Letters

I understand the philosophy behind the appointment of Gov. George E. Pataki to the Sesquicentennial Committee. However, given the governor's attitude towards the SUNY system he should not have been included in such a prestigious committee. The governor has made no secret of his dislike for the SUNY system through his budgetary policies.

Last year the Governor sought to reduce state funding to SUNY by $290 million. This year he is seeking even further reductions on the way from a high amount of support of $1.2 billion in 1988 to a measly $661 million next year.

To put the governor on this committee would tend to show a tacit approval of his policies towards SUNY by the UB administration. If there is a need to place a prominent Republican on the committee I would suggest the placing on the committee of Mrs. Happy Rockefeller, whose husband, the late Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, sought to bring quality public education to the working people of New York State.

Gov. Pataki is working to make quality public higher education a thing of the past and not the future of New York State. His selection to the Sesquicentennial Committee is an insult to the people who have attended UB over the last 150 years and the SUNY system as a whole.

Ronald Balter
UB 1980
Via e-mail

A tribute to the late Daphne Hare
Editor:

Over a quarter century ago, Daphne Hare was a teacher in my biophysics class. Her death last year has only recently come to my attention. At that time she was young and in excellent health-a young woman in full bloom. She simply introduced herself as "Daphne Hare" and that was true to her character: she was an extraordinarily wonderful, sensitive and modest human being. She made a lasting impression upon me, though that was not apparent at the time of my association with her.

Her passing exemplifies the ancient adage, often quoted by my teacher, Morris Raphael Cohen, that natural disasters, disease and death befall the just and unjust with utter randomness. All of us are here for only a brief and unpredictable moment, but in the midst of our frenzied activities we generally fail to realize the implications of this simple but profound truth.

We take our health for granted without treasuring the good fortune allowing us to possess it. When it suddenly begins to wane, we finally acknowledge the fleeting nature of our common mortality and all the good deeds we have failed to perform. Then we can only hope that others will carry on where we have left off.

Yours sincerely,

David Slive
Class of 1969 and 1985