Holy Cross
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do not necessarily reflect the views of the administration or the editorial
staff.
Time
Traveling Alums
You seem to have appropriated a photograph from the wonderful
1967 Purple Patcher yearbook and used it to illustrate
some silly 1962 Laundromat event. This is righteously appropriate
since the photo in question features Pete Smith '67, Mike
Drain '67 and Buzz McCarthy '67 - all representatives of
the Emerald Shield Society. These gents were members of
the newly formed campus humor club, and I am sure were
not beyond time travel back to pull off a prank that would
surface decades later. And of course it is sloppy magazine
work on your part. Hah! Credit Tom Osgood '67 and Lester
York '67 for orchestrating the photo, if I am not mistaken.
Bob
White '67
Boston, Mass.
Iraq Trip Response
Peace! I would like to respond briefly to the comments of
Michael Singelyn, M.D., '58. It is unfortunate that
Dr. Singelyn has confused the simple performance of the
Christian mandate to feed the hungry and comfort the ill
with support for a despot. I do not support Saddam
Hussein, or any other political leader including Americans
who choose to settle disputes with military force and murder
rather than diplomacy and nonviolence. We should
not condemn a people, particularly children, for the actions
of their government. Heaven knows that I would not
want my two boys starved to death because of the many times
that our government has used military force, or because
our country remains the only country to ever use a nuclear
weapon, or because our country maintains the largest (by
far) arsenals of chemical, nuclear and biological weaponry. As
Pope John Paul II said this past January in regards to
sanctions: "The weak and the innocent cannot pay for mistakes
for which they are not responsible."
Also, a correction: According to UNICEF, between 5,000 and 6,000 children
under five die every month in Iraq as a direct result of the sanctions; 9,000
civilians die every month; nearly 2 million innocent people have succumbed
to the sanctions to date. Christ calls us to love our neighbors and our
enemies alike if we are to say we love God. To love is to feed, clothe,
comfort, instruct, give drink, heal, admonish, and pray. It is not loving
or Christian to starve, kill by disease, neglect, bomb, or otherwise desecrate "Temples
of the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 6:19).
Christopher Allen-Doucot '89
Hartford, Conn.
What Happened to Athletics?
I wanted to write and voice an opinion that I feel a number
of our alumni have but perhaps have kept to themselves.
I graduated from Holy Cross in 1974. If you had told me
then that I would be ashamed of the state of our College's
athletic program 25 years hence I would have told you you
were nuts. My plans were for me to take my friends and
family to a West Point vs. Holy Cross game and tailgate
till the sun went down. What I am faced with today is going
to Fordham University in the Bronx and witnessing (along
with all of 800 people in the stands) a beating at the
hands of a team that was nonexistent years ago. What has
happened to Holy Cross athletics? I learned a great deal
in the classroom at Holy Cross. I learned an awful lot
of life's lessons on the athletic field playing against
good competition. Teamwork, desire, commitment and a willingness
to go on no matter what the circumstances. Qualities and
traits that have served me and my fellow classmates well
for years. Pride in being associated with a class act was
what brought us all to Holy Cross. Why can't our alma mater
have a good academic program along with a good athletic
program?
Joe Neary '74
Dublin, Ohio
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