Letters

Feedback: Summer 2023

Anonymous — Mon, 10 Jul 2023 06:00:00 +0000

Feedback: Summer 2023 Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/10/2023 - 00:00

How Did Everything Get So Political?

Good to see an article addressing the nature of our current political divide [“How Did Everything Get So Political?” Spring 2023] It would be great to make this a series where the rise of marooned independent voters and the influence of media as a profiteer are also explored, for example. I have a feeling it’s crucial to the repair, maintenance and advancement of society.

John W. Comerford (Film, Psych’90)
Petaluma, California

I usually looked forward to reading about the “on or about” campus news. But the latest edition speaks to the reality of how things have become so politicized. The current edition is nothing more than left-wing propaganda and disinformation. CU’s always been far left of center, but this edition exemplifies the extremist lefts’ war on truth, and desire for censorship and subjugation.

Edward Haugland (EurSt’84)
Fort Belvoir, Virginia

I am terribly disappointed. I am a very loyal CU alum, and always been a big fan of this magazine. I do not believe that an issue focused on current politics is an appropriate realm of exploration on the part of CU. Our society is deeply divided on most of these topics, and I feel it is downright arrogant for this university — which is accomplished in so many other areas — to step up and assert its global views.

Colleen McAllister (Engl’64)
Greenwood Village, Colorado

Thank you for the great work showcasing CU for us alumni. That said, I wanted to reach out about the cover chosen for your most current issue.

While the article is discussing how to integrate political perspectives and de-polarize, your cover seems to infer the opposite. This I found disappointing. As an unaffiliated voter, the artwork depicts some fairly radical perspectives and frankly, instigated a lot of difficult conversations in my house with my children after I had them get the mail. While the cover art is usually a beautiful depiction of the �鶹ӰԺ we know and love, this seemed to miss the mark.

Kristen Lanier (Comm’05; MEdu’11)
Littleton, Colorado

The First Amendment

Just wanted to say that I loved and appreciated the article on the First Amendment and to ask you to please do more — Second Amendment next!

Judith Craig Buczek (Zool’66; MD’70)
Camano Island, Washington

Reflecting on The Sink

I was born in 1947, and grew up in �鶹ӰԺ and lived at 10th and Pennsylvania for most of my youth. I spent many an afternoon on The Hill and had many friends who worked at “Herbie’s Deli.” I went away to college, but when I was back in town, that was where we all met up. �鶹ӰԺ is totally different, and not necessarily for the better, but it’s nice to know that something truly �鶹ӰԺ has survived the times.

Thaine Gilliland
Steamboat Springs, Colorado

I enjoyed the article about 100 years of The Sink. A feedback letter in that issue implied that The Sink served cinnamon rolls and peanut butter. I don’t believe, however, that The Sink made them. I was at CU �鶹ӰԺ from 1954–59 and worked in 1955 as a server at Owens Cafe, which was a corner place a block from The Sink. The morning specialty at Owens was toasted cinnamon rolls with peanut butter, and they sold a ton of them.

Incidentally, I went from Owens to being a waiter at a new fine dining restaurant on Arapahoe Ave., the Lamp Post. It was the first place in �鶹ӰԺ with a full liquor license, and big tips allowed me to stay in school and graduate.

Dave Oxley (Econ’60)
De Pere, Wisconsin

I spent a lot of time at The Sink during my years at CU. I particularly loved the fries! I took my parents once when they visited … My mother was not impressed with the artwork, and my dad's comment (as an engineer and contractor) about the overheard pipes was that they were a fire marshall's worst nightmare!

Susan McKee (IntlRel’69)
Santa Fe, New Mexico

I worked as a short order cook at Herbie’s Deli, circa 1978. One of my favorite memories was our neighbor to the south, Nicky. He had a witchcraft shop, and most days, he would call his order into the restaurant. We would get the order with the header “Nicky,” and when it was done and ready for pickup, we would bang on the stainless steel behind the grill (which was the wall between our spaces) as a signal that he could come over and pick his order up. He would pay on the spot, and he never had to shut down his store in order to get lunch.

