Championship Commentary
Great Opening Remarks on the NCAA basketball championship in the Summer 2003 issue. I graduated in 1986 and never thought I would see this happen. The cover is awesome, and I would love to frame it. Thanks for a great job.

Michael G. Weiss ’86
East Brunswick, New Jersey

This commemorative issue (Summer 2003) is a classic piece of memorabilia for all alumni as it highlights the University’s NCAA basketball championship. It is an issue that I read with great pride. It will be saved and placed alongside some of my other treasured items, memorializing both my academic years at SU and other important events surrounding the University.

James E. Higgins ’77
Spring Lake, New Jersey

I’m a big Syracuse fan; my father [Richard Balser ’66, G’68 of Maine] is the ultimate Syracuse fan and has never wavered in his belief that Syracuse could go all the way. Even after the loss in the ’87 final to Indiana his comment to me was “next time, next year.”
Ultimately Syracuse basketball for me is not about the game itself, but a reflection of my father’s values and beliefs: Perseverance, loyalty, and conviction are lifelong lessons. I don’t consider sports figures heroes in the true sense of the word. The value of the sport is what it teaches us all: It took the coach of Syracuse 27 years to gain that NCAA title, yet he never gave up on Syracuse, his players, or himself.

During the final game, as I cheered, raged, and finally begged (must it always come down to the last 60 seconds?), I thought only of my father. I never gave up. Way to go Syracuse—you, too, Dad!

Heather Balser
Louisville, Colorado

Conservative Approach
Kudos to alumnus Anthony Bialy ’97 for taking the University to task for its support of the racist policy known euphemistically as “affirmative action” (In Basket, Summer 2003).
If the University is so in love with “diversity,” let there be a little diversity of opinion on campus. Hire some conservatives as teachers; seek out articulate conservatives for graduation speakers. Have the magazine do fair and balanced articles about conservative student groups at Syracuse, and publicize the anti-First Amendment actions of radical groups who seek to silence diversity of opinion on campus.

R. Bruce Skewes ’61
Hamburg, New Jersey

Staging Stereotypes
It is, indeed, regrettable that the SU drama department and Syracuse Stage decided to stage a production of the Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim musical, West Side Story (“Stage Struck,” Spring 2003), which depicts dehumanizing stereotypes of Italian American, Hispanic American, and Polish American teenagers as violent, uneducated, crude, and low class—but with great singing and dancing ability.

There is a relentless tradition of Bernstein/Sondheim-type writers who, for generations, have perpetuated these stereotypes in Broadway musicals. Racism is racism. Greed and profiteering from the dissemination of racial and ethnic stereotypes under the guise of art and entertainment are still greed and profiteering—no matter how many theater patrons hum those catchy tunes as they leave the theater.

Patrick Morelli ’66
Cedar Grove, New Jersey

Share Your Thoughts

Syracuse University Magazine welcomes letters from readers. Address letters to: Editor, Syracuse University Magazine, 820 Comstock Avenue, Room 308, Syracuse, NY 13244-5040. E-mail letters can be directed to jacox@syr.edu and must include a mailing address. Letters are subject to editing for style and space limitations.