Letters From Our Readers

We'd love to hear from you! Please address your comments for publication to letters@baylormag.com

January 2004

I would like to thank Dr. Sloan and the Board of Regents for the direction, vision and leadership exemplified the past two years. Thank you for bringing back Baylor to its Christian roots and steering the institution back on course to its God-given mission.
During my college years there, I had several wonderful professors and friends who helped mentor me, but the University was essentially rudderless due to ongoing controversy concerning religious teachings and conflict with the Baptist General Convention over control of the school. These distractions sapped the energy from Baylor and its potential influence during those years. 
Due to my relationship with Dr. Walter Bradley (now on the Baylor faculty), I have been thoroughly informed about the ambitious focus of the University. I believe that this aggressive vision will help propel the University to greater heights and influence. Change will not be easy. As Proverbs proclaims, "Without a vision, the people perish." Baylor will continue to thrive in the years ahead because of the determined, courageous and persistent efforts of the current leadership.
Scott T. Schams, BS '82, MBA '94, College Station, Texas

I have just received the latest issue of the Baylor Magazine, and read with interest the article concerning some Texas mayors wanting to put George Bush's Library at Baylor. My voice does not equal that of the mayors' opinion, but let me offer my strong objection for anything related to the current president being housed at my beloved alma mater. President Bush ordered the first pre-emptive strike ever against another country by the United States. It was a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. Do I like what the leader of that country has done to his own people, as well as others? No, I do not. Nevertheless, the president has done nothing but rationalize all his actions when his so-called proof came up empty-handed. ... Thank you for the opportunity to voice an unpopular opinion. After all, the Patriot Act has not had a chance to stop all of us from voicing ideas and opinions counter to those of the current administration without being called a disloyal citizen or a terrorist.
Perry Carroll, BM '57, Anderson, S.C.

November 2003

I was disappointed to see Baylor's Cuban study program characterized in "Opportunity Knocks" as "enabling Baylor's future business leaders to observe the shortcomings of Cuba's socialist system," without questioning the degree that problems could be attributed to the U.S. trade embargo or mentioning successes of that system in comparison to failures of the capitalist system in the factory towns on the Mexican border. To me, international travel can be most educational when we look at other cultures and political/economic systems to see what we can learn, not to support preconceived ideas or our own superiority. 
After visiting Cuba for an international conference and talking with a variety of people, I came home with many preconceptions shattered. I was surprised to see no homeless people and no military presence in Havana. I traveled with a disposable camera, afraid I would inadvertently take a forbidden picture and have it confiscated. Yet no one seemed to care where I went or what I photographed. People were open and welcoming. They seemed to speak freely, some few indicating they did not like Castro, but often people spoke of their liberty and equality and insisted Castro was their elected president and liberator from a brutal dictatorship. U.S. news was readily available on televisions in hotels and could be viewed by the staff. Churches were never banned in Cuba. People who owned houses before the revolution and stayed were able to keep their houses. 
I came away with many questions to ponder, both about Cuba and about the United States. How would we fare in our resource-rich country with an embargo just of oil, for even a year? Why did Cuba not become more self-sustaining while it had assistance from the Soviet Union? How can we develop sustainable food and energy policies to make us more independent? How does a poor country provide free health care (some of the best in the world) for all? Why is the United States nearly alone among first-world nations not to provide such care? ... I also gained hope to see a country guided by compassion rather than greed that uses its resources to meet human needs rather than to wage war. Surely we could do the same here. 
Barbara Wade, BA '69, Berea, Ky.