The Doctor of Sacred Theology (S.T.D.) is the degree that the theology teachers at Notre Dame had, says Bowen, calling it the clerical equivalent of a PhD.

The Young Americans for Freedom (sometimes YAFF) was a conservative college group founded by William F. Buckley. Myers says the group is more responsible than anyone else for the rise of Barry Goldwater. "It should be noted that when they came to public notice in the 1950s, conservatism was much less respectable than it is now, especially in academe. Now, in view of how the right has evolved, they seem to be the epitome of moderation. If the YAF had one overriding characteristic it was their rabid, and admittedly quite justified, anticommunism. That explains Cardinal Sparber's opposition to Russian Orthodox observers and Bulgarian wheat pilaf. Buckley is known for his erudite (some would say pompous) command of English and his slashing wit. Educated at Yale, at the age of 25 he became famous for his scathing book, God and Man at Yale, which claimed that the University was run by a bunch of atheists and com-symps that mocked religion and conservatism. Understandably, this book created quite a stink among Yale alumni. Ironically, in view of his claims, Buckley sent his own son Christopher, who has become a witty novelist and essayist himself, to Yale. and do you know what Yale sent back in return? An atheist! Or at least an agnostic. There must be a moral here someplace, but I'm not quite sure what it is."

The ordeal involving the Bulgarian wheat pilaf sounds like one of John's typical reductiones ad absurdum, says Bowen. "The John Birch Society and like-minded groups were urging a boycott of Polish canned hams, which the US had begun to import in the sixties. The basis of the boycott, by the way, was the opinion that the US ought not to legitimize the evil empire by doing business with it. It was somewhat disconcerting to read that Polish hams were produced by slave labor. I always thought it was pigs."