briefly to see if there was anything that would interest my husband, Allen W. Phillips ’43. Because of his severe macular degeneration I often do this for him. To my surprise, just about everything was of interest—one of the most enjoyable magazine readings I’ve had in a long time and a pleasure for me and my husband. Please keep this up and we will both look forward to receiving DAM.

Dorothy Phillips Escondido, California

Lodge Comes Alive! C.J. Hughes ’92 did a great job of describing the uniqueness of the Lodge in 1975 [“Checking In,” Nov/Dec 2010]. However, he began his story with one inaccuracy—I was the fourth ’79 who, with Paul Krupka, Thomas Carlson and Douglas Furth, hatched the plan to combine rooms via use of the adjoining doors. It worked quite well to not only have a “music” room, but to have it also serve as a separate study room. With four roommates, it seemed someone was always trying to sleep (or recover from a ’tails party) while someone else needed to finish a class assignment. Since each side had its own bathroom even the natural consequences of too much coffee (or alcohol) by a few did not disturb the slumber of the many. The only drawback? I recall learning to really hate Peter Frampton!

David Lee Reed ’79 Syracuse, New York

While not an ivy-covered brick dormitory, the Lodge had several major advantages for me as a freshman and sophomore (beyond the bathrooms shared by just two people, which were its primary, sight-unseen selling point): an air-forced heating system one could actually control, convenience to the Hop (I was a music major), student parking right outside my door and easy accessibility to commercial Hanover, including excellent ice cream and the eternal glories of C&A Pizza with its late-night mantra, “No pizza after 1:30.” Plus I made some of my best Dartmouth friends at the Lodge, and that, of course, is what matters most.

Samuel Dixon ’81 Morrow, Georgia

Miscalculation Thank you for the book excerpt by Takanobu Mitsui ’43 [“Date of Infamy,” Nov/Dec 2010]. It didn’t mention his major, but I hope it wasn’t geography! He writes that Hanover was some 10,000 miles from Pearl Harbor. Given the slow transportation of the early 1940s it must have seemed like that, but it’s more like only 5,000 miles.

Mark Stitham ’72 Kailua, Hawaii

Read, Write, Revolt Thank you for the outstanding Sept/Oct cover story about Frank B. Wilderson III ’78 by James Zug ’91 [“Emphasis Mine”]. It was truly a pleasure to read about the professor’s life and work. Wilderson’s commitment to social justice, creative expression and the life of the mind is compelling because of the thoughtful ways he has engaged contradictions and challenges. This was one of the most compelling pieces I have read in DAM.

Barbara Krauthamer ’89 Copake, New York

I found in the biographical narrative of “Emphasis Mine” a disturbing level of blame game. I felt subjected to an unrelenting and ultimately bewildering cavalcade of mishaps, miscarriages and calamities. Is a 12-year-old boy’s refusal to pledge allegiance to the flag in a parochial school a laudable event? I think not. You don’t show your gratitude for admission to a very selective school system by playing the dot on an exclamation point fashioned with human bodies and exhorting folks to “off the pigs.” Should anyone read or write racism into my gut reaction that would be revolting. I only wonder how long it will take for our more stentorian-toned brothers and sisters of color to recognize and resolve that theirs is a gift to share and not a score to settle.

Paul W. Quinlan ’60 South Natick, Massachusetts

Assuming DAM’s goal is to aggravate, alienate and anger a large portion of alumni, your Wilderson story scored big time! If you try that again, please report on a truly successful revolutionary, one arrested for more than simple trespass, with a Phi Beta academic record and notable achievements as a teacher of world-class misfits. The fee paid author Zug could better have been spent for a one-way Air Canada ticket to fly Wilderson to Havana, where the Castro brothers might bring him up to speed. Thus far he’s a pitiable flop. Why waste all that ink and paper?

Harry Hampton ’45 Exeter, New Hampshire

Book Lover Please, please, please make professors’ book recommendations a regular fixture of the Alumni Magazine [“Recommended Reading,” Sept/Oct 2010]. What a terrific idea. I downloaded half of them on my Kindle the day I saw the article!

