The Inbox

Seeking Sustainability

I’d like to see more about sustainability in the magazine, and as a category in the Wharton Blog Network (we have ‘Sports Business,’ but not ‘Sustainability?’ Really?).

Wharton seems to be very thin in this area, which concerns me. Over half of the startups I work with or hear about are in clean-tech/green categories and sustainability/alternative energy will arguably be one of the biggest growth sectors of the next two decades.

I hope to see Wharton emerge as a thought leader in this area—the absence of which, I fear, comes off not only as behind-the-times, but worse, more as part of the problem than part of the solution.

Greg Helmstetter, WG’95

Editor’s Note: We agree with you that sustainability is an important topic. That’s why we’ve featured it in such stories as “He Won’t Back Down” (Fall 2010), “A Battle in The Pacific” (Summer 2010) and “Growing Ever Greener” (Spring 2010), and plan to continue covering the topic in future issues. It should also be noted that the School recently launched the Wharton Sustainability Program to achieve “substantive reductions in the environmental impact of the Wharton community.”

Brilliance in the Name of Hate?

I would like to thank you for continually producing a quality Wharton alumni magazine. The new format is a great innovation for the publication.

I am also writing to comment on the Editor’s Letter regarding the Gustavus W. Smith Elementary School (Summer 2010). I understand the usage of Gustavus as a leadership figure who did not have adequate plans to conquer the Union army. I was slightly concerned of the unabashed exaltation of Robert E. Lee as a brilliant and decisive general. I would hope that this commentary would be countered with the reality that this brilliance was in the name of maintaining a hateful slavery system in the South.

As an African American alumna of the class of ’92, it was a little jarring to read about Lee without any further commentary to the civil context of the day that was so wounding to the advancement of freed African Americans today.

Please continue to keep up the good work on the magazine. I felt I would be remiss if I did not write you to share my feelings on the particular editor’s letter in the summer issue.

Elizabeth Jennett, WG’92

Kudos to Mr. Sidhu

I was very impressed with Inder Sidhu’s guest commentary in the most recent edition of Wharton Magazine (“Doing Both,” Fall 2010).

It was extremely well written, very interesting and chock full of excellent ideas. As a native Californian, I have an enhanced appreciation for our magnificent Golden Gate Bridge.

George J. Moore, WG’63

Regarding that last ‘Final Exam’ Challenge …

I am a Wharton undergraduate (class of ’89) who enjoyed statistics (Final Exam, Fall 2010). But it was an English class that reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from Mark Twain … or was it the 19th Century British Prime Minister Benjamin The Inbox Disraeli? “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

Good luck to the winner—just a bit of humor in this way-too-serious world.

Benjamin Young, W’89

A Perceptive Reader

The one thing that impressed me most about the ‘From the Vault’ article on Michail M. Dorizas (From The Vault, Fall 2010) was the fact that he had served in World War I by the time he arrived at Penn in 1913. How was this remarkable man able to serve in WWI before it started?

It is well recognized that World War I started when Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo during the summer of 1914.

Theodore Jon Cohen, W’68

Editor’s Note: Yes, Mr. Cohen, you are, of course, correct. We incorrectly worded our piece about Dorizas, who arrived at Penn as a student in 1913 and earned his M.A. in Philosophy in 1915. He did later serve as a sergeant in the U.S. Army, during World War I, in France.