Fabian's doppelganger speaks
Mr. Vaksman, I have been a student here for four years at the University of Houston, and like many I have mostly ignored your articles. However, your article July 27 and the subsequent rebuttals seem to confirm some of my worst fears concerning your tactics. I agree with you fully that the University of Houston should have a more robust Russian studies program. I hold bachelors degrees in both history and Russian studies from the University of Houston, and while I felt the instruction was excellent, it always disappointed me that enrollment was so small and that funds were so difficult to obtain. Russia is a land that is rich with history, culture, language and people.
Studying Russia yields significant intellectual rewards, and it troubles me when I see some of the strikingly ignorant opinions many Americans hold about Russia and its people. I know that more than 40 years of Cold War propaganda have contributed to this, and I realize education and greater cultural exchange are the only viable solutions. Few things would give me greater pleasure than to see an exchange program between the University of Houston and Moscow State University in the areas of political science, Russian language, history, law and business. However, I question whether these things could ever happen so long as similar goals are pursued by your immature, inflammatory tactics.
Russian immigrants and international students have enough negative stereotypes to deal with. You need not subsidize the ignorance-based paranoia that many Americans have. By threatening those who may very well be willing to further education about Russia, provided the issue is presented in a mature, professional, appropriate manner, you sabotage your own stated goals.
There are a few Americans, myself included, who strive to show our fellow citizens that there is another viewpoint concerning Russia and its people. My exposure to the Russian language came first as a soldier in the U.S. Army, where I was trained as a military linguist to defend against the "Soviet Threat." Since my discharge I have decided to use that knowledge to promote greater understanding, education and cultural exchange with the Soviet Successor States. It's unfortunate that you have used the civil liberties that I spent the first four years of my adult life securing for you in such a sinister and counterproductive way. You don't make an already difficult task any easier by throwing temper tantrums every time you don't get what you want.
Instead of posturing your precious pliers against the president's testicles, perhaps you should procure a proper pair and put them to a productive purpose - pulling your head out of your rectum, so that you can finish your degree and leave.
Sean D. Graves
graduate student
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