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L ettersRaising HopesAre Aricept and other Alzheimer’s drugs being oversold?My spouse, a U of T alumnus, is afflictedwith Alzheimer’s and, until recently, resistedtaking the drug Aricept. So I wasinterested to read in “Untangling Alzheimer’s”(Winter 2008) that Ariceptreduces the symptoms of Alzheimer’s butdoes not halt or slow its progression. Ideplore the fact that doctors encouragepatients to take this drug, thus givingthem false hope. I have worked in thehealth-care field for 30 years and havewitnessed the dreadful effects drugs canhave on patients. I understand the purposeof research in the health-care fieldand applaud its progress in controllingthe ill effects of so many diseases. Whatbothers me is that drug research is fundedmostly by multinational pharmaceuticalcompanies. Although I don’t believe thisaffects the outcome of the research, I dothink it taints the information that’sreleased to the population at large,including medical practitioners.Gisele BrettSaint-Sauveur, QuebecFUTURE RISKTO LOCAL ACCESSPresident David Naylor states in hiscolumn in the winter issue (“GTAOverload?”) that students from theGTA account for almost 75 per cent ofU of T’s undergraduate enrolment, andthat demand for a university educationin Ontario is expected to rise dramatically.I was appalled to read that U of Tis considering an enrolment strategythat will favour students who can affordto live on campus.Even middle-income families struggleto meet rising tuition costs. My childrenwill not be able to afford to live on campus.U of T’s policy should focus onincreasing capacity to support commutingstudents, which is a way of life in theGTA. If accessibility to education declines,U of T will not remain a top university.Please reconsider U of T’s futureundergraduate enrolment policy.Deborah Ellen Wildish (née Boyko)MA 1995Mississauga, OntarioWHERE ARE THE WOMEN?The winter issue included articles onRichard Florida, the new director of theLloyd and Delphine Martin ProsperityInstitute, and David Palmer, the university’snew chief advancement officer.While the magazine is not responsiblefor these appointments, it is a lensthrough which alumni view U of T. Andwhat a vision we behold: the consistentappointment of men to leadership positions,which your magazine has highlightedin this issue and others.The University of Toronto’s 2006employment equity report, availableonline at www.hrandequity.utoronto.ca,shows that the university is making aconcerted effort to hire more femaleprofessors across all faculties. However,it is clear from U of T Magazine articlesand the employment equity report thatwomen are not reflected equitably inleadership positions. In 2006, womenheld 32 per cent of academic leadershippositions at the university, comparedwith 25 per cent a year earlier. Thoughthe university is certainly heading in theright direction, it has a long way to go.Perhaps the next time the magazine coversleadership appointments, it willtackle the absence of women head-on.Tamara MasseyBEd 2000TorontoA MODEL GRADThank you for your recent feature onDr. Samantha Nutt’s life and work(“Witness to War,” Autumn 2007). Sheis the kind of role model women of mygeneration rarely see in the media but sodesperately need.Andrea NusseyBA 1998Toronto8 UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO MAGAZINE / SPRING 2008
NOT JUST HIGGSIn “God’s Laboratory” (Winter 2008),Dan Falk repeats an error that has circulatedsince the discovery of the BEH(Brout, Englert, Higgs) mechanism in1964. It is sometimes referred to as theHiggs mechanism, but recently the BEHterminology has gained in use amongthe cognoscenti.An article by François Englert and I,published in Physical Review Letters in1964, preceded Higgs’ contribution bythree months. These two foundingpapers are complementary in their theoreticalformulations and both should beread by people who are interested in thesubject. The only substantial difference isthat our work was more general, both inits applicability and in the presentationof an alternative mechanism calleddynamical breakdown of symmetry, aswell as the more frequently cited scalarfield mechanism.It is unfortunate that mistaken historicalreferences still appear in popular articleson the subject. A review for ascientific, but not expert, readership iscontained in a chapter of Facts and Mysteriesin Elementary Particle Physics(World Scientific Publishers, 2002), byMartinus Veltman. In that book, portraitsof the three authors of the BEHmechanism are printed side by side. In2004, we were awarded the Wolf Prizein Physics.Robert BroutVisiting Professor, Perimeter Institute,University of WaterlooWaterloo, OntarioHEROESI was intrigued to see the letters concerningKenneth Macalister and FrankPickersgill in response to the article“Behind Enemy Lines” (Autumn2007). Readers will be interested toknow that I am publishing A GloriousMission: The Secret Wars of Ken Macalisterand Frank Pickersgill in fall 2008under my imprint at HarperCollinsCanada. Their remarkable story is toldin full for the first time by the awardwinninghistorian Jonathan Vance andwill add to our appreciation of thesetwo young heroes. Every time I pass theSoldiers’ Tower I think of them.Phyllis BruceMA 1967TorontoFLATTERY, OR KINDNESS?In Conrad McCallum’s item on theemergence of flattery in children(Leading Edge, Winter 2008), two reasons– both self-serving – are cited forwhy a child flatters an artist. Couldthere be a third reason: the child isbeing kind and does not want to hurtthe artist’s feelings?Nina Truscott (née Elensky)BA 1964 UCBurlington, Ontariothe Faculty Cluboffers all members and their guestsan elegant space for special events,meetings, conferences, receptions& weddings.thefacultyCLUBEnjoy fine dining in the WedgwoodDining Room or the Oak andBeaver Pub. Relax in front of thefirepace in the Main Lounge orFairley Lounge while admiringoriginal Group of Seven paintings.Member’s benefits to this exclusive, private club arereciprocal privileges with more than 100 other clubs inNorth America, England, and China also discounts onmany local businesses. We welcome everyone.Join the Club! Low alumni rate!For more information, please call 416 978 6325or visit www.utoronto.ca/facultyclub/WWW.MAGAZINE.UTORONTO.CA 9
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