LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Praise for PCM
Thank you for the wonderful fall [1999] issue. When I first got it, I was afraid you'd given in to the Y2K hype. I was delighted to find the magazine full of informative, thought-provoking, well researched, well written articles. I wish more of the media we are bombarded with these days were as good in these ways as Pomona College Magazine is. Our whole family found it enlightening and we had many discussions about the info in the articles.
--Amy Hoffman '99
La Jolla, California
I love getting all the news in Pomona College Magazine. It's the most in-depth college publication I've seen to date. If I were as diligent in keeping in touch with my Pomona friends as I am in reading the magazine, I would feel much better.
--Deborah Caballero-Deleva '92
Houston, Texas
Sharing a Piece of ¼
I appreciated Richard and Doug Preston's comments about finding inspiration from various professors at Pomona. Less obvious, perhaps, is the occasional inspiration of one Pomona student by another. I had no idea that Richard Preston was a Pomona alumnus when I first read his 1992 New Yorker article, "Mountains of Pi." That article partially inspired me to write my book, The Joy of Pi. Hey, perhaps 47 isn't the only number associated with Pomona. (The number 47 first appears in pi at digit number 119, for what it's worth.)
--David Blatner '88
Seattle, Washington
Tygers and Fools
Looking through Parlor Talk [PCM Fall 1999, page 47], I noticed one important gap. The four alumni who gathered the "47 Wise Saws and Modern Instances Potentially Useful to Those Striving to Live Better and Wiser in the Next Millennium" missed a treasure trove of pithy observations in William Blake's Proverbs of Hell. Published just over two hundred years ago, some of them (not all) are amazingly pertinent today. For instance:
1. The tygers of wrath are wiser than the horses of instruction.
2. The hours of folly are measured by the clock; but wisdom, no clock can measure.
3. A fool sees not the same tree that a wise man sees.
4. What is now proved was once only imagined.
5. Always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid you.
6. He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence.
7. You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.
8. The road to excess leads to the palace of wisdom.
9. Improvement makes strait roads; but the crooked roads without Improvement are roads of Genius.
10. Eternity is in love with the productions of time.
Only Blake could personify time and eternity in such a beautiful, mysterious aphorism.
--Burf Kay
Toronto, Canada
Note of Disillusionment
I have had the honor of serving the Alumni Association since 1982. The experience has been one I treasure. That makes my growing disillusionment with the College's alumni activities all the more difficult to accept. However, I feel that the College has lost sight of the individual alumnus in its quest to fund-raise over the past few years.
We all chose Pomona so that we could be an individual, not a number. The College selected us for the individuality we could bring to the campus. That individuality is lost in the current fund-raising programs and alumni activities. I would urge the College and the Alumni Association to remember that behind every check is an individual, not a boiler-plate alumnus who falls into a donation category marked by $50.00 increments, and who has nothing to offer the College but the check he or she is writing.
--Julie Siebel '84
Corona del Mar, California
Movie Memory
Regarding Heath Elliott's story about motion picture activity on campus ["Love Her Madly," PCM Fall 1999, page 8], seems that I remember (probably in the early '20s) that the football field was invaded by a motion picture company financed by William Randolph Hearst, who erected a large tent on the west end of the field to house his star, Marion Davies (I believe she lived until her death in Hearst's San Simeon Castle). They wanted crowds in many scenes, and it seems that most of Claremont turned out to fill the stands. I remember they all got paid with a free box lunch and a dollar or two.
--James R. Oliver '29
Cloverdale, California
Tribute to Bentley
Pomona has been blessed for 35 years with a truly extraordinary professor who has exemplified outstanding teaching, scholarship and genuine love of his students. Don Bentley is close to retirement from the Math Department, and I think it's about time the magazine shared some of the wonderful stories of his years at our school and his gifts to us.
My own story is typical. I started at Pomona as a pre-freshman in an NIH-sponsored program during the summer of 1964. Somehow I had the idea I wanted to go into biochemistry, despite the fact that I hated labs. But Don was teaching a class in probability and statistics and he made that class the highlight of the summer. He convinced me to switch to a math major with the goal of doing interdisciplinary biomedical research from a statistics background. I've gone on to get a Ph.D. from Stanford and have a successful academic career in statistical research, teaching and collaborative medical research.
Don has averaged at least a couple of students going on to graduate work in statistics or related fields each year, and many of those have gone on to very distinguished careers. I'm always amused when someone looks at my CV and says, "Gee, I know another statistician who's really good, and he went to Pomona, too!" Don's success as a teacher is legendary. He has more students who have gone on for Ph.D.s than anyone else at a school this size. But his contributions go far beyond his fellow statisticians. He has a wide range of intellectual interests. He has collaborated on research questions in pharmacology, clinical trials and other medical projects, but also on fields as diverse as legal questions and archaeology. He brings all these different interests into the classroom.
His contagious enthusiasm and joy in his work make his classes a delight. His relationship with his students, however, does not stop at the classroom door. When I was a student, he lent me books to read outside of class, arranged summer research jobs where I could get practical experience and told me what to take when I got to Stanford and how to study for quals. He and his students keep in touch for years. One of the delights at our national meetings is the annual Pomona dinner. A flock of some 15 to 20 of Don's students, ranging from people in my year to kids just out of college, trails around after him like statistical ducks who imprinted very early on their mentor. We try to carry what he taught us into our own teaching and work. Very few people, even at Pomona, have graced our lives with such high expectations and such special gifts.
I hope you'll consider sharing some of the special stories about Don now, as he nears retirement. Anyone who thinks statisticians are dull just hasn't been in one of Don's classes or on one of his research projects. And many thanks to Pomona for having someone so special there for us.
--Laurel Beckett '68
Oak Park, Illinois
Letter from Pop
Thank you very much for your kindness and attention in the recent article ("Poppo," PCM Fall 1999, page 12). I have enjoyed the magazine over the years and still feel a very strong connection to the College. Some of my best friendships in life were formed in Claremont, and I will always be a strong supporter.
Good luck to you and all Sagehens in this new millennium.
--Gregg Popovich
Head Coach/General Manager
of the San Antonio Spurs
(Former men's basketball coach
at Pomona-Pitzer)
We welcome letters pertaining to the College or the magazine. All letters are subject to editing for style and length.
