Summer 2010

Cover of Spring 2010 Issue

Letters

I just finished reading the spring issue cover to cover for the second time. What a great issue! We have some of the best student athletes in the country and our overall athletics program is constantly at the top of the NCAA D-III rankings. Our athletes really deserve the publicity, and this issue demonstrated the wonderful things they do both in school and afterward.

Jim Bailey 67OX 69C

Decatur

As a sports writer and sports editor of the Emory Wheel in 1948–1949 before moving up the masthead the following year, I especially enjoyed your story, “Sporting Chance,” about Emory alumnus Philip Schwalb and his efforts to create a Sports Museum of America. That was first-rate, along with a whole issue full of informative and interesting stories and photos, many related to sports.

Richard E. (Dick) Hodges 50C

Marietta

I was pleasantly surprised to find a picture of Emory’s swim team on the cover of the most recent Emory Magazine. While I never swam competitively in college or high school, I did compete at the age group level eight to twelve while growing up in Pittsburgh. I recently got back involved in masters swimming at age forty-four. You mention intramural sports in some of the articles, but nowhere do you mention masters swimming, which is available at Emory and across the country. Swimmers shouldn’t have to hang up their caps and goggles when they are finished with collegiate swimming.

Pamela Shepard 87C

Moorestown, New Jersey

Will, our one-year-old, loved the spring 2010 Emory Magazine so much that he ate half of the cover. I wonder how many other readers “digested” the magazine in such a thorough manner?

Kevin Callaway 97OX 99N

Anniston, Alabama

I read a letter [Spring 2010] from a former alum who [received degrees from] Emory in 1956 and 1960. He writes about a “Southern school, steeped in good Christian values,” etc. He goes on to express the change he has seen in the school, which is “totally liberal with a decline in conservative values.” I beg to differ with him. When he attended, the school was mostly Southern, white, and male. Emory has changed, but for the good. The Emory I know is a school that is very diverse in culture, religion, skin color, ideas, gender, and political views. I was in an ethics class that included many different ethnic groups, majors, ages, and genders, who had completely different opinions. I love the school because of its diversity—it made the school whole, interesting, and therefore a great experience. Emory is not a totally liberal environment, it’s a total of different parts. As a family nurse practitioner, I see diversity every day. I believe my education at Emory has made me a better person and a better practitioner.

Mollie Grimaldi 98MSN

Atlanta

As assistant principal of Lakeside High School, I read with great interest your “Confessions of a Loser” (“Prelude,” spring 2010). What a great article! I wrote a note to our athletic director and our principal . . . to share with our faculty and staff the same thoughts you were sharing.

Tim H. Reeve 95T

Atlanta

The article “Healthy Body, Healthy Mind” [President’s letter, spring 2010] is beautifully written and certainly reflects the values of Emory’s well-balanced varsity and intramural programs that have lasted through the years. How about sending a copy of the article to David Brooks of the New York Times? Since he is quoted and has an interest in the positive effect of collegiate athletics, I bet he would like to see this nice article.

Warren Quillian 58C 61M 63R

Miami

When is Emory going to go Varsity with lacrosse? I was on the first club team in 1973 and played again while I was an orthopedic resident there from 1979 to 1984. Lacrosse is and has been the fastest growing sport in America. I believe that lacrosse at Emory would attract a great group of all-around solid kids that would round out the student body nicely.

Thomas Volatile 76C 80R 83R

Tyler, Texas

You are doing an excellent job with the Emory Magazine! I look forward to its arrival and cherish sharing it with my children. I particularly appreciated the brief spotlight on Dr. Clyde Partin. What a treasure he was to our school. I do wish you had mentioned the Partin Sportsman Award. Does it still exist? In 1990, I was the proud recipient of this award and it brought me to tears to be recognized as having any connection to such an honorable man. I have been blessed with honors and accomplishments worldwide. Yet, nothing pleases me as much as being noted for character and sportsmanship. Not all of us can accomplish all that Dr. Partin was able to in his life. Yet if we allow the students and alumni to know of awards like the Partin Sportsmanship Award, perhaps we can strive in the right direction.