Martin Agather (Econ’80)
St. Louis Park, Minnesota

Baseball and Softball

Now that Deion Sanders is football coach, I look forward to having baseball and softball started again at CU. We need them to take advantage of all the revenue both these sports now generate. Shame on Colorado for not having baseball all these years. I am looking forward to getting these programs started soon.

Jack Price (PE’66)
Camas, Washington

Aging Buffalo

As an aging buffalo, rheumy-eyed and slow afoot, every new wind gust threatens and menaces.

Impossible to fend off, fatally unwilling to take a knee and submit, the inevitable, this time and this time only, presents itself, a courtier proffering a tasteful tankard.

Thank you, Coloradan, for trueing the time ‘twixt then and now.

Drew Clearie (Psych’72)
Sarasota, Florida

The Columbia Astronauts

In your spring issue you pictured the crew of the orbiter Columbia of STS-107 [THEN, pages 65–66]. I realize that one of the crew was a CU alum, and it was nice to honor her on this anniversary. There were six others on that mission, and I don’t think it would have been too hard to at least include their names. Dave Brown (right, rear with pilot’s wings) was a dear friend of mine and my flight surgeon when we deployed together on the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) in 1984.

Norm Walker (MechEngr’78)
San Diego, California

[Editor’s Note: It was an oversight on our part to not recognize the rest of the Columbia crew in our story. In addition to Kalpana Chawla (MAeroEngr’86; PhD’88; HonDocSci’03), we wish to also recognize David Brown, Rick Husband, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, William “Willie” McCool and Ilan Ramon, who died 20 years ago. We regret the error.]

Remembering Bill Deno, Campus Architect

I’m sad to announce William “Bill” R. Deno (Arch’72, MA’73), CU �鶹ӰԺ campus architect emeritus, died Feb. 20, 2023. He was 94 years old. Bill was generous beyond measure and a decent human being who fell in love with CU �鶹ӰԺ and never let go.

Bill was given the title of �鶹ӰԺ campus architect in 1991. He managed the complete renovation of Old Main in 1984 and was responsible for the ADA updates to all buildings on the main �鶹ӰԺ campus during the 1990s. Bill brought back to life the importance of CU’s Master Plan and wrote two books about architect Charles Klauder’s vision, Body & Soul, Architectural Style at the University of Colorado at �鶹ӰԺ (1994) and Body & Soul: A Partnership of Architecture and Academics at the �鶹ӰԺ Centennial Update (2018), both of which I passionately designed for him. In 2020, Bill created the Deno Trust Endowment to fund tree replacement and development on CU �鶹ӰԺ’s main campus. I will miss him dearly.

Elizabeth Johnston
Rosedale, Kansas

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Photos courtesy CU �鶹ӰԺ, The Sink, illustration by Ward Sutton

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Letters to the Editor

Anonymous — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 04:14:50 +0000

Letters to the Editor Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/06/2023 - 21:14

A Focus on Mental Health

As the mother of an adult son with schizoaffective disorder and an aunt to several nieces and nephews who struggle with bipolar disorder and depression, I am so very thankful that awareness is increasing, stigma is decreasing and research is progressing. My son went through five painful years, several different doctors and many different medications. He is now working again part time and leading a fulfilling life. It takes a village, though, and many do not have supportive family members and friends to help them navigate this very difficult road. My son has a nursing degree from CU Anschutz, has taken extensive training in peer support and is hoping to someday be able to use his training to help others who struggle with severe mental illness. Keep spreading the message of hope to this community who so desperately need to hear it. Thank you!