Chris Brown ’86 Miami

Dirty Deeds In the “Campus” section of the Nov/Dec 2010 issue you incorrectly call the new Moosilauke crew bunkhouse the Class of ’81 Crew Cabin. Bunk! It is a gift from the great class of 1984, which conceived, designed, engineered, built and paid for it. I know, because after class president Geoff Berlin ’84 made me write a check, I was kidnapped by Chuck Goss ’84 and pressed into labor on it. While I cut siding boards, Viva Hardigg ’84 nailed them up under the direction of foreman Dave Hooke ’84, as Chuck collected and heaved boulders to form the side stoop. Although we certainly had help from other classes (mainly sprightly members of the current lodge crew), I saw no ’81s getting dirty that day.

Al Chaker ’84 Virginia Beach, Virginia

The Predators Before Don Richardson ’52 chooses again to make such serious accusations [“Letters,” Sept/Oct 2010] he ought to use his own central nervous system to do some fact checking. Tim Geithner ’83 may be a “predatory thief” (although I doubt it; you’ll have to ask TurboTax to be sure), but he was certainly not a Wall Street thief, having never worked for Goldman Sachs or any other such Wall Street firm.

Louis Hall ’83 Chesterfield, Missouri

Richardson’s letter linking Geithner with former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson ’68 as “predatory Wall Street thieves” does a disservice to the former. As The New York Times reported on August 19 (“At Treasury, Geithner Struggles to Escape a Past He Never Had”), Geithner does not, in fact, have Wall Street experience, having worked for Kissinger Associates, the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in addition to Treasury. Those who oppose Secretary Geithner’s efforts should do so on substantive grounds rather than resorting to inaccurate name-calling.

Mark S. Sternman ’90 Cambridge, Massachusetts

A Cool Reaction No one denies that global warming is occurring; the cosmic question is why. It is not, as Anthony Newey ’56 asserts [“Letters,” Sept/Oct 2010], because atmospheric CO2 miraculously turns impinging ultraviolet into outgoing infrared! One of the two issues global warming Cassandras never address is why, if current temperature increase is caused by burning fossil fuels, did we ever have ice ages? Were the cavemen not burning enough wood? The second is the simple truth that 95 percent of global warming is not caused by humans, but by ever-changing solar activity. As Danish climatologist Hendrik Svensmark points out, cosmic rays hitting the earth form clouds. More cloud cover reflects more of the sun’s heat. We were at a cosmic radiation low (as evidenced by a complete lack of sun spots) just recently and the sun’s activity is already starting up again. Cloud covers will once again slowly increase and we will see a drop in global temperatures, no matter how much CO2 we pump into the atmosphere. This gradual temperature drop will infuriate the Gore-led priesthood, which has already been caught with their hands in the scientific cookie jar “correcting” the climate data to reflect their faith that mankind—especially profligate Americans—are inherently evil and must be stopped at all costs.

Tom Holzel ’63 Boston

I write to respond to Newey’s request for corrections to his statement on the leading source of CO2 to the atmosphere. “We all know where almost all of it [CO2] in the earth’s atmosphere comes from: the burning of fossil fuels by us humans,” he wrote. A simple Internet search on Wikipedia would have informed the writer that “95 percent of the total CO2 emissions are natural; for example, the decay of organic materials in forests and grasslands.” There are ample amounts of “voodoo science” built into all sides of the global warming debate.

Tom Merrick ’70 Naples, Florida

Field of Dreams Congratulations to the varsity baseball team for capturing its second consecutive Ivy title. One can only wonder, however, how far the team might have gone in the NCAAs if young Jason Heyward, son of Laura ’78 and Eugene Hayward ’81, Th’82 [“Seen & Heard,” July/Aug 2010], had been roaming right field for the Big Green this past spring instead of for the Atlanta Braves!

Philip K. Curtis ’67 Atlanta