Rochester Review/Summer 1988 I would like to compliment Elizabeth In "How Many Ways to Tell About Brayer .and the Review for enlightening me Time," John Cage is listed as "four score on an item of national and University his­ and 15" but since he was born September tory. I would like to suggest, however, that 5, 1912, according to Baker's Biographical LETTERS "Republic" should be capitalized in the Dictionary ofMusicians, it should have current version of the Salute to the Flag, read "three score and 15." That would just as it was in the original. Do you agree? make him 75 instead of 95, right? 10 THE Russell M. Lane, 'SSM Adele Page Manson '38E Sunderland, Mass. Tallmadge, Ohio It would seem to make sense. But the Cage is indeed young for his age, but the lower-case version now seems to be the discrepancy is not so great as the Review's generally accepted one - Editor. (faulty) fancy arithmetic would have it. From now on we think we'd better stick to Editor About Time Arabic numerals-Editor. Your article "How Many Ways to Tell About Time" in the Spring edition was in­ A Matter of Discrimination The Review welcomes letters from read­ tensely interesting in itself, but it also The Spring 1988 issue carried a nice story ers and will use as many ofthem as space touched a long-silent chord of nostalgia. about Todd Rosseau. However, I was ap­ permits. Letters may be edited for brevity During my freshman year (1940-41) I palled to read the statement that dyslexia and clarity. was one of the "pioneer" students in "does not discriminate between the mental­ Philosophy 10 the first year it was offered, ly gifted and the disabled." and it was a felicitous choice. The instruc­ I have been disabled since the age of 9 Salute to Bellamy tor was Robert J. Trayhern, and this was (many years ago) and while I will not claim the beginning of an academic association the description of mentally gifted, I did and personal friendship that lasted for receive a Ph.D. from Rochester in 1975. nearly 10 years. Perhaps it does not take any mental gifts to Bob Trayhern had one of the most bril­ successfully pass the course for a Ph.D. liant minds that I encountered in an exten­ from Rochester, but I would not want to sive academic career and was a superbly make such a statement. effective teacher. Needless to say, the two Perhaps the writer meant that all of us qualities do not always coincide. He was are disabled except for a few who are men­ also a genial companion with a delightfully tally gifted. This interpretation would fit dry sense of humor. He never tried to over­ Todd's statement in the article that "Every­ power me (or any student) with his supe­ body's got some sort of problems, what­ rior intellect, but I never had an encounter ever they are." While that viewpoint is one with him, in or out of the classroom, that which disabled people are continually pre­ did not leave me mentally refreshed and senting, I really do not think the article stimulated. was intended to be so far ahead of contem­ I read with a great deal of interest your Philosophy 10 in its first year was frank­ porary prejudices. article on the life of Francis Bellamy ly experimental, and the content was varied I am dismayed that Rochester Review ["Our Most Quoted Alumnus," Spring and somewhat eclectic. What makes it stand would allow the stereotype of disabled per­ 1988]. However, I was disappointed that out so clearly and pleasantly in my memo­ sons as not very bright to be printed on its you didn't mention that the author of ry was that it was my first real experience pages. Sure, some of us mumble and drool, the Pledge of Allegiance was born in in learning to think, both creatively and but then so does Stephen Hawking. As long Mt. Morris, New York, where I have lived critically. Bob gave us the basic tools of as these stereotypes continue to be accepted and taught. The house in which he was logic, and we used them (with varying suc­ (and in this case reprinted in a journal pub­ born is designated with a historical plaque. cess but great enthusiasm) on such disparate lished by a university) the barriers of big­ A short while before I read the article, topics as Plato's Dikaion and the Baconian otry will continue to impede the disabled the Colonial Dames of Florida, of which and Oxfordian theories on the authorship citizens of this nation. I am a member, passed a resolution that of Shakespeare's plays. Qavid Pfeiffer '750 a stamp be dedicated to Bellamy on the We also spent several days attempting Boston lOOth anniversary of the writing of the to evolve a logical definition of time. After The author simply meant to indicate Pledge. I hope we are successful this time. a lapse of over 40 years, I