Lori Black
Longmont, Colorado

In "Rethinking Mental Illness" [cover story, Fall 2022] it seems that we first must rethink using the term "illness," which is stigmatizing in itself. Choosing "mental health" as the topic of conversation versus “illness” not only promotes the need for maintenance and preventative measures like the dental health suggestion in the article, but normalizes the need and is more hopeful. Struggling with things like anxiety, depression or PTSD is part of the human condition. Not everyone who came back from Vietnam ended up with PTSD, but those with genetic vulnerabilities did. The same is true for many traumas that people experience on a daily basis. For some of us, the wiring might be off neurochemically, but many mental health conditions can be managed with the right support (education, therapy, nutrition, exercise and pharmaceutical assistance). The term "wellness" inspires hope as well as more personal accountability. Detecting genetic markers for mental health vulnerabilities like we do for cancer would help with early detection and treatment; however, changing the narrative from mental illness to mental health needs to be part of the rethinking.

Brenda Currier
Longmont, Colorado

Yes, it is good to talk about mental illness, and new ways of handling it. You say, though, that CU researchers are “finding new ways to help stem the growing crisis” [cover story, Fall 2022]. Maybe one way is to not always view the world as a “growing crisis.” Humans have lived through a lot: the fall of empires, the Mongols, the Black Plague, the World Wars, the Great Depression ... We now live in the best country in the world, at the best time in history: the most advanced education, medicine, the least people in poverty, the fewest wars and more.

Maybe a good way to reduce mental illness is to approach the world with a “we can handle this” mentality, instead of always thinking that “the world is ending.” Certain people want you to always feel afraid and helpless ... so you will depend on them, and hopefully vote for them. But you don’t have to fall for that mindset. Instead, take a more resilient, optimistic view that people can solve the challenges ahead, as we always have. This alone should help lessen the mental illness “crisis” considerably.

Pamela Hale Anderson (Law’87)
[great-great-granddaughter of Horace Hale, 2nd president of CU]
Las Vegas, Nevada

Free Speech, Continued

In the Fall 2022 issue [Feedback, page 61], I found the letter from Carolyn S. Kinsey (Edu’69) regarding free speech appropriate, especially amid the current censoring activities at campuses of our major universities. The inquiring mind should not be discouraged from seeking alternatives to even established methodology.

Robert A. Plack (ElEngr’61)
Scottsdale, Arizona

Thoughts on Our 1943 Photo

I suspect (but am not certain) that this photo [THEN, Fall 2022] is not a drill for a military band on campus. Instead, might it be a photo taken in connection with the graduation of the Navy Japanese Language School, which occurred in July 1943 on campus? The naval students who were studying Japanese at CU could have congregated outside Baker Hall prior to marching to Macky Auditorium for their commencement ceremony. The ceremony is described on pages 52 and 53 of Deciphering the Rising Sun by Roger Dingman, which is available at Norlin Library.

Paul Albright (Jour’57)
�鶹ӰԺ, Colorado

I imagine that this scene was the last review for the graduating Army and Navy ROTC Cadets of CU's Class of 1943. There weren't any Air Force cadets at that time because the U.S. Air Force wasn’t founded until 1947. Army cadets are wearing olive drab green uniforms in formations in the background on the left. Navy cadets are wearing white uniforms in formations in the background on the right. An article in The Princeton Herald newspaper (pages 1 and 3) dated May 21, 1943, describes a similar ceremony which took place at Princeton in May 1943.

This photo is meaningful to me because I was an Air Force ROTC cadet at CU from 1977 to 1981, served in the Air Force from 1982 to 1995, lived in Baker Hall in the summer of 1980, and my father was a U.S. Army WWII veteran.

Fred Wolff (ApMath’81)
Colorado Springs, Colorado

The nation’s colleges and universities hosted accelerated courses for officer candidates. Some of these courses were degree programs and some of them were purely military related. They were basically called specialized courses — colleges and universities were chosen because of their facilities. These specialized courses were not the same as ROTC — they were purely military. I am fairly sure the photo in question shows men enrolled in these special courses or three-year degree programs. A military band is marching up and down the field in front of the formations of men — there are bound to be a lot more than are shown in the photo. The presence of a military band (this is not a CU band) means this is a formation either for a graduation ceremony for whatever course the men were enrolled in or it is an honor-type ceremony or a combination of both.

