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Letters
9/15/2004

Two Who Need to Get Priorities Straight

Remember the days when Minnesota had leaders who believed in the University of Minnesota? Most recent, Governor Arne Carlson understood that the state's citizens deserved the best in research and education. And he was vocal about it. If it took a law degree to grasp that simple concept—that as the University goes, so goes the state—we wouldn't be in this mess, with the legislature starving the University, and the University in turn raising tuition again.

But remember, too, the days when students went off to college with a suitcase in one hand, a typewriter in the other, and a bus ticket in the pocket? Today's college-bound students require moving trucks for their stereos, televisions, furniture, and accessories. Then they wail about not being able to afford tuition.

The day was when the opportunity to attend college was a privilege that my siblings and I worked like mad to achieve. I was happy to own just one pair of shoes and two pairs of pants for almost four years. But even so, we could not have attended this great school if it had not been made affordable.

Once you understand what's important and have your priorities straight, you find very little to complain about.

Jay Westerman (B.S. '41)
Minneapolis

Is It Ethical to Obstruct Stem Cell Research?

I did not attend the University but many in my family did, and I follow it closely.

Thank you for your article about ethical quandaries raised by scientific discoveries at research universities ["Where Research Meets Ethics," July-August]. Your writer described very well some complicated and fascinating issues confronting researchers and those who shape public policy.

But who is shaping the policymakers?

I would also have liked to have heard University experts expand on the ethical issues raised by governmental interference in academic discovery. I'm referring specifically to stem cell research. Stem cells—embryonic stem cells in particular—have shown tremendous potential for leading to a cure for devastating diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and diabetes, as well as spinal cord injuries.

The federal government—responding to religious and social activist groups—has restricted federally funded stem cell research to certain lines of cells. It is lawful, however, for researchers to develop new lines of stem cells with private sources of funding. But now the Minnesota legislature is considering a bill that would forbid the University of Minnesota to use funds even from private sources to conduct non-federally-approved stem cell research.

How ethical is that?

Linda Sorenson
Minneapolis

Taught by U Greats

As a proud grad from the late 1940s (with a B.S. in speech pathology from the College of Education), I was completely delighted to visit my beloved alma mater this past April. I visited the arts-speech-music areas of the campus and was overwhelmed by the new buildings and the lovely campus!

It was a very nostalgic moment to tour the functional building now housing speech and drama offices and auditoriums. As a few current students showed me around to the [Frank] Rarig Center, the Frank Whiting theater, and more, they couldn't believe that I knew those two professors personally, having studied under both of them in several classes (probably the students couldn't believe someone who knew and studied with those professors could still be alive!).

Needless to say, I was indeed so pleased —and moved—to visit many familiar buildings, walks, and other sites. I will always be thankful to the U and always be proud.

Dorothy Balch (B.S. '47)
Seattle

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