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November-December 2007
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< previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (APPLIED SCIENCES) FACT“Engineering Renewed” (September-October, page 65) states that the new School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) “emerged as the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences in 1946.” The name was the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics from 1946 onward, although its science scope was broader than just physics when I graduated in 1969. Sometime later the broader science role was recognized and the name changed to Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The SEAS has long been a leader in science and engineering and it is appropriate that it receive the recognition and stature that it deserves within Harvard. Hurrah!! Jeffrey D. Eagles, S.M. ’69, M.B.A. ’81 Editor’s note: Speaking at the SEAS celebration on September 20 (see “‘First Day of School’ for Engineering”), President Drew Faust noted that following World War II, the name morphed from the Division of Engineering Sciences to the Division of Applied Science (1951) to the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics (1955) to the Division of Applied Sciences (1975) to the penultimate Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences (1996). UNFORGIVING FAITHSIn “Foundations of Faith” (September-October, page 14), Professor Martin Nowak puts forth a rather romantic and unhistorical view of the nature of religions, in claiming they are “generous,” “forgiving,” and “want to help people,” and thus encourage cooperation. Taking the Christian religion as an example, it is hard to imagine a more dreadful history of dissension, intestine wars, persecutions, tortures, killings, et cetera. Apologists may contend that this is a perversion of “true” religion, as it comes down pure from heaven. I don’t know about that; we can all quote Scripture to any purpose, but there can be no question about the actual behavior of religions in this world. Gibbon ends his famous chapters on Christianity thus: “[I]t must still be acknowledged, that the Christians, in the course of their intestine dissensions, have inflicted far greater severities on each other, than they had experienced from the zeal of infidels.” More recent examples are too obvious to need mention. William J. Jones, J.D. ’60 HIGH-STAKES TIDDLYWINKSMy wife, Patricia, pointed out the Yesterday’s News report (September-October, page 67) on our national Tiddlywinks championship team in 1962, and I must say Mark Steele’s wonderful illustration makes it look even more fun than it was—if that’s possible. Basically Tom Houston and I—who were classmates, classics majors, and founding members of the short-lived Gargoyle humor magazine—followed up on some fall triumphs at several Ivy universities, and when we came home to Los Angeles at Christmas we set up a National Championship match between ourselves and some hapless local teams who arrived for the championship tournament not knowing what a Tiddlywink was, exactly. Tom and I hijacked our girlfriends for the tournament as cheerleaders, complete with pom-poms, and we held the event on the rim of the Pacific in a park in Santa Monica, California, overlooking the ocean. It was surreal. The pom-poms were so effective we both married the girls in gratitude and are still married to these same women today. In fact, I think I can see them in Mark’s illustration and he’s got it exactly right. They look exactly the same today. Hank Schwarz ’64 FED FACTSIn the errata column on page 8 of the September-October issue, it says the president “did not direct the Federal Reserve to orchestrate a run on the currency.” It is a misunderstanding to think that the president can direct the Federal Reserve to do anything. The Federal Reserve is an independent agency within the government, but not of the government. Most presidents would like to have had control of the Federal Reserve so as to directly influence interest rates. Fortunately the Federal Reserve does not respond to presidential direction. John E. Sheehan, M.B.A. ’60 FAN MAILI am writing simply to express my gratitude for the September-October issue of the magazine. I found every article in the issue to be of great interest. Congratulations on a job well done! David Allyn, Ph.D. ’96 Speak Up, PleaseHarvard Magazine welcomes letters on its contents. Please write to “Letters,” Harvard Magazine, 7 Ware Street, Cambridge 02138, send comments by e-mail to yourturn@harvard.edu, use our website, www.harvardmagazine.com, or fax us at 617-495-0324. Letters may be edited to fit the available space.  
 
 
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