Remember that in 1943 every facet of our society was mobilized for the war effort — the photo depicts part of that effort. I suspect a number of the men pictured went to the war in the Pacific and did not return.

I took ROTC at CU as I entered in September 1963 and the draft was really ramping up for the war in Vietnam. ROTC was a vehicle that would keep me from being drafted so I could finish the whole four years. After two years of duty in the Cold War in Germany and one year of a hot war in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division, I was one of the lucky ones who came back with two feet and two arms and about half a mind.

Dave Hickcox (Geog’68)
Delaware, Ohio

Could the photo have been from the Colorado vs. Fort Francis E. Warren football game on Sept. 25, 1943?

Derek Widmayer (Psych’96)
Parker, Colorado

I know nothing personal about the “military band” in your 1943 photo, but as a graduate of the Navy ROTC program of the early 1960s, I can speculate. The entire parade may have been part of the NROTC detachment during that war year. The men in tan uniforms are midshipmen or officers, while enlisted men are wearing white uniforms. During my days there, the NROTC detachment held military drills in front of the Libby dormitory every Thursday afternoon. There we trained the freshmen in proper uniform dress, military courtesies and close-order drill. I think about once a month or so we were exercised in a pass-in-review parade in which the entire battalion would march past our senior officers and whatever visiting dignitaries happened to be present.

James Mulholland (Geol’64)
Arvada, Colorado

I'm the historian for the CU Marching Band. The picture you provided shows a band marching past enlisted sailors in their summer white uniforms and several other men in khaki uniforms representing the probable ROTC personnel. The majority of the male CU students were affiliated with the military in some way. Although there was an ROTC contingent, the university had several schools to include ROTC, a V-2 program known as NROTC with most registered in either engineering or premed, a V-5 program which was Naval aviation, a Naval radio operators training school, Naval Training School (Oriental languages), a V-12 Unit which was a medical school and a Navy Cooks and Bakers School.

I did find a picture of the Navy/military review which happened on or near a Colorado tradition known as Colorado Days, which started in May 1927. There is a picture in William E. “Bud” Davis’ Glory Colorado on page 456 showing a formal military parade at Colorado stadium. This is important because it shows two bands in the north end-zone of the field, the CU men's and women's marching band. When you compare the photo on that page with that in your magazine on page 62–63, the band can be none other than the CU men's marching band.

I state this because they are wearing a uniform but there are no army markings, rank insignia, etc. There is a belt worn by the members but only officers of the Army wore the Sam Browne type belt, not enlisted. In your photo the belts look white. You can see the drum major on the far right of the photo. He is wearing a standard Navy blue uniform and is either a chief petty officer or a junior officer. The university at the time had no Army contingent that I can find, but 99% Navy with a few Marines. Hence, it would have been very odd to have an Army band playing for the Navy.

My best educated guess is that it is a military parade associated with the Colorado Days which would have taken place in May or June 1943, and the men’s university marching band is leading the way to the stadium which isn’t that far away from the men’s dorm, aka Baker Hall now.

Walt Blankenship (Hist’89; MA’02)
Westminster, Colorado

Vetsville Memories

My friends Ross (Arch’68) and Betty Cooney lived in one of the Quonset huts in the ’60s when I returned to �鶹ӰԺ to finish my degree. Ross had been in the Navy and was finishing his degree in architecture. They lived in the tiny half-Quonset with their daughter, Diana.

Thomas Turman (ArchEngr’66)
El Cerrito, California

From fall of 1968 to spring of 1971, I lived in the Quonset huts with my young family. I was pursuing a law degree, and having those huts available was a blessing for us veterans that could not afford other housing. It was a great experience, and one that I still remember fondly.

