Pratt students enjoy engineering and humanities

I enjoyed Stacy Chudwin's column in last Friday's Chronicle ("A Trini-tard in Prattland," Feb. 23). But, then, I'm an engineer.

If Chudwin had thought about why engineering majors applied to (and were accepted by) Pratt, rather than M.I.T., Rensselaer and Cal Tech, she might not have been so surprised that Pratt students were cute and clever (both genders presumably). My experience (more than 40 years on the Duke engineering faculty) is that Pratt attracts students who are not only challenged by the demands and joys of creating new and useful materials, devices and processes, but who also are accomplished artists, writers, athletes and politicians, even before they arrive at Duke.

Thirty or so years ago, one of our mechanical engineering majors, Terry Krauss, successfully petitioned my department to convert a small conference room into an ersatz coffee lounge on weekday mornings, where students and faculty would get together for coffee, informal discussion and relaxation. If Chudwin had been here then, she would have discovered both engineers and Trinity students solving crossword puzzles, discussing philosophical and political issues, and helping to clean the coffee pot for the following day. She might even have encountered an engineering major, giving her grief for being an English major and using the expression, "...were smarter than me."

George Pearsall

Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering and Material Sciences