can't pretend to that dyslexia in no way equates with lack Eleanor N. Duffy quote it verbatim, but I'm sure that this is ofintelligence and that it could indis­ Leicester, N.Y. a very close approximation: criminately strike the mentally gifted, the As mentioned in the article, those who Time, as a measurable quantity, is mentally disabled, or those ofus whose wish to support the movement to honor a purely synthetic concept devised intellectual capabilities lie somewhere in Bellamy with the issuance ofa us. postage by man to define and explain the between. The Review apologizes to anyone stamp may write to: Citizens Stamp Advi­ apparently sequential nature of who may have read it differently-Editor. sory Committee, US. Postal Service, 475 his experiences in contact with his (continued on page 46) I.:Enfant Plaza S. Jv., Washington, D.C environment and his fellow men. 20260-6300. Incidentally, I once tried this definition on a group of my students in an adult edu­ cation class in Vietnam with rather amaz­ ing results. Robert C. Brown '44/'47, '480 Orlando, Fla. University of Rochester Summer 1988 Review Departments Features From the President 2 A Place Called Hope 3 Rochester in Review 30 by Denise Bolger Kovnat Alumni Gazette 38 Child abuse is a painful subject, equated in our minds Alumni Milestones 42 with blaring headlines and tales of appalling brutality. But usually the truth is far less sensational- and far Rochester Travelers 45 more complex. After/Words 48 "There's No People Like Show People Like Vicki Brasser '79E" A Short Course in the 10 Black Arts of Manipulation Rochester Review by Peter Regenstreif Editor: Margaret Bond Assistant editor: Denise Bolger Kovnat If you want the world to pay attention to what you Staff writer: Shinji Morokuma have to say, you'd better say it before 9:30 at night. Design manager: Stephen Reynolds That's one of the things you find out in Regenstreif's Graphic artist: Susan Gottfried Staff photographer: James Montanus classes in Politics and the Mass Media. Editorial assistants: Joyce Farrell, Tim Fox Design: Robert Meyer Design, Inc. Editorial office, 108 Administration Of Sound and Mind 16 Building, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, (716) 275-4117. by Stephen Braun Published quarterly for alumni, students, Don't believe all the myths you hear about bats. They their parents, and other friends of the Uni­ are really shy and gentle creatures who can teach versity, Rochester Review is produced by us useful things about auditory perception. the Office of University Public Relations, Robert Kraus, director. Office of Alumni Relations, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627, (716) 275-3684. Opinions expressed are those of the authors, the editors, or their subjects and And Now for Something 20 do not necessarily represent official posi­ Completely Different tions of the University of Rochester. by Thomas Fitzpatrick Postmaster: Send address changes to Rochester Review, Formal, reasoned argument is on the back burner at 108 Administration Building, University of an Oxford-style debate - a species of performance art Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627. where intellectual one-upmanship wins you the game. Cover: Rochester-Oxford debate: design, Susan Gottfried; photography, James Montanus. Urban Gadfly 26 by Denise Bolger Kovnat In Camden, N.J., the "urban removal" mentality prevails, with not much replacing what has been UNIVERSITY OF removed. That attitude is changing, due in large measure to the presence there of preservationist John Doyle '81. Rochester Review/Summer 1988 From the Meaning and Mishmash My concern about the Stanford cur­ Modern Western universities came riculum is not content, it is form. The about through the merging of "alien" "Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Western Civ problem of de-Westernizing the curric­ traditions. Maimonides had to reassure has got to go!" This intriguing chant ulum is much more complex than in­ the Jewish community of Cairo about from ardent student protesters appar­ serting a section of the Upanishads Aristotle, and Aquinas did the same ently has won the day at Stanford. after Homer. The major issue is the for the schools of Paris - not without The faculty of U.S. News's top-ranked meaning of the university itself. The being condemned for heresy by the lo­ university has voted to expand a tradi­ university is - unfortunately perhaps­ cal bishop. Thus, to incorporate "alien" tional required Introduction to West­ a Western invention, and that raises traditions into the university seems no ern Civilization to include representa­ fundamental problems with ecumeni­ great issue and should be pursued.