Al Dominguez (Law’71)
Windsor, Colorado

Thanks for your retrospective on Vetsville. When CU was preparing to build the current family housing on the site, they needed to get rid of the remaining Quonset huts, so they sold them off in lots for what I recall as $23 apiece. My dad and our neighbor decided that was a good deal, so they bought a number of them. I got pressed into service helping haul appliances (which were included in the price), pull out plumbing and the like. Then they spent that summer holding what amounted to an ongoing flea market at Arapahoe and Folsom, meanwhile also trying to sell off the huts themselves. It turned out to be harder to sell a Quonset hut than they had expected, and CU was breathing down their necks to get the site cleared before construction.

My dad moved one of the last huts to land we owned near Haystack Mountain, on Oxford Road just west of 63rd Street. It’s still there, the property now owned by the City of �鶹ӰԺ as open space.

Kurt Nordback
�鶹ӰԺ, Colorado

Cinnamon Rolls and Peanut Butter

In Oct 2001, my late husband C.W. “Bill” Peterson (A&S’53) and I visited the CU campus to reminisce and to have lunch at The Sink. It was a favorite as Bill was employed at the restaurant working mostly mornings while attending CU from 1952–54. He told of starting the tradition of covering the warm cinnamon rolls with peanut butter to give the students added protein for their day.

He was delighted to see the changes and additions and some things that never change, including the many artwork drawings.

Carol Peterson
Freeport, Kansas

University Life

I was a student at CU from 1964–70. University life and �鶹ӰԺ were far different then, more open and intimate. In-state tuition and fees were $186 a semester, a room on The Hill $35–$40 a month, marijuana was illegal but available. The Sink had a decent burger, 3.2 beer served in paper cups and the best jukebox ever. These were turbulent times shadowed by the Cold War, political assassinations, protests against the war in Vietnam and a hope that a better world was possible. It was a difficult, exciting time to be a student. The allure and glamor of power, wealth and war live on, but I do miss those days of connection and conviction.

Robert Porath (Engl’69)
�鶹ӰԺ, Colorado

Cover to Cover

This is the one “periodical” that I faithfully read cover to cover. While my field is music and my husband’s is science/medicine, we find every article of great interest and always well-researched and written. I am amazed that I have not ever been bored by any of these, and instead have been fascinated by CU’s history, its research and, of course, the wonderful accomplishments by former and current students, faculty and even staff.

Susan Olenwine (MMus’09)
�鶹ӰԺ, Colorado

Remembering Joyce Lebra

I was amazed to see the photograph of professor Joyce Lebra and learn about the recognition she received late in life [THEN, Spring 2022]. As professor of Japanese history at CU’s College of Arts and Sciences, Lebra influenced my husband, George Bluh (Bus’58; MHist’64), profoundly as he undertook an MS degree in the CU history department in far Eastern studies. Much of his achievement was under Lebra’s supervision. She was the lone woman history professor at the time, and we were privileged to know her.

Cynthia Hubbard Bluh (A&S’60)
Conway, Massachusetts

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Illustration by Keith Negley; Courtesy CU �鶹ӰԺ photograph collection, Box 42, Item Univ 5191, Rare andDistinctive Collections, CU �鶹ӰԺ Libraries (historical photo); iStock/duckycards (cinnamon roll)

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Letters from Forever Buffs

Anonymous — Mon, 11 Jul 2022 06:00:00 +0000

Letters from Forever Buffs Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 07/11/2022 - 00:00

Big Green

Imagine our delight at seeing the flowers that my wife, Robin Cantor (Fren’87), and I left at the base of the tree that we have called “Big Green” for over 30 years. We loved that tree, and were sad to see it go. Knowing that it was a Methuselah of its kind and mother to young clones on campus will always be comforting. Kudos to [forestry supervisor] Vince Aquino and his team for taking such good care of our friend all those years.

