Word: putnam
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...your article on Africa that focused on Mali [WORLD, March 30], you quoted me as saying the government here "understands human capital." To be precise, I was referring to Mali's strong social capital: "something" that makes some societies function or heal themselves better than others. Harvard professor Robert Putnam first developed the idea in the late 1980s, when comparing northern and southern Italy. Social capital is rather like the dark (missing) matter of the universe: we know it's there because we can see its consequences, but it is terribly hard to get hold of and examine under...
...Putnam provides us with a chance to relive those days--as Clifford Taubes points out in the article (News, April 9), the Putnam is the only college math competition, while there are many for high school students. We jump at the opportunity to recapture a part of our youth. Perhaps the word "pathetic" is inappropriate, but I was merely putting in a self-degrading quip. This phrase was in no way meant to refer to the persons who fall into the category "anyone interested in math...
...sorry for any misunderstanding this may have caused, and encourage Mullin to take the Putnam next year. MIKE L. DEVELIN '00 April...
Michael L. Develin's comment regarding the Putnam Math Contest (News, Apr. 9) makes me ashamed to be a Harvard student. Develin's condescending attitude toward the "pathetic" competitors in the competition promotes the stereotype of the arrogant Harvard student. How can he suggest that "anyone interested in math should take the Putnam" when he degrades those not on his level of achievement? STACEY J. MULLIN '00 April...
Source: William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition 1997, Examination...