Word: letterings
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Both Ms. Simon's recent article, "Disobedience a la Thoreau: The Case of Gus Yates," and the letter published March 6 entitled "Selfishness," miss the point of Gus Yates' recent ascent of Mt. Katahdin. Mr. Yates did not set out to endanger the life of anyone. In fact, on my many outdoor trips with Mr. Yates I have been extremely impressed with his concern for the safety of the trip members and the preservation of the environment. He is, however, a very individualistic and independent person...
PRESIDENT BOK WOULD have us believe that human civilization is still in the Dark Ages. The portrait of Harvard he paints in Friday's open letter on "the ethical responsibilities of the university in society" is a dismal flash-back to medieval times, when colleges were walled fortresses, isolated from society. Bok would have us spring to the battlements, caldrons of boiling oil at the ready, whenever society's political turmoil and moral conflicts approach the gates...
...Harvard administration has never been shy about using Harvard's considerable influence in these areas. Its actions give the lie to Bok's rhetoric in Friday's letter about the role of a university. By equivocating, delaying, and finally coming out against any change in Harvard's investment policies, Bok has taken a stand...
...LAST TWO ARGUMENTS--that taking moral stands might threaten Harvard's freedom from outside interference and endanger its financial base--are too vaguely presented in the letter to have much punch. Who is it that would interfere? Why would they do so? Just what are the financial costs of the moral positions Bok is so reluctant to adopt...
President Bok stated in his letter that the way a university "addresses these questions and the answers that it gives are inescapably a part of the moral education that it imparts to its students." Last April, Bok chose to stride across the Yard and zoom away in a car to avoid talking to students without the protection of a podium. The "moral education" Bok gave to Harvard students then was to evade those with whom one disagrees. And his letter teaches students to rationalize denying the moral consequences of their actions...