Evan Cantor (MEdu’93)
�鶹ӰԺ

Humans as the Problem

I always look forward to receiving my Coloradan alumni magazine. I was particularly interested in the article regarding d’Andre Willis, CU �鶹ӰԺ’s architect. �鶹ӰԺ’s campus is certainly an architectural jewel.

In this article, Willis comments on the “negative impacts that buildings have made to climate change.” What we must realize is that buildings don’t use energy … people do! Until such time as we, the humans who inhabit these structures, accept a wider range of indoor temperatures, operable windows, lower electric illumination levels and a reduced use of electronics (remember blackboards — now replaced by electronic white boards) we are ignoring the real problem … us.

Kirk Davis (ArchEngr’72)
Portland, Oregon

CU’s Natural History Museum

“Growing a Museum” on page 12 [Spring 2022] was of personal interest! My mother, Almira Kupka, married Ernst Kemper in �鶹ӰԺ on July 27, 1926, and they rented a place at 750 12th Street while she attended classes, and Ernst pursued a business featuring car ride tours that approached the summits of Pikes Peak and Mount Evans. Almira told me that Hugo Rodeck (BioChem’28; MA’29) knew her family.

During the summer of 1962, my father, my wife, Tricia, and I traveled near Limon, Colorado, to explore a steep-walled arroyo and look for Stone Age tools. Tricia saw a horn projecting from the wall above our heads. The horn was attached to a bison skull buried upside down very close to the eroded clay wall.

The skull was removed and became a valuable part of my father’s collection of artifacts. He died in 1966, and the collection became mine. In 1968 I contacted Hugo to find out if the Henderson Museum would accept the skull as a donation. Hugo drove to Lakewood and took it from our basement. The skull was examined and judged to be a “keeper” because the sinus structure was complete. I assume the skull is still somewhere in the Henderson Building.

Ernst Anton Kemper (ChemEngr’59)
Lakewood, Colorado

Radcliffe Distinction

Thanks for the fine end piece on Joyce Lebra’s life and work. I wish I had known her while studying at CU.

Just a minor correction — she could not have received a degree from the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.

Prior to 1963, women studying at Harvard received their degrees from Radcliffe College; their deans were from Radcliffe while all their professors were from Harvard.

From 1964 through 1977 the women were still admitted by Radcliffe, taught by Harvard and received diplomas from both Harvard and Radcliffe.

In 1977 Radcliffe was merged into Harvard. Radcliffe’s physical assets eventually became the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. It is also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute.

Terry Vogt (MBA’75)
San Francisco

Thanks, CU

Great issue for spring. As I was reading, I thought, “I’m really glad I went to CU.” My decision to attend was more a matter of serendipity than rational decision. My parents thought I was too young to go out of state, so I simply went with the largest college around. Now I see how much I benefited from the diversity, the emphasis on excellence and the intellectual atmosphere there. The issue held numerous examples of these qualities. So I’m finally saying, “Thanks, CU.”

Bonnie Fine McCune (Psych’66)
Denver

CU Baseball

Bryan Karlan (RealEst’92) — No. 6 — sent in this 1985 baseball team photo. The baseball team had been cut from CU’s athletic budget, he wrote, and were sponsored by the Student Union. They played several Big 8 universities as well as other schools like the Air Force Academy. “We were a pretty motley crew,” he said.

Tulagi Nights

I enjoyed seeing The Sink and Tulagi signs in your photos. I was manager of Tulagi several years in the mid-1960s. We filled the dance floor weekend nights with dancers to our bands’ music. Monday nights we did nickel beer for an hour, and we would have a line from the front tap at the bar all the way across the dance floor to the bandstand of folks lining up to get their 5-cent beer. At the time, we were the largest-volume draft beer outlet for Coors.

Dave Edstrom (DistSt’67)
Roanoke, Texas

Wow…

I loved this past Coloradan. Wow … it was an incredible overall piece, but specifically, the Marshall Fire story was incredibly honoring of the magnitude of disaster and impact to our community. I read it from cover to cover.

