|
|
The
Sweet Taste of Freedom
After reading the reflections in the Andover Bulletin, I would like
to share my own feelings, as a Lebanese-American, about what it
means to me to be “American.”
You don’t need to be a citizen of this great country to be
or feel American. It’s a way of life that transcends borders,
religious beliefs and ideologies.
Ever since I set foot in America, I found it different from other
countries I had lived in. Nowhere else had people wanted to learn
about me, my culture and my experiences. Nowhere else had people
made me feel one of their own. Nowhere else had people actually
cared about the stories I shared with them. Nowhere else did I feel
at home.
It’s easy to criticize America. It’s easy to see its flaws.
No country in the world is perfect, but only one aspires to be.
Yes, there are racism, prejudice and hatred even here, but it’s
not what drives it; it’s not a main ingredient in its melting
pot; instead, we find compassion, tolerance, freedom and equality.
It’s also easy to criticize people who feel American, to tell
them they have lost their ways and their traditions. But, you see,
that’s the beauty of it. This is where you can hold on to the
best of your ways and also mix them with what was lacking.
I do get emotional when I talk about my love for this way of life,
and I’m not ashamed of it. This is the only thing left when
you are faced with the worst situations: when your loved ones are
killed, when you have no rights, when you are stripped of every
shred of dignity. It’s an incredible feeling when you have
come from there to here. It’s like the taste of something sweet
after something sour, but exponentially more powerful.
—Rani Aliahmad ’88
Pipe
Dreams?
That is a marvelous picture on the cover of the Winter 2002 Andover
Bulletin! You credit Samantha
Appleton, but I can’t find an explanation of the subject
of the photograph. My guess is empty cable conduits turned into an
informal memorial.
—Louis P. Dolbeare ’36
Photojournalist Samantha Appleton ’93
provides this explanation: “The week I shot this photograph,
the area surrounding Union Square had been torn up, and construction
materials were lying around. Work had been stopped temporarily because
the square was filled 24 hours a day with candles, flowers, and people
mourning. Visitors were putting candles wherever they could find space
because it was so crowded. These pipes became another little shrine.”
No
Cause for Shame
I am writing to say what a fantastic issue you have put out (Winter
2002). Like many alumni, I usually quickly scan my class notes by
(Dan Tucker) and look over the rest, but this time I couldn’t
put it down. The essay by Victor
W. Henningsen III ’69 was a classic—I’m sorry that
all Americans don’t have the opportunity to read such a brilliant
piece of work. All of the essays were superb. I was especially touched
by that of Aziz
Alkhalifa ’02. Before moving recently to Connecticut, my
wife and I lived in Essex Junction, Vt., and we attended a meeting
at our church where the imam from the local mosque came to educate
us about Islam a month or so after Sept. 11. Aziz has nothing to be
ashamed about—it is a wonderful religion, based on the last of
the prophets.
—Edward Hudson ’48
Spread
the Words
I just received the Winter 2002 issue of the Andover Bulletin with
the September 11 Reflections. This is the best series I have ever
read in the Andover Bulletin. I think prospective students and their
parents would like to see something like this.
—Merrimon Crawford ’78
Alumni
Admission Representative
Editor’s Note: The admission office liked
your idea and will be providing copies of the supplement to newly
admitted students.
Courage
and Humility
Thank you for the Winter 2002 edition of the Andover Bulletin about
Sept. 11. It made me grateful that our granddaughter is a student
at Andover, where alumnae have the courage and humility to express
themselves thoughtfully about terrorism and to be in various ways
doing something about it beyond justifying American military response.
To summarize inadequately the words of Rev.
William Sloane Coffin Jr. ’42, the old adage that two wrongs
do not make a right seems critical to understanding the anger many
feel toward our country. The roots are deep and the inequities that
exist are large. Greed, hypocrisy and reliance on force will not go
away. I still believe in the power of reason and believe that’s
what education at Andover is about.
—Ann S. Carton, Grandparent
An
Unfortunate Viewpoint
The Andover Bulletin is to be congratulated for the selection of
comments by alumni on the World Trade Center tragedy. All are well-written
and reflect the background and experiences of their writers. But
the one that captured my attention was Lucy
Lippard’s. In my view it is the most important because
it reflects an unfortunate viewpoint and in my opinion a misunderstanding
and a bitterness that will not serve its author well in her future.
