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BCM
welcomes letters from readers. Letters may be edited for length
and clarity, and must be signed to be published. Our street address
is Boston College Magazine, 122 College Road., Chestnut Hill,
MA 02467. Our fax number is (617) 552-2441; our e-mail address is
birnbaum@bc.edu.
SEPTEMBER
11
I just read the Fall edition of BCM, and I want to tell you
what a wonderful job you did in covering the 9/11 tragedy. I could
hardly read the "Remembered" page through my tears; so
many talented people.
Thank you for letting parents know what steps the school takes when
a tragedy occurs.
LUANN H. JENKINS P'03
Nicholson, Pennsylvania
HERO'S
CHOICE
Tim Townsend's profile ("At Ground Zero," Fall 2001) of John McCann
'99, a firefighter who worked in the wreckage of the World Trade
Center, is gut-wrenching. As a graduate of a top-ranked university,
McCann could have chosen work that was less risky and financially
more rewarding. But he chose to work face-to-face with evil and
human fragility.
I saw Lower Manhattan burn on September 11. There is a difference
between watching your city burn and being at the seat of that tragedy.
BC has graduated many people who have made it in the world of business.
But it has also graduated many others who chose a more humble and,
in McCann's case, heroic life. People like McCann bring pride to
my alma mater.
THOMAS H. ALTON '80
Brooklyn, New York
COPING
Based on my own experience, I want to offer advice to surviving
parents raising young children. I was born in 1940. In 1942, our
home burned, and we (my mother, her parents, and I) were rescued
by the fire department. My father was at sea, serving as an ordinary
seaman in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Seven months later, his ship
was torpedoed and sunk in the North Atlantic. All were lost.
Human loss as a result of deliberate, violent acts leaves behind,
I believe, a special grief and sorrow. Your child in time will appreciate
your struggle and may think of his or her care as a burden. Your
child may not speak of this, wanting not to add to your sorrow.
Therefore, as my mother let me know in different words, tell your
child that the blossoming, irrepressible, uproarious life, barely
contained in that little body, not only made the effort necessary--it
made it possible.
ROBERT B. COMIZZOLI '62
Belle Mead, New Jersey
TEAMWORK
My heart was filled with tremendous pride at the expression of "lived
community" that characterized Boston College on the morning of September
11 and in the days that followed. Thank you to William Leahy, SJ,
and thank you to the team.
I was saddened to learn that a student wanted to renounce his citizenship
because of the faults he recognized in his country's leadership.
He would surely find comparable failures in any other country.
BERNADETTE BEZAIRE, SGM, '67
Edmonton, Alberta
SEATED
POET
An added bonus for me in the Fall 2001 issue is the poetry of Robert
Cording, Ph.D.'77 ("Married Love"). I met Mr. Cording in September
at a reception at Holy Cross. He had just been designated the first
recipient of a new chair in creative writing.
ROBERT W. BARRETT '61
Newton, Massachusetts
FOR
THE BIRDS
Primitive chic scales new heights of silliness when John Motoviloff
writes of duck hunting ("Driftless, Wisconsin," Fall 2001).
When you look past the romantic posturing, Mr. Motoviloff is bragging
about the enjoyment he takes in killing beings who bear him no ill
will and could not harm him if they wanted to. If he wants to play-act
at "satisfying the primitive hunger," there are plenty of video
games that pander to our less civilized appetites. That way no living
beings will have to die in his charade.
NORM PHELPS
Silver Spring, Maryland
Editor's note: Mr. Phelps is a program coordinator at the
Fund for Animals.
SECOND-YEAR
ITCH
As an academic and career advisor at Keene State College in New
Hampshire, I read with great interest of Halftime, Boston College's
break in the action for sophomores ("Time Out," Fall 2001).
We have found that our second-year undecided students and lower-level
transfer students are often our "forgotten" population. As Leah
Platt's article mentioned, first-year students are embraced by Orientation,
juniors have decided on and are pursuing a major, and seniors are
involved in outward transition programs from career focus to graduate
program research. But what of the sophomores?
