dialogue

On Our Radar

Pterodactyl Sighting

I was delighted to find two items in the recent (Spring 2021) Bulletin.

One was the feature on the Pterodactyl Hunt. Good to hear this zany tradition is alive and well. The main reason I decided to go to Swarthmore in 1987 was because I saw a poster advertising the Pterodactyl Hunt on a campus visit. I figured any college that hosted such a bizarre activity must be an interesting place to be.

The Hunt’s tradition may have spread. I introduced it to a summer camp up in Maine one year. Who knows how many Pterodactyls are flying around the world now?

Besides having yearly fun with the Hunt, once I arrived at Swarthmore, I was extremely thankful for the Student Activities Fund. Not many schools had this fee wrapped into tuition. By making the Student Activities Fund part of tuition, it opened up all campus concerts, movies, and other events to everyone for free. I’m extremely pleased to see the Textbook Affordability Program fund following the same tradition for textbooks and college supplies. Getting into Swarthmore is one thing. Being able to live, interact, and thrive on campus without social and financial barriers is absolutely essential. Bravo for instating TAP!

— HEATHER RIGNEY SHUMAKER ’91, Traverse City, Mich.

textured treat

Sarah (’07), my wife, and I really enjoyed the texture on the front cover (Spring 2021). The digital editions are convenient, but that was an especially nice touch!

— Dillon McGrew ’07, University Park, Md.

DANIELA FERA

all together now:
Summer research was in full swing for students working in the lab with Daniela Fera, assistant professor of biochemistry.

COVID AND CAPITAL

I was disappointed by Professor Mark Kuperberg’s interview regarding the economics of the pandemic (“Ripple Effect,” Spring 2021). He wrote that “this whole thing was really a medical problem, not an economics problem.”

Like most natural disasters, the human suffering is caused by the human economy. It is not random that the first two COVID-19 hot spots were a nursing home in Washington and a meat-packing plant in South Dakota. These are two industries with the lowest-paid and least-benefited workers. If the choice is working while symptomatic versus missing a paycheck, going to work is required. Losing pay means losing food, missing rent, and possibly becoming homeless. The same dynamics made COVID hit communities of color much harder than white communities.

This is the ugly face of capitalism.

In a rational economy, a global health emergency means all hands on deck for health workers. Yet, due to the exigencies of profit, hospitals, having too few beds, were unprepared for the crisis and clinics actually laid off workers.

When economists shirk their responsibility, they pave the way for future suffering in the next natural disaster.

— ROBBIE LIBEN ’83, Missoula, Mont.

water, water everywhere

I am wondering if the implementation of this plan (“Roadmap to Zero Carbon,” Spring 2021) means that Swarthmore will give up its investments in fossil fuel companies. … On a related subject, is any consideration being given to reducing water use? I was at a conference in Ireland, at a boarding school, where in the shower one would press a button, and out would come a measured amount of water, at exactly the right temperature. The button could be pressed again, I don’t know how many times, but the arrangement was a valuable reminder that water is not an unlimited resource.

— judith Leeds inskeep ’60, Gwynedd, Pa.

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