To the editor:I was disappointed to read that Brandeis has chosen to eliminate linguistics and cognitive science as a major (news article, Nov. 2).

I graduated from Brandeis in 2002 with a degree in that field. At that time, few professors staffed the program, so I took classes with Joan Maling, Ray Jackendoff and Edgar Zuriff over and over and over again.

Thank goodness they were good professors.

I loved my major. The classes were fascinating, the readings intriguing and the professors insightful. The existence of the linguistics program was a key factor in my choosing to attend Brandeis.

I can't imagine keeping professors like Jackendoff-a world-renowned, well-respected and accomplished linguist-is too expensive for a university that charges students more than $30,000 a year. Letting this program go because it's unpopular is poor judgment. Only a handful of students join the Linguistics program each year-and now that's no longer an option for them.

I believe Brandeis should allow-and even encourage-its students to pursue their majors of choice, whether that choice is a popular one or not.

The best thing I got out of Brandeis was my wife Lauren. But my linguistics degree was second.

-Lex Friedman '02

Los Angeles

To the Editor:

As the father of a prospective student and someone who has been so impressed with the school that I've recommended it to others, I was saddened by many of Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe's proposed changes, particularly the downsizing of physics and elimination of linguistics and Greek.

I must confess to a personal bias-my son studies Greek (not Latin) and is interested in linguistics. But this also suggests that the more that is cut and the less broad the offerings, the answer to the question, "Why Brandeis?" becomes a bit more difficult to answer.

However, with such a vibrant and intelligent community, perhaps, if the administration would state what it would cost to keep these subjects, the community--students, alumni, faculty-could work to identify and obtain funding. Perhaps the Hellenic Studies Center in Washington, D.C. could be approached to find out if there are potential donors who would be willing to help save the study of Ancient Greek; perhaps alumni who found that its study helped their cognition in other ways would be motivated. Alumni of linguistics would perhaps have a greater sense of "give-back" and so onward to avoid the "death of a thousand cuts-" albeit administered a few at a time.

-Peter Munsing

Wyomissing, Pa.

To the Editor:

It is with great consternation that I discovered that Faculty Dean Adam Jaffe has put forward the motion to discontinue the teaching of Ancient Greek language and to dissolve the department of classical studies. For the dean to put forward this proposition he must assume certain fallacies about the contemporary significance and cultural depth of Greek.

What the Dean does not realize is that eliminating the study of the language single-handedly destroys the study of the literature, the history and the culture of Ancient Greece at Brandeis. Language is the key to the study and research of a culture. Students who desire to pursue deeper understanding of the texts will be confined to the superficiality of translations.

The central argument of detractors of classics is that they are unpopular with students, that Greek and Latin are unimportant compared to more practical studies such as economics or law. Nothing could be further from the truth. Greek and Latin are the study of humanity, intellectual cornerstones that inform and enrich any field of study. The Greek language is significant in and of itself. It illuminates and increases the comprehension of the English language, which shares its roots with Latin, German and French. The deeper understanding of English through the study of the classics can only aid a student.

The rigors of Greek and Latin teach the student to enjoy and love learning for learning's sake; no other subject better conveys the joys and essence of study. To become acquainted with the classics is to glimpse a traditional world that lives beneath the surface of the contemporary. To study the classics is to observe the ancient world that still lives within the modern, and this fruit bears fulfillment, wisdom, and understanding.

The classics department at Brandeis is a caring, nurturing and attentive one. It is a department fueled by passion; more importantly, it is a department that changes the lives of students.

-Sean Signore '02