Letters to the Editor

 Loh’s recent column logical, interesting

Regarding ‘God save the Queen,’ (Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008):

Johann Loh ’09’s column, “God save the Queen,” is a more or less reasonable piece of writing that develops an argument of general interest.  Congratulations are in order; it is the first of his columns to do so.

Adam Flynn ’08

Republican faculty members in hiding?

Regarding ‘Profs. vote for Obama with wallets’ (Monday, Jan. 21, 2008):

What a surprise!  I suspect that support for Republicans is a bit higher than published donations reflect, but publishing discourages “unpopular” donations.  What “culturally sensitive” kind of guy going up for tenure wants to be known as a serial donater to Republican candidates?

William Watson ’65

U. has unique chance to confront rising tuition costs

Regarding ‘Class tells’ (Monday, Jan. 14, 2008):

Prof. Grafton’s recent editorial struck a very close chord for me. I come from a family that would be considered upper-middle class. My parents were able to afford piano lessons, summer camp, family vacations, and so on. In fact, one of the few truly onerous expenses for them is my Princeton (and my brother’s NYU) tuition.

Taking ECO 101: Introduction to Macroeconomics is enough to understand that when an economy becomes increasingly efficient, those services that have reached their maximum efficiency simply become more expensive. We have reached the point where college tuition is no longer reasonably affordable. Harvard’s extension of “aid” to “middle-income” families seems to be a refusal to admit that tuition cost is the problem that it is.  

Princeton is in a unique position in two ways — first, as a school with the highest per student endowment and therefore the greatest financial resources to provide a high level of education at an affordable rate, and more importantly, to set an example for all institutions of higher education to confront the issue of tuition costs honestly and fairly.

Donny Dietz ’09

Eating and living options reminiscent of TV show from ’50s

When I was a boy, the children’s TV show “Howdy Doody” had a puppet character named Flubadub. Flubadub was a combination of animals: turtle, dog, duck, etc. Madames Tilghman and Malkiel and Monsieur Burstein have created their own Flubadub at Princeton. Four-year colleges, two-year colleges, independents, supposedly banned frats and sororities, bicker clubs, sign-in clubs, co-ops.  There is a great disparity in location — imagine four years in Forbes/Siberia — and quality of living accomodations, with the best rooms reserved for those who choose four-year colleges or who indicate that they won’t ever toss down a brewski or Cosmo.

This has created confusion, consternation and inequality. Our leaders should stop this Flubadub madness now and revert to simplicity. Scrap the college system, which Princeton was not designed for and have all students eat at either University dining halls or the eating clubs, where lasting friendships are made and good times are had by all!

Michael Scharf ’64