Leah Murphy
Broomfield, Colorado

**Life as the Colorado Daily Photo Editor**

I was the photo editor for the Colorado Daily during some of my years at CU in the early 1970s. I send you a few memories to consider for the Coloradan.

While I was on staff, the offices were in the UMC and the publication darkroom was on the floor below. The photography job worked out well for me because I could work the assignments around classes and I could study in the darkroom while I waited for film to develop and prints to dry. The photo deadline was usually around 10 p.m.

To increase income, I asked to add advertising sales to my job as the commissions were good. I covered parts of �鶹ӰԺ that did not have representation at the time, that is, further away from the campus. It was an easy sell for me as I told prospective clients that about 25% of the �鶹ӰԺ workforce (at the time) were employed by CU and picked up the paper.

Between the two jobs, plus selling cameras part-time at Jones Drug and Camera on The Hill and some periodic cooking jobs at local restaurants and sub shops, I was able to get through the first four years without debt paying out-of-state tuition. Back then, it could be done.

Glen Freiberg (EPOBio’74; MA’76)
Rancho Santa Fe, California

Correction

In the Spring 2022 issue of the Coloradan, we misspelled illustrator Brian Rea’s name in the “7 Ways Work Will Change Forever” feature. We regret the error.

Submit feedback to the editor

Photos by Glenn Asakawa (cottonwood); Ernst Kemper (skull); courtesy Glen Freiberg (concert); Bryan Karlan (baseball); Coloradan archives (The Sink)

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Feedback: Spring 2022

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Mar 2022 07:00:00 +0000

Feedback: Spring 2022 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 03/11/2022 - 00:00

Old Main Memories

For 65 years I have read with interest each issue of the CU alumni magazine. I was delighted to see a photo of Old Main [THEN, 1888] inside the back pages of the Fall 2021 issue.

I was a language major (Spanish, French and Italian) and spent most of my classes in Old Main. I remember sitting in the building, on the third floor, looking west at the Flatirons, admiring the gorgeous view.

I lived on University Avenue and crossed Varsity Bridge each day to get to my classes. A photo of the bridge was in the 1954 movie The Glenn Miller Story. Glenn Miller attended Colorado University in 1923.

Those were very happy days and I treasure my time as a student on the campus of CU.

Francine Hafer McCrea (Span’56)
Willmette, Ill.

I grew up living at my grandmother’s house on Pine Street in the Mapleton Hill section of �鶹ӰԺ. As a little boy we’d listen to the CU football games on KBOL radio, and if the Buffaloes won the game we’d go out on the front porch to see if we could hear the bell ringing atop Old Main. I was told that a freshman was chosen to run from Folsom Field to Old Main as soon as the game was over, run up the stairs to the bell tower and ring the bell for the victory.

My great aunt graduated from CU circa 1920, as did her brother a couple or so years before her. Family lore has it that he “carried the cane” at graduation as the class valedictorian. My uncle graduated from CU in the 1930s and earned a master’s degree in fine arts before the war. My mom also attended for one year, somewhere near the 1933-34 school year.

I remember in the late 1950s when my great aunt treated the whole family with tickets to a football game, probably near Thanksgiving. It was the one and only time I saw a CU football game at Folsom Field.

When I read the story about CU’s victory over Oregon State in today’s Denver Post (online) I wondered: Did they ring the bell atop Old Main yesterday evening?

Russ
Amherst, Ohio

Carroll Hardy

I was delighted to read Jim Deeds’ (ArchEngr, Mgmt’56) letter in the Fall 2021 issue [Letters] regarding the legacy of Carroll Hardy (A&S’55). He was a bit before my time, but I had already become a Forever Buff when he was the tailback for Dal Ward’s single-wing offensive steamroller.