PATRICIA HALLORAN '78
Williamsville, Vermont
WHALEN'S
GIFT
I'm sure all the Newton College alumnae appreciated, as I did, the
acknowledgement of James J. Whalen's death in the last issue of
the magazine, but I can't leave notice of his passing to a one-line
announcement.
Those of us who were Newton students during Dr. Whalen's presidency
came to appreciate the wit and intelligence he brought to the college's
daily life and the controversies he engaged. As a student, I had
the chance to argue many of the issues of the times directly with
Dr. Whalen, and I always left thinking he understood my position
better than I did.
Jim Whalen was a president who never forgot he was an educator.
Dr. Whalen's professional career had only begun when he completed
the transaction that transferred Newton College of the Sacred Heart
to Boston College, the beginning of a great era for the University.
He engaged that controversy with intelligence and grace and went
on to many years of distinguished leadership of Ithaca College.
Along the way, Jim Whalen became a leading and respected participant
in the debates on American higher education's most pressing issues.
A few of us (including this writer) were influenced in our career
choices by his work.
PATRICIA M. BYRNE NC'74
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Editor's note: Ms. Byrne is vice president for administration
and planning at Wellesley College.
WHAT
IT'S ABOUT
As a member of the group featured in the summer 2001 issue ("The
Group"), I want to thank Boston College Magazine for
its focus on an important element of life: friendship. I also want
to thank Charlotte Bruce Harvey for her gentle manner and her sensitive
writing.
In response to Patricia Cruise's comment in her letter to the editor
in the Fall 2001 edition, I too thought, at first, that activities
and achievements would be included in the article. As my (telephone)
interview with "Brucie" was coming to a close I asked if she now
wanted to know about awards, honors, accomplishments, etc. Her response
truly pleased me. She reminded me that this article was about friendship--purely
friendship. How nice. How very, very nice.
CONNIE REGOLINO '56 MA '60
Brookline, Massachusetts
ONE
OF SIX
I regularly see six alumni magazines, and BCM is the most
impressive and relevant. Congratulations on the fine job you do
for BC's alumni.
JAMES S. DOYLE '56
Bethesda, Maryland
A
FEW GOOD NAMES
Boston College's ROTC detachment has been compiling the names of
alumni and former students who gave their lives in service to our
country. The eventual goal is to add plaques for World War I, Korea,
and Vietnam to the World War II one already in Gasson 100.
We have, well-documented, the names from World War I and World War
II. The difficulty has been with Korea and Vietnam. For the former
we have three names and the latter, 21. We are sure that there are
more.
It is our hope that BCM readers will contact us with the names we
have missed. They can communicate with Capt. Brett Tashiro, Boston
College Army ROTC Detachment, in Carney #25; at (617) 552-3230;
or by e-mail at tashirbr@bc.edu.
The names that we know of are, from Korea: Joseph Flarity '51, 1st
Lt. US Army; Ronald Hickey '51, 2d Lt. US Army; and Stanley Urbanec
'52, 2d Lt. US Army.
From the Vietnam War: John Coll, Jr. '66, 1st Lt. US Army; Michael
B. Counihan '67, Sgt. US Army; John R. Davis '66, 2d Lt. USAF; Louis
D. Dobbin II '65, 1st Lt. USMC; Steven Donaldson '68, 2d Lt. USMC;
James E. Dooley '64, Lt. USNR; Louis A. Favussa '69, 1st Lt. US
Army; John Fitzgibbons '67, 2d Lt. US Army; Joseph X. Grant '61,
Capt. US Army (Medal of Honor).
Also, Daniel M. Kellett '64, 1st Lt. US Army; Thomas Lufkin '66,
Lt. (jg) USN; Christopher H. Markey '68, 2d Lt. USMC; Daniel Minahan
'66, 1st Lt. USMC; Michael J. Monahan '68, Pfc. USMC; Edward J.
Murphy '56, Maj. US Army; Richard L. O'Leary '66, 2d Lt. USMC; Dennis
J. Reardon '67, 1st Lt. USMC; Paul Sullivan '65, 1st Lt. US Army;
Richard J. Sullivan '63, Lt. USNR; Lucien C. Tessier '66, 1st Lt.
USMC; and Michael Vaughn '65, 1st Lt. US Army.
Many thanks.
D. MICHAEL RYAN
Boston College
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