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Take the Time to Reread What a wise and lovely essay from Lindsay Shen [“Learning to Tell the Time,” May-June]. It should be read every week. Michael O'Rourke (B.A. '67, J.D. '70) Minneapolis Can You Trust the Media? Professor Jane Kirtley's declaration that “you can't trust the government” [March-April] is shocking. If we accept that premise for purposes of discussion, should we not also ask, “Can you trust the media?” Government performance is subject to review periodically via the election process. There is not a comparable means to assure accountability of the media. During an election we have access to credentials of public office seekers. Credentials of journalists, however defined, are seldom shared with those who see or hear their reports. More often than not, journalists have limited experience in areas other than writing/reporting. Their credentials are lacking, and their subjective viewpoints are questionable. Then there is the question of how to define journalism or journalist. Are these terms synonymous with “the media”? Are “media ethics” and “the ethics of journalism” one and the same? If so, during the past 65-plus years there has been a downward evolvement similar to that of other societal values. Objectivity in reporting no longer seems to be a virtue. Investigative reporting has transitioned to advocacy/opinion journalism. So where do you apply “media ethics”? How do you assure responsibility and accountability commensurate with the freedom of the press? And does that cherished freedom of the press take priority over the preservation of other freedoms Americans enjoy? Yes, democracy is at stake! What lies ahead if we cannot trust the government when we are the government? And I wonder what my friend and contemporary Otto Silha (B.A. '40) would say about the viewpoints of Professor Kirtley as head of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and the Law. F.L. Gus Cooper (B.A. '41) Dunedin, Florida Not All Fats Are Bad` Concerning the very well written article by Erin Peterson, “A Pound of Prevention” [March-April]: In order to determine the future, we must analyze the past. In the 1960s, the cholesterol hoax reared its ugly head to convince the general public and totally mislead the medical and nutritional research centers into following the philosophy that all fats were bad for everyone. Products like margarine and some cooking oils are low-fat, zero cholesterol concoctions [that] are unhealthy and loaded with trans fats. I've been an organic vegetable farmer for 30-some years and have closely followed nutrition trends. Americans, with the support of well-meaning but ill-informed physicians and nutrition advisers, are on a low-fat craze. As it continues, Americans are becoming more and more sick, producing an epidemic. It includes obesity, abnormal liver function with high cholesterol and triglycerides, elevated levels of insulin, a predisposition to blood clotting, hormonal imbalances, and a tendency to slowly choke off the blood vessels that feed the heart. What is the most common health problem Americans suffer from despite 10 to 15 years of low-fat diets and food? The answer is clogged arteries and heart disease. The solution to these issues is not a low-fat diet. The sad and alarming thing now is that medical research is determining that cholesterol is not the culprit causing heart attacks and strokes. In fact, the older we get, the more cholesterol our systems require. A very simple solution is [to correct the imbalance] of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The normal balance in individuals should be one part omega-3 to 10 parts omega-6. The majority of the population has a ratio of 1-20 up to 1-150. This is a very alarming fact that the health and nutrition industry is ignoring. Currently the major source of omega-3 is fish oil. [But] there are only two areas of the globe that can supply uncontaminated fish oil. A very simple solution to this major problem is organic, high-signan flax oil. We must stop treating the symptoms and research the cause of the problem. Our land-grant colleges must stop doing research for the drug companies developing products and medicines that can be patented and sold to the public at robber-baron prices. When the low-fat myth was born, it enabled the multinational [food, medical,] and drug companies to drain the wealth of our working-class citizens. Rex Oberhelman Fairmont, Minnesota Correction UMAA chief executive officer Margaret Carlson's column in the March-April issue (“From Apples to Viagra”) contained several factual errors. The text should have stated that, in 1952, F. John Lewis (B.S. '38, M.S. '41, M.D. '42, Ph.D. '50) performed the world's first successful open-heart operation at the University of Minnesota hospital. Lewis was the lead surgeon, and C. Walton Lillehei (B.S. '39, M.D. '42, M.S. '51, Ph.D. '51) was one of two second assistants. In 1954, Lillehei performed the world's first open-heart operation that used cross-circulation, also at the University hospital. The editors regret the errors. | |||||||||||||
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