Bea Strickland Wray 90C

Daufuskie Island, South Carolina

Editor’s Note: The Partin Award is alive and well and presented each spring to a male and female athlete for outstanding performance in a team sport. For more, visit www.emoryathletics.com.

While reading your excellent magazine [spring 2010] I noted a humorous juxtaposition on page 7 in the “Ticker” section. In the blurb “Emory appoints a trio of new trustees,” you mention Muhtar Kent of Coca Cola and Fecundo Bacardi 96L of Bacardi, as additions to the Board of Trustees. Does this mean rum and Coke will be the drink of choice at all board meetings?

David Sherer 79C

Chevy Chase, Maryland

What a nice article [“Coast Guard to the Test,” spring 2010] about LCDR Kevin McCormack and his work as CO of the USCG Institute. However, there is an error about administering tests for enlisted members in that the total strength of the USCG at present is about 42,000 (from the website), and while I could not find the exact number, I think the enlisted strength is 37,000–38,000, not 75,000 as reported. Just thought I would point this out. Keep up the good work.

Travis (Turner) Breard 61C

Monroe, Louisiana

I really enjoyed the Spring 2010 issue for two reasons. As a child of missionaries in the Congo, I suffered from malaria. It’s great to know that my school is in the lead for finding a vaccine and other strategies to fight that horrible disease. I also played intramural sports while attending Candler (football, basketball, and softball) and I can attest to the fun and spirit of sports at Emory back in the seventies. I even officiated basketball games one year and can witness from the court the intensity of fraternity basketball. One of my favorite stories comes from playing flag football as a defensive cornerback against the previous year’s SEC passing leader who chose Emory for the academics rather than pro sports. What a game that turned out to be. We didn’t know who the opponent quarterback was until after the game, since I had attended a small college in the Northeast prior to Emory. But it was great fun, and I enjoyed every minute of the chance to play.

The Reverend Jeff Jones 76T

Gaithersburg, Maryland

I know this is a rather mundane criticism, but I couldn’t help but notice in the article “Mosquito-Borne Killer” [spring 2010] that the founding members from the African countries are grouped as “several African countries” while the other founding member countries AND other non-founding collaborators were named individually. It could be helpful to know which particular African countries are founding. I don’t mean to sound righteous, it just continues the stereotype of Africa being more like a “country” versus a continent full of independent nations.

Michael Mina

MD/PhD Candidate

Emory University School of Medicine

Rollins School of Public Health

I graduated from Emory College in 2005, and was given a humanitarian award for my mental health/anti-stigma campaign, which is still being carried forward by the University [“Support Central,” spring 2010]. Today, I am a Candidate for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta and have the privilege of living and working with the People of the Four Sacred Mountains—the Navajo. Recently, a Native woman asked me: “What area of ministry are you interested in?” I told the woman that in 2005 I went to Beijing and visited my people. The air pollution was so bad that it hurt to breathe. The trees looked limp—they were sick. The water was shallow and dirty. When the tour bus pulled into the parking lot of an old Buddhist monastery, what caught my eye was two horses, huddled together, lost in a sea of gravel, cars, people, and polluted air. I told the woman that indigenous people have an understanding of the sacredness of land that the rest of the world has to listen to if we are all going to survive on this planet together. I told her that when my people come to her people to ask for help with this understanding, our healing will be her healing. I would never have understood that had Emory not supported my mental health/anti-stigma campaign.

Molly Harrington 05C

Overland Park, Kansas

Write to us

Has something in Emory Magazine raised your consciousness—or your hackles? Write to the editors at Emory Magazine, 1762 Clifton Road, Plaza 1000, Atlanta, Georgia, 30322, or via email at paige.parvin@emory.edu. We reserve the right to edit letters for length and clarity. The views expressed by the writers do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors or the administrators of Emory University.