Letters
Compassionate community
The article "Weep With Those Who Weep" was so touching. Thank you so much for expressing our family's feelings for Baylor in this publication--I hope someone will read the article and say, "I think this would be the place for my son/daughter to attend. It is a university with a heart and a hand."
Frances Moseley
Livingston, Texas
Your article about weeping for the loss of Baylor students really touched me. The outpouring of support from the Baylor community is what makes Baylor special.
My younger brother was paralyzed in a car accident during my senior year at Baylor. I can't begin to recount all the moral support I received from faculty, staff and other students as I coped with this tragedy and my goal of graduating on time while spending so much time at the hospital in San Antonio. It was overwhelming. I graduated on time and went to grad school, and my brother has lived a very productive life. This was more meaningful to me than my dynamite courses from Lyle Brown and Bill Cooper or any sports accomplishments.
Mary Ferris, BA '74
Nacogdoches, Texas
The article that Barbara Elmore wrote, "Weep With Those Who Weep," was a very well-done article and was very meaningful to our family. We appreciate that the Baylor family embraced us and cared enough to include us in the article.
Lila A. Todd
Oklahoma City, Okla.
High marks for Merit Scholars
Excellent article in this month's issue regarding merit scholarships ("Baylor growing choice among merit scholars," Spring '07). A suggestion: While Baylor is ranked 28th nationally (fourth in the Big 12), I would not so readily concede that Baylor is behind Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M, because if you consider the size of the student body of each of the four schools, per capita, Baylor is actually well ahead of the other three Big 12 schools. I think it is worth considering in future promotions about this issue; I don't know if the editors agree, but I thought it is worth considering since the enrollment at Baylor is relatively fixed at a much lower number than the other three Big 12 schools. I think it's much more impressive that a school of Baylor's relative small size would attract that many more merit scholars.
Keith Nelson, BA '79, JD '83
Dallas, Texas
Editors' Response: You make a good point, Keith. We crunched the numbers, and Baylor finished a close second in the Big 12 in ratio of National Merit Scholars to undergraduate population (see the chart below for a complete list).
| Institution | Undergrad/ Scholar Ratio | 2006 Scholars | *Fall '06 Undergrads | |
| 1 | Oklahoma | 134.68 | 140 | 18,855 |
| 2 | Baylor | 144.28 | 82 | 11,831 |
| 3 | Texas | 148.15 | 250 | 37,037 |
| 4 | Texas A&M | 272.99 | 134 | 36,580 |
| 5 | Nebraska | 377.63 | 46 | 17,371 |
| 6 | Kansas | 400.42 | 52 | 20,822 |
| 7 | Iowa State | 425.83 | 48 | 20,440 |
| 8 | Missouri | 862.04 | 25 | 21,551 |
| 9 | Oklahom St. | 892.24 | 21 | 18,737 |
| 10 | Texas Tech | 1,428.19 | 16 | 22,851 |
| 11 | Kansas St. | 2,084.56 | 9 | 18,761 |
| 12 | Colorado | 2,471.00 | 10 | 24,710 |
| *undergrad enrollment figures collected from university Web sites | ||||
Worship is a way of life
My husband and I are worship leaders full time, and I want Ryan McPhee to know that what we believe worship is about is exactly what he is living out! ("Engineering with eternal impact," Spring '07) The curse of the entertainment-driven culture that we live in is that it displays an inaccurate view of God-honoring worship. A life lived in response to who God is, this is worship ... not just songs. God has smiled and the kingdom has just become brighter because of the way these engineering students are worshipping! Keep encouraging others to do the same.
Emily Mills, BA '99
Waco, Texas