Focus
on Research
Penn State Intercom......September 28, 2000
In 1933,
young Kathy wrote to President Herbert Hoover:
"What are the chances of there ever being a woman president of the United
States?"
Hoover replied, "Men have not done too good a job of government in the world in the last 47 years and the chances for the women are thereby increased. With good wishes to you if you are a candidate for president about 30 years hence."
Book unveils letters from
the presidents to our children
By Vicki Fong
Public Information
A
new book, Dear Young Friend: The Letters of American Presidents to
Children, traces the evolution of the U.S. presidency from aristocratic
to mass media through the letters of children to the White House.
"Much of the presidential mail to children illuminates little-known aspects of our chief executives, even those whose personalities as well as presidencies seem almost to have faded from history," said authors Rodelle and Stanley Weintraub.
"Even popular presidents unveiled a side not always seen by the public. The letters provide a striking lens that allows us to examine the development of an increasingly more public presidency," said Stanley Weintraub, Evan Pugh professor emeritus of arts and humanities.
Dear Young Friend: The Letters of American Presidents to Children is published by Stackpole Books of Mechanicsburg, Pa.
As expected, the early correspondence from American presidents such as Washington and Jefferson was mostly to young family members. But in the late 1800s, as public education became widespread and more children acquired reading and writing skills, the practice of writing to the president had become a tradition, the authors said. Many of the least-known occupants of the Oval Office show an almost unexpected humanity: Benjamin Harrison sends a doll to a 4-year-old who charmed him when his train stopped briefly at a town in Indiana.
"My dear little friend ... If the doll could talk, she would tell you how much I love to be loved by little children," he wrote.
"The surprises are to see how a Fillmore, a Pierce, a Garfield or a Hayes reacts to young people," the Weintraubs said. "Among other forgettable chief executives, one finds glimpses of a private integrity and charm, that the public record seldom if ever reveals. James Garfield, whose term was cut short by assassination, cautions his sons not to gloat over his nomination to the presidency."
By the mid-20th century, the personal letters mainly disappeared and most mail from children, even in less chaotic periods, was fielded mostly by staff. However, the authors found examples where real emotions did overtake even the most politically cynical of administrations.
As part of their research, the Weintraubs reviewed thousands of letters located in state historical societies and modern presidential libraries. The late John Coolidge gave them copies of letters from his crusty father, which are included in the book.
Through the letters, issues such as education, citizenship and national purpose appear in tandem with personal problems, from a dog to a bike or a job. A young Fidel Castro asked Franklin D. Roosevelt for a "ten dollar bill green american" in an unanswered letter.
"We see the continuing and sometimes changing concerns of the presidential office and its occupants and how these concerns are approached in letters to young people." Stanley Weintraub said. "Americans have survived large men and small men in the great office, and most of the small ones have been individuals in whom one could take some pride. The system works, and we can see it working in miniature scale here."
For more on this story, including video interviews with the authors and audio files of some of the correspondence, check the Newswire Plus Web site at http://www.psu.edu/ur/stories/DearYoungFriend/index.html.
Artificial heart researchers
to work with Abiomed Inc.
Researchers from the College of Medicine will be working with a new corporate partner as they continue their work on the total electric artificial heart.
Abiomed Inc., a recognized leader in the field, announced that it has entered into agreements to acquire the exclusive rights to Penn State's implantable replacement heart -- the Penn State Heart -- as well as the assets of BeneCor Heart Systems Inc., a company recently created to commercialize the Penn State Heart. The transaction includes arrangements for Abiomed to begin a collaborative relationship with Penn State, the College of Medicine and The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.
Abiomed intends to pursue the commercialization of the Penn State Heart at its Danvers, Mass. facility.
For more on this story, check the Web at http://www.psu.edu/ur/2000/abiomed.html.
For information on Abiomed, check the Web at http://www.abiomed.com/.
Chandra marks
first anniversary
NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory celebrates its initial year in orbit with an impressive list of firsts. Through Chandra's unique X-ray vision, scientists have seen for the first time the full impact of a blast wave from an exploding star, a flare from a brown dwarf, and a small galaxy being cannibalized by a larger one.
Chandra's Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrograph (ACIS) X-ray camera was conceived and built by a team led by Gordon Garmire, Evan Pugh professor of astronomy and astrophysics. It is the third in NASA's family of great observatories, complementing the Hubble Space Telescope and the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory.
Perhaps one of Chandra's greatest contributions to X-ray astronomy is the resolution of the X-ray background, a glow throughout the universe whose source or sources are unknown. Astronomers are now pinpointing the various sources of the X-ray glow because Chandra has resolution eight times better than that of previous X-ray telescopes, and is able to detect sources more than 20 times fainter.
For more information, visit the Chandra X-ray Observatory Web site at http://chandra.nasa.gov/