Cornell Comments

Cornell University does an excellent job training students to accept responsible management positions in the hotel industry (“The Spy in Room 712,� July 2). The University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Golden Gate University, Florida International University and the University of Houston also offer fine programs. However, I am surprised that Christopher Reynolds did not mention the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management at Cal Poly Pomona.

It is the oldest and largest hospitality management program offering a four-year degree on the West Coast and is nationally ranked among the top 10 programs in the country by hospitality educators.

Perhaps Pomona isn’t as “sexy� a travel destination as Ithaca, N.Y. But, if you live in Southern California, you don’t have to connect through Newark, Pittsburgh or Philadelphia to get there. Further, the air fare you save will entitle you to 35 magnificent dinners prepared in the acclaimed, student-run, Restaurant at Kellogg Ranch.

DEAN PAUL D. BERMAN

School of Hotel and

Restaurant Management

Editor’s note: Unlike Cornell, Cal Poly Pomona does not have an on-site hotel.

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Many people do not realize the intense efforts required for a degree in hospitality. Many more do not even know one can earn a degree in this field.

I was appalled when my youngest child, studying for an accounting degree, decided to change school and major to go to the hospitality program at Cal Poly. Surely, I figured, one did not need a college degree to learn to make beds and clear tables. But the Cal Poly program covered the entire hospitality industry: guest relations, etiquette, employee/management relations, food preparation, safety, serving and storage, meeting arrangements, ordering, inventory and so much more.

As a result, less than two years after graduation, my child became an assistant controller for a hotel chain in Los Angeles. A “regular� business degree would not have been sufficient preparation.

MARCIA T. BRUCE

Irvine

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I read your article on the Cornell Hotel School with extreme interest. My father taught government at Cornell, and from 1925 until I left for the Army in 1942, I lived on the campus. After the war, the university tore down all the faculty houses to make room for academic buildings, and it was with mixed feelings I watched my old home reduced to a pile of plaster and timber.

I still have fond memories of the old place, not the least of which was a big oak tree in the front yard from which my father had hung a swing.

To my delight, when they built the Hotel School on the site of my family house, they saved that oak tree. It is now so tall that it is staggering to think I once had a swing hanging from the lowest branch. The address of the Hotel School is 11 East Ave. This was my home address and, at 76, just seeing it in print brought tears to my eyes.

BOB F. CUSHMAN

Irvine