Letters

The compendium of pieces by faculty and alumni scholars (“This American Moment,” Spring 2021) was most enlightening. At a time when many citizens are trying to make sense of this unusual—some might say “chaotic”—era in American life, the commentaries in the article provided a greatly needed perspective.

Kudos on coming up with the idea to provide clarity and structure to this moment in American politics and life—and for selecting contributors who could provide that clarity.

Larry Kerpelman ’63 (PhD)
Acton, Massachusetts

I was surprised at what memory of Rochester came to mind in reading “This American Moment” in the Spring 2021 issue. I remember the English professor who chose to inform his class that the people who went to the American Frontier were the failures . . . implying that successful people would stay where they were. I characterize it as wrong—wrong-headed and personally offensive.

I had ancestors at the American Frontier from about 1640 through 1900. Many moved from one success to a greater success.

Without trying to respond to all eight essays, I would choose to emphasize one aspect of the ongoing effort by the Democratic Party to change our voting traditions.

While I note that [Professor of Political Science] James Johnson has published “Should Secret Voting Be Mandatory,” no other explicit mention of the importance of the secret ballot makes it into the essay series. But in the characteristically offensive piece by [Assistant Professor of Political Science] Mayya Komisarchik, we are told that “The Biden administration’s For the People Act, known as H. R. 1, is a good start.”

Not a good start at protecting the secret ballot but instead making it entirely optional. Passing control of all voting to the Democrats in Washington is guaranteed to raise forever the suspicion of unfairness.

I could go on but suffice it to state that the views presented are easily challenged if you allow sources not controlled by Big Tech and the Democratic party.

Finally, as for who was the polarizing force, I note that I was characterized by [2016 Democratic presidential nominee] Hillary [Clinton] as being in “the basket of deplorables” in 2016, despite that I in no way find that an appropriate description of my personal beliefs. Shall we go on?

Bruce Brown ’66
Plainfield, Illinois

Assistant Professor Mayya Komisarchik is either misinformed or she is intentionally misleading the reader when she suggests that H. R. 1 is a “good start” to preventing state-level voter suppression.

If readers want to know anything about H. R. 1, they should read Walter Olson’s piece “How Many of H. R. 1’s Provisions Are Unconstitutional?” Mr. Olson is a legal scholar for the Cato Institute and demonstrates that many provisions of this bill are overtly unconstitutional. He states that the sponsors of H. R. 1 “won’t even drop the parts of their bill that courts have already declared unconstitutional.”

Harvey Jacobson ’82S (MBA)
Glendale, California

Huzzah for Hajim

Great article on Wall Street veteran and alumnus Ed Hajim ’58 (“Driven to Succeed”) in the spring issue. While at the Simon Business School in the late ’90s, I had the luck of attending a presentation by Hajim and the opportunity to briefly introduce myself.

I never forgot the words of encouragement that I received from him that day regarding my goal to work in finance, despite having a humanities BA. And now, after 20-plus years in the financial markets, I was stoked to see him still

Luigi Limentani ’98S (MBA)
Tokyo, Japan

A Medley of Individual Groans

Swimmers let us know that we were all wet when, on page 25 of the spring issue, we questioned why the 400-yard “intermediate medley” was such a tough race. Many of them groaned and silently mouthed the words “individual medley” at our mistake.

—Scott Hauser

Review welcomes letters and will print them as space permits. Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity. Unsigned letters cannot be used. Send letters to Rochester Review, 22 Wallis Hall, Box 270044, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627-0044; rochev (at) rochdester (dot) edu.