Co-op Works
In regard to the Talk of the Gown article ["Stearns Center Stories,"
May], I would like to say this: Northeastern is a school for go-getters.
If you wanted to be handheld through co-op and your classes, you went to
the wrong school. If Northeastern didn't work for you, then you weren't
making it work! The co-op system is the main reason I got a job after graduation,
while my Ivy League friend couldn't get a job for two years! While at N.U.,
I had seven co-op jobs (half of them I got myself). Many people I know
don't even use the degree that they earned at college. At N.U. we got a
chance to test the waters through co-op and make changes to our majors
before it was too late. Co-op is the best way to go to college, and I would
highly recommend it to anyone motivated enough to make it work.
P. J. White, AS'93
Kingston, Massachusetts
Harnessing Hazard
I just received the May issue and want to point out some potential errors
in the "Huskiana" photo on the
last page. The photo shows Stephen Cotter, E'98, and another gentleman
on a boom lift. Both men are wearing safety harnesses that caught my attention.
In the photo it appears that they are actually wearing the devices incorrectly,
with the D ring in the wrong location. It appears to be centered on their
chests instead of on the upper part of their backs. Further, it also seems
that they are not connected to an appropriate anchorage point (within the
basket) with a lanyard. I often see people trying to adhere to safety standards,
yet they apparently do not understand the theories behind the equipment.
In this case the harnesses they wear are required under OSHA's Fall Protection
Standard. This standard took effect approximately four years ago in an
effort to save lives. Unfortunately, in cases such as this, if a fall were
to occur, the safety equipment would do little to help either individual.
Without a properly connected lanyard, there is nothing to keep them from
falling. And, if they were connected to a lanyard that could save them,
given the location of the D rings, they would likely suffer severe injuries
from the stopping action of the lanyard.
This may appear to be an overly technical note, but I include it to
make a connection among safety, engineering, and business. Safety is not
simply about following rules and wearing some equipment. It is a valuable
part of any business enterprise which reflects managers' concern for their
employees and has a direct impact on the bottom line.
Richard DiBona, MBA'86
Burlington, Massachusetts
Illuminating History
In "The Making of the History"
[May], the circa 1930 photo on page thirty-nine, showing co-op students
at what was then known as the Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston,
prompts this historical note. It was my N.U. co-op job with New England
Power Company at its Salem Harbor Station in 1956 that began my thirty-five-year
career in the electric utility industry. I grew up in Peabody, Massachusetts,
listening to radio station WEEI, little knowing that the station had a
connection with the industry in which I would eventually invest my working
lifetime. In 1986, during a break in a power-plant computer meeting I was
attending at the Edison Electric Institute in Washington, D.C., I adjourned
to the history section in EEI's library to scan through the collection
of corporate histories of investor-owned electric utilities from around
the country. An epiphany occurred as I leafed through the centennial calendar
of the Boston Edison Company and realized for the first time that the call
letters of radio station WEEI stood for Edison Electric Illuminating. That
pioneering radio station came into being in 1924 under the aegis of the
Edison Electric Illuminating Company of Boston and continued so until 1942,
when federal regulations mandated utility divestiture of broadcasting outlets.
Peter Kushkowski, E'58
Haddam, Connecticut
Democratic Debate
I was disappointed to read in the May issue "Letters"
correspondence from several alumni who have apparently allowed their political
philosophy and views of President Clinton to color their judgment of Northeastern.
Having spent my own years at Northeastern during the tumult of the Vietnam
protest era, I found their views very surprising. They appear to think
that the university is only associated with Democrats, liberals, and President
Clinton, in particular.
During the 1960s I recall a Northeastern that supported ROTC and those
of us who drilled in the Fenway, in spite of protests by other students
and the rhetoric of the SDS. I vividly recall President Knowles confronting
those whose opposition to the Vietnam War resulted in their rejection of
conventional values and their seeming support of violence or whatever means
might be necessary to further their own political goals.
I even recall that there was an active, thriving Young Republican Club,
which aggressively supported the presidential candidacy of Senator Barry
Goldwater. And so I do not think there is any basis then or now to suggest
that the university only hires liberal professors and its student body
only reflects the ideals of liberalism. I am confident that the present
student body continues to represent the broad range of political views
in our country, as it always has. There is, most assuredly, a place for
both conservatives and liberals at Northeastern University.
Moreover, it was especially surprising to find such letters in a special
co-op issue. Perhaps the alum who barred his own children from applying
to Northeastern should consider that he thereby deprived them of the rich
work-ethic experiences in the real world that Northeastern almost uniquely
provides to each of its students. Further, it is most certainly a broad
and unjustifiable overgeneralization to suggest that the giving of an honorary
degree to the president of the United States indicates the political views
of the university or, more pointedly, approval of the president's self-acknowledged
misconduct.
Finally, I was distressed by this correspondence because it reflects
precisely the same unforgiving intolerance of ideas that the writers professed
to criticize. Of all things, a university should be a laboratory of ideas-a
place where all ideas are freely exchanged and none are excluded, including
the most liberal ones. Barring one's own children from Northeastern-preposterous-and
removing one's name from a magazine's mailing list-how petty.
Arthur E. Peabody Jr., LA'69
Alexandria, Virginia
I was pleasantly surprised to see the commentary in "Letters"
printed in the May issue regarding Clinton and former students' experiences
with liberal professors. My peeve with N.U. has been the preponderance
of liberal/socialist speakers and honorees. I have long felt that the university
should be a place of discourse of different points of view. I can listen
to liberal/socialist speakers. Why can't the liberals listen to conservative
speakers and honorees?
To F. Colley and the others who wrote, please don't have your name removed
from any list. Make your views known to President Freeland. From my ongoing
conversations with him, I think we may see some changes in this regard.
Let him, as well as the development office, know (as I have done) that
no funds will be forthcoming until you see some meaningful and significant
changes in this regard.
F. V. Frissora, LA'57
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Let us conduct a small review. N.U. guest speakers were Clinton [1993
commencement], Tipper Gore [1999 Americorps rally], Julian Bond [1999 commencement]-all
Democrats. Why not one Republican, not one conservative speaker? Hey, let's
have Newt Gingrich. The university wants contributions, stipends, will
remembrances, and support for the co-op plan. We, the alumni, don't wish
to support the Democratic Party; we don't wish to leave a will bequest
to the Democrats via Northeastern.
William Hamilton, E'53
Melbourne Beach, Florida
I read your May issue with some interest. The letters to the editor
took some nerve for you to publish. I have to agree with Mr. Colley and
Mr. Page that N.U. has become a very radical and liberal school. To endorse
the present members of the White House and invite them to speak at commencement
certainly lowers the standing of the university. Let us try to get some
honesty and honor back into education.
Herbert P. Boyle, BA'43
Barefoot Bay, Florida
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