To the Editors of the CRIMSON:
We regret that the CRIMSON reporter Scott Jacobs chose to ignore certain facts which, if reported, would have greatly altered the impression of our meeting given in his article.
* Professor Levin proposed the meeting to the Comparative Literature Conference committee about one month ago. The committee, which is composed of five students, then asked other students to think about what they would like to discuss.
* No one phrased any of his suggestions as demands and to us it did not appear that anyone "entered the meeting prepared to make several demands on the department."
* Suggestions were made that the required pro-seminar be lengthened to one year, and that the second semester cover a greater variety of fields of interest, but no one suggested a "complete overhaul of the required first-year seminar." Discussion of the format for the second half of the course included proposals for greater student participation in determniing the direction of the course.
* There was no demand for a "radical" political seminar, although there was a proposal to incorporate or introduce radical subjects in independent, individual, or group study.
* The subject of changing generals was not brought up nor was the suggestion made that the department require "less sweeping knowledge."
* The committees to study curriculum, etc., were voluntary, not appointed.
* Finally, there was a consensus among the students about the success of the meeting, and not a split, as reported in the CRIMSON.
We, the undersigned, are students in the Department of Comparative Literature who attended the meeting. Joan Tapper Wendy Bush Carmelita Boivin Sara Bershtel Peter Herman Charles Bernheimer Jane Goldsmith Yehudy Lindeman Rae Ann Nager Anthony Vincent Kenneth R. Androué Jeffrey Green Roger Horwitz Regina Kyle Susan Kirkpatrick Michael Ouellette Lynda Christian Marina Frederiksen Richard Blumenthal Laimdota Mazzarins Peter Grudin Peter Heinegg Jale Parla Ellen Cantarow
Read more in News
Quiet Pessimism Pervades New Haven Athletic Dept.