Letters to the Editor

Differences between Singer and Hiatt exaggerated

Regarding 'Bioethics class visits neonatal facility' (Nov. 15):

Elyse Graham's lively account of my class's visit to Saint Peter's Hospital contains a few inaccuracies that should be put right.

To begin with, the hospital is in New Brunswick, not Metuchen.

Second, the statement "A baby in the 50th percentile of births would weigh 960 grams" should have read "A baby in the 50th percentile of births at 26 weeks of gestation would weigh 960 grams." (Babies born at the normal time usually weigh at least three times that.)

Thirdly, and perhaps most significantly, I did not say, of Dr. Mark Hiatt, the director of the neonatal intensive care unit, "[Hiatt] also has an attitude that you should try to save every life you can, regardless of circumstances." That is clearly contrary to what Hiatt had told the class only a few minutes earlier, that he does withdraw care when the child's life will be very severely impaired, and the parents request him to do so. The differences between my view and Hiatt's are less sharp than presented in the article. We both believe that the parents should have a major role in life and death decisions about their baby, and we also agree that sometimes it is reasonable, in view of the baby's poor prospects, to take steps that will lead to the death of the infant. We disagree over whether there is a morally significant difference between active euthanasia and the withdrawal of life-support, knowing that the baby will die without it. Peter Singer DeCamp Professor of Bioethics

Good classes are out there; students need to look

Regarding 'Quantity Over Quality' (Kyle Meng, Nov. 16):

I agree with Kyle that the average Princeton student is better at working than at thinking independently. I disagree, however, that this phenomenon "is propagated by the pressures of this institution" and that "this school greatly emphasizes quantity over quality." Princeton offers incredible courses taught by engaging professors that stress the importance of independent and critical thinking. I think the problem is that those are not the courses students want to take.

During my four years here, it has been no surprise that the most intellectually rewarding classes I have taken at Princeton have required the most work and have been the most challenging. The reading lists for classes like Constitutional Interpretation and The Just Society are by no means short, and these classes have a reputation for grading quite harshly. But professors like Robert George and Michael Sugrue vigorously emphasize the importance of how one solves a problem, rather than the solution itself. These classes, along with many others I am sure, reward independent thinking and penalize fact regurgitation.

The onus to take these fulfilling classes lies with students. But instead of searching for the most engaging professors or challenging curricula, students look for papers in lieu of finals, easy As, and classes that don't meet on Friday mornings. These problems are most evident in students' choices of distribution requirements; when was the last time you heard of an English major opting to take orgo over bridges to satisfy a QR? Before someone starts complaining about the emphasis of quantity over quality in his classes, I would challenge him to take a good look at his choice of classes in the first place. Scott Daubin '05