I am not a New Yorker and have been in the city only infrequently.
But a memory I will never lose was seeing the Statue of Liberty
when the carrier Franklin stood into New York Harbor in April 1945
after a year in the Western Pacific. Seven hundred four of us remained
aboard out of a crew of 3,300 and brought her home. Another 700
or 800 had been buried at sea in the waters off Japan. The rest
had been forced to abandon ship by fire or were blown overboard
by explosions. Without being mushy about it, I don’t believe
our World War II losses have bequeathed us a selfish and arrogant
foreign policy. If we really think so, it’s up to us to change
it.
My father used to ask this question when talking about a fellow
officer or co-worker: “He can pitch, but can he catch?”
Lucy Lippard is a fine pitcher, but can she perform on the other
side of the plate?
—Capt. William B. Hayler ’40
USN (Ret.)
|
No
country in the world is perfect, but only one aspires to be. Yes,
there are racism, prejudice and hatred even here, but it’s
not what drives it; instead, we find
compassion, tolerance, freedom and equality.
|
The
“Wow” Factor
Wow! I have just received the Winter issue of the Andover Bulletin
and I am in awe of the magazine’s content—and what Theresa
Pease, the editor of this journal, has crafted.
Once I realized what this magazine contained, I went to the beginning
and started reading. I will probably read it all tonight and this
weekend.
I congratulate the magazine staff for pulling together such a diverse
array of Andover graduates who have so many pertinent and in some
cases heart-wrenching things to tell our PA community.
—Tim Holland ’56
Where
Was the General?
I thought the Winter 2002 issue was well conceived, but was disappointed
that the reflections of Gen. Barry McCaffrey ’60 were apparently
not solicited. Even given the prestigious sweep of Andover’s
collective alumni credentials, I would have thought him subordinate
only to Bushes Sr. and Jr. for perspective.
—Harry Flynn ’75
Educating
Our Leaders
Because I have just spent my Sunday afternoon reading and entranced
by the essays in your Winter 2002 issue of the Andover Bulletin, I
felt compelled to thank someone. Since the suggestion for this supplement,
made by David
Othmer ’59, was received and delivered upon in this memorable,
intense look at the thoughts of these sensitive, insightful, involved
and wise souls, I ask you to convey my appreciation to your staff.
I have felt from the very beginning the decision to send the air strikes
into Afghanistan was a dreadful mistake by our foreign policy planners.
Tomorrow I shall send copies of the essay by the Rev.
William Sloane Coffin ’42 to all our national leaders, from
President Bush on down the line, in the hopes that perhaps even one
planner’s thinking may be changed.
—Natalie Barden, Grandparent
A
Fresh View
Outstanding job on the Winter 2002 issue of the Andover Bulletin.
You certainly know how to explore and extract that which is best about
the extended Andover community. I confess to having doubted the possibility
of bringing something fresh to bear on the events of Sept. 11 after
so much had already been published. I have been meaning to write and
tell you that your Bulletin beats most college alumni magazines. My
pick of the litter would be Harvard’s, in large part because
they, like you, realize that the best stories are often to be found
in the adventures and good works and professional careers of alumni,
rather than campus news.
—Paul Lazarus, Parent
A
Heartfelt Memorial
I would like to express appreciation for the fine work done by all
on the September 11 Reflections supplement to the Winter 2002 issue
of the Andover Bulletin, in both the print and online versions.
I have spoken to or received e-mail from several classmates about
it, and we all agreed it was outstanding.
The obit sections of our Ivy League alumni newsletters were heavily
loaded with names in the Sept. 11, 2001, column, but few of the
memorials that I read were as moving and heartfelt as that written
by Abigail
Ross ’94.
Luckily, my family members here in the Washington, D.C., area and
New York were unhurt, but none was untouched.
—Chris Mastrangelo ’78
Not
a Time for Tolerance
After reading the opinions of the Rev.
William Sloane Coffin Jr. ’42 in the Winter Andover Bulletin,
I think perhaps you should ask him why it was that Jesus whipped the
money changers out of the temple. Perhaps neither sweet reason nor
tolerance was in order.
—F. Troman Harper ’32
|
|
|
