Letter to the editor: Numbers guys making the decisions

I pride myself for “rolling with the punches. Over the course of 70-plus years, it’s been a challenge. Yet another one looms.

In the 1970s, a new breed of owners and managers deemed that rather than people who know their product (or service) inside and out, mathematicians were better suited to make key decisions. Why? Who knows?

I used to caddy at Lancaster Country Club for a fellow who ran Armstrong Flooring. “Moose,” as he was called (114 pounds soaking wet), knew floors. He ate, drank and slept floors. He knew how to procure the best materials at the best price and turn them into a great product. No sleight of hand, just intelligence. He was engineering-trained, as were a lot of corporate leaders.

My point is that now Saint Vincent Archabbey is to be run by — get this — an MBA, a numbers and marketing guy (“Former Saint Vincent College president elected archabbot of Benedictine community,” June 25, TribLIVE). This leads me to conclude that when I appear before St. Peter some day, is St. Peter going to ask me if I did anything nice, or is he going to ask me to solve a differential equation?

Tom Kerek

Oakmont