Circa, 1970. "Tears of Rage" seemed a suitable title to capture the emotions of the university, the city and the nation during a tumultuous spring 40 years ago. It also had the panache of words/music by Richard Manuel and Bob Dylan. War, military draft, poverty, ecologic ruin, racial strife, urban decline, public education, labor issues... Undoubtedly sophomoric (literally in my case), pen-to-paper (no word processing then) became an essential outlet to conceptualize the evolving turmoil beyond my role in production and artistry at The Spectrum.
Figuratively hiding behind the back of Feature Editor Susan Trebach, my first approach at commentary was handed to Editor in Chief Linda Hanley. Thus began my foray as a writer, albeit now in medical research and editorials, and has solidified my indebtedness to my former colleagues at The Spectrum and to SUNY at Buffalo.
Circa , 2011. There is plenty of rage and many tears shed in our present world. The elapse of the past four decades has done little to mitigate our disharmony. With the exception of the U.S. military draft – war, poverty, ecologic ruin, racial strife, urban decline, public education, labor issues – the digitalization of communication has made the role of the student press no less relevant, but rather has extended the opportunity to reach out to students in ways not previously possible.
Dissemination of diverse ideas and observations encompassing popular culture, politics, regional/world events, and other life experiences, is not only an important learning experience for students honing future skills, but also provides integral dialogue among the university community. Indeed, many career paths, from journalism to medicine, are constructed from solid foundations forged from lessons in observation, synthesis of information, discourse, and prose.
Certainly, of the many pertinent topics for the student press, the state of the public university bears intense scrutiny. The recent student protests against tuition increases in the University of California system, and innumerable proposed cutbacks in both university and primary/secondary education systems across the country, articulate the potential phenomenal harm to a generation of citizens.
I am a product of public education including my residency and oncology fellowship (University of Wisconsin). My wife and children have thrived because of their public education backgrounds. The value of a public education that is comprehensive and accessible to our population as a whole, requires urgent local and national debate. Forfeiture of our educational resources will impede the innovation, intellectual capital, workforce development, and competitiveness that our country will surely require to provide for our citizens and to maintain its world status.
Although we all commiserate with those facing economic uncertainty, short sided and even impulsive reductions in educational programs will fail to meaningfully reduce individual financial hardship for the short term and certainly result in long-term collateral damage. In the span of 50 years, New York State had the foresight to construct an ambitious public university system stimulating economies across the state and providing affordable education and advancing the careers of many tens of thousands. SUNY at Buffalo students (e.g., The Spectrum), and faculty should continue to promote the arguments in support of public education, both to the public and the government as a counterbalance to the negative rhetoric.
I am sure that many of my fellow Spectrum alumni can look back at the intensity of our experience knowing that it complemented many aspects of our collegiate life, including friendships and development of many skill sets that have influenced what we have become today. Personally, I am most grateful to the amazing people I worked with during my Spectrum tenure, all of whom I remember, and some of whom I see regularly, or at least at various reunions. In fact, this month, while lecturing in China I will visit with my former Spectrum co-managing editor, Susan Trebach, who has recently moved to Hong Kong with her husband Art.
Happy 60th anniversary to The Spectrum. My wish for the current Spectrum staff and their student colleagues, is to thrive in their public education experience, to promote justice and truth particularly in situations where it is lacking, to foster lifelong friendships, to become lifelong learners and writers, and to honor all those who have come before you and those who are there for you to guide your dreams and aspirations.
Al B. Benson III, M.D is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois. He is also the Associate Director for Clinical Investigations and Chair of the Clinical Protocol Scientific Review and Monitoring System for the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, a National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, at Northwestern University. In addition, he is an Attending Physician at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, a Staff Physician at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center, and a Consultant to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Email: alumni@ubspectrum.com
