President Fogel is soaring. “The President’s Perspective” in the most recent Vermont Quarterly is a testament to just how high Fogel has gotten of late. From what can be gathered from the soaring prose of the piece, the outlook for our dear institution is indeed the best it could possibly ever be: soaring. Nothing could be improved; everything is a superlative exclamation of joy and ebullience. I only wish that I could have been a part of the soaring orgy of “feeling” that was the convocation ceremony. It really sounds like I missed the defining historical moment of my generation. Perhaps the University should hold such ceremony more often. It would certainly fit the pattern of soaring expansion currently underway. In truth, more students means more learning, more square footage means greater excellence, more soaring means even higher. Speaking of record applications, I don’t know why anyone would apply to any other college, though it seems as though pretty much all colleges are receiving unprecedented numbers of applications (Could there be competition in the stratosphere?). In any event, the money is pouring in, and Fogel should soon be able to expand his burgeoning horde of vice presidents with ever soaring salaries. Perhaps even the food service personnel and the physical plant workers will soon be soaring, the very books themselves will soar, the cost of education is, by any metric, ab?solutely soaring. I’m soaring. Respectfully, Robert Walker, class of 2006