LET’R RIP

“New Jew” Review



As with the other Mark Donald articles that have appeared in D, I found “The New Jews” |July] well written and quite
on target. Although I have personally never had a conflict embracing my Judaism, I am pleased that articles such as
Donald’s reflect the importance of remembering the Holocaust. His parents and my late parents (who coinciden-tally
were very close friends) were all survivors of the Holocaust. We must continue to keep that memory alive.

JACK B. BELL, PRESIDENT DALLAS MEMORIAL CENTER FOR HOLOCAUST STUDIES



Mark Donald has caught some of the essence of the issues that young Jews are grappling with, as well as sharing with
the reader his personal struggle.

MORRIS A. STEIN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER DALLAS



Newcomer’s Guide “Appalling”



Your Newcomer’s Guide to Dallas [July] was appalling. How can you represent Dallas and be so cynical about the
neighborhoods? Apart from the negative views it seems you stated incorrect information.

First of all. Bluffview/Shorecrest is not in the flight path of Love Field. In fact, if planes do fly over the
residential area, you call the Love Field noise abatement number and file a complaint. You get more plane noise in
the Park Cities.

Secondly, come count the frame houses on Shorecrest. I don’t think you will find any.

The neighborhoods, especially like Bluff-view, are so important to the city. It’s the tax base. We end up paying for
all the services. If D magazine is going to welcome new-comers, don’t give them wrong facts.

VANGELA L. COSBY DALLAS



Life Without Microwaves?



Kudos to Chris Tucker and his efforts to save Planet Earth (“Parting Shot,” July], but there are some other little
things that can also be done:

Wash dishes by hand. Dishwashers use a tremendous amount of water and generate heat, something we do not need
indoors dur ing Texas summers;

Hang clothes on the line rather than us ing the dryer, which uses a lot of electricity (most are 220 volts) and
generates heat.

He probably won’t do either. My friends who have traded aerosol cans for pump sprayers and changed from styrofoam
cups to washable ones just look at me funny when I make these suggestions. I wonder how we ever made it to this
generation washing dishes by hand and hanging clothes on the line. Probably the same way we were able to live
without microwave ovens.

TRACEY SMITH

FORT WORTH

SMU: The Price Is Right

How surprising to read Eric Celeste’s claim that “SMU likes to call itself the ’Harvard of the South’” [“Revenge of
the Renaissance Man,” June]. In my fourteen years as an SMU professor, I’ve never heard a student, faculty member,
or administrator make that claim.

It was also surprising to read that it is a “common joke1’ on the campus that SMU stands for “Small, Mediocre
University.” Neither I nor my colleagues have heard this “often repeated” joke.

More lamentable, however, than substituting anecdotes for facts are passages in Celeste’s article that suggest that
an SMU education is mediocre and not worth the price. As Celeste knows, most SMU classes are taught by professors
themselves, not by graduate students. Moreover, class size is small, giving students a chance to develop writing and
speaking skills. SMU students are exposed to classmates from a variety of places, races, ethnic groups, and social
classes. More than 60 percent of our undergraduates are from out of state or out of the country, and more than half
of our undergraduates receive some form of financial assistance. I do not think it is a mediocre school that places
90 percent of its pre-med students in the nation’s medical schools (25 percent above the national average). Those
students and their parents get their money’s worth.

DAVID J. WEBER

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY. SMU

DALLAS

They Hart

Our board of directors begs to differ with Jeff Posey’s assessment of new City Manager Jan Hart [“Hart Choices,’1
July].

While it is true that the arts have faced some battles at City Hall to retain less than 2 percent of the city
budget, we believe Hart views the arts as essential city services. While the arts did not make the “short list” of
city services mentioned in the article, we believe Hart projects a balanced set of priorities for the city in her
work.

Dallas will need a strong city manager to guide us through some very lean years and troublesome issues facing the
city. We are lucky to have Hart.

SUSAN MEAD, CHAIRMAN

DALLAS COALITION FOR THE ARTS

Well, Mahi-Mahi



I enjoyed seeing your recent article [“New Fish in Town.” June], but was rather chagrined that you didn’t include us
in the list of retailers carrying escolar and tilapia. T.J.’s Fresh Seafood Market opened September 25. 1989. and
has been serving customers the very highest quality and freshest seafood available.

TOM HAYDEN

DALLAS



“Sanity” Fair

Re: “The Selling of Sanity” by Sally Gid-dens. in the June issue of D.

1 can well imagine the response of the mental health professionals to the article. Many of them have, no doubt,
marched lock step to the Wailing Wall with a show of righteous indignation that anyone would have the audacity to
question the motives of mental health care-givers.

The record is abundantly clear that a significant percentage of youth placed in psychiatric facilities need not have
been placed (here in the first place. There is little doubt in my mind that the for-profit facility uses progressive
marketing techniques and in the process exploits both children and parents by playing on the parents’ worst-scenario
fears. also think that it is a well established fact that being a parent is no picnic. On the other hand, I do not
believe that psychiatry and its other handmaiden professions have any better parenting skills than the rest of us.
Hospitalization is an expensive proposition, and there is little, if any, evidence to indicate that in-house
treatment is any more effective than out-patient treatment or that long-term treatment is any more successful than
short-term treatment.

I would advise all parents to be most hesitant to swallow the propaganda of treatment facilities and resist the hype
that accompanies their marketing efforts. And should any parents be faced with the necessity of a restrictive
setting, 1 would urge them to get a second opinion before making the final decision,

In the meantime, Sally Giddens, keep up the good work because the public has to be made aware of the blatant greed
of the hospital industry, which is willing to do so little for so much.

BILL JOHNSON, ADVOCATE MENTAL HEALTH ASSOCIATION of Minnesota