One more bit of information about Carroll Hardy: He is the only person who ever pinch hit for the immortal Ted Williams. Once upon a time, CU had a baseball program, and Carroll excelled there as well. He was good enough to play for the Boston Red Sox, mainly as a reserve. In an at-bat, Williams fouled a ball off his foot, causing him to leave the game. Carroll finished the at-bat for him, lining into a double play. He also replaced Williams in right field after his final career at-bat, when Williams hit a legendary home run. Carroll had the additional experience of pinch hitting for the then-rookie Carl Yastremski, and later for Roger Maris. Carroll had turned to baseball after a brief career with the San Francisco 49ers, who drafted him third.

Dennis Davis (A&S’65)
Denver

Life on Mars

Enjoyed reading the latest edition of the Coloradan. Reading the “Life on Mars” article and about the “overview effect,” I was wondering if the researchers experienced issues with the different times of day (versus Earth) based on Mars — such as longer rotational time around the sun and adding something like 45 minutes per day to our 24-hour day. Makes daytime/nighttime a rather fluid concept!

Tim Thomas (Jpn’85)
Durango, Colorado

CU’s Language Immersion Program

In 1972, the university (presciently!) decided to try out a language “immersion” program for their students — way ahead of its time.

Otherwise totally ordinary CU students would lodge in a dormitory where they were to speak the specified foreign language (only) — and obtain college credits for doing the same.

In 1972, I was a college freshman entering CU and I got my last choice of dormitories (as I vaguely recall) and ended up at Williams Village on the “Spanish Language Floor” (the fourth floor, I think it was). The French speakers had the fifth floor and the German speakers had the sixth floor. I’d had four years of high school Spanish but had never “immersed” in that language — what an exciting and puzzling experiment for a college freshman to enter into.

Living and studying there changed my life in so many ways!

Have you given thought to bringing back as many of those “pioneers” — alumni in language immersion from 1972 to 2022 — to see how their lives turned out? Did living in the “foreign language house” change or affect their career or life? If so, how?

I feel that CU should not shy away from this bounty of pride and wonder — the graduates that you produced from that “experiment” have done incredible things for our country and humanity — and I, for one, think that CU should pat itself on the back via a really momentous homecoming of these otherwise totally ordinary CU students!

Nancy L. Manahan (A&S ex’76)
Arlington, Virginia

Love for Outdoor Preschool

On Facebook, alum Andra Stern Slavsky (PolSci’91) commented on our fall 2021 story about Megan Patterson’s (Comm’05) Denver outdoor preschool WorldMind: “A CU graduate piloted this innovative preschool in Colorado. Let’s hope this style of learning will expand throughout my state and the U.S. Love it!”

Teka Israel (Arch’12) also shared: “This is a really cool education model!”

Special �鶹ӰԺ Place(s)

In response to alum Taylor Hirschberg’s essay [�鶹ӰԺ Beat, Fall 2021] on his special �鶹ӰԺ place — Trident Booksellers — other Forever Buffs chimed in on Facebook with their own favorite city spots. They included The Sink, Tulagi, Round the Corner, Lucile’s, McGuckin Hardware, Potter’s and Lolita’s.

Contact for Jim Wagoner

I saw in the latest Coloradan Class Notes that Jim Wagoner (ElEngr’65) is wanting to get in touch with CU graduates. I have tried to find Jim but was never successful. We worked together at Westinghouse Georesearch from 1967 to 1974.

Ed Jackson (ElEngr’67; MS’72)
Brighton, Colorado

Coloradan Love

I just read the Fall issue and as usual, you crushed it! Emily Heninger’s article about the history of camping was riveting — I bought the book immediately and it’s next on my reading list.

Grace Dearnley (Engl’21)
Monument, Colorado

My wife asked me to pass on her thanks for the latest issue of the Coloradan. She very much enjoys the variety of articles that you put together.

Joe Maclennan (MPhys’85; PhD’99)
�鶹ӰԺ

I’m really impressed with the great job you’re doing on the alumni magazine Coloradan. Top drawer!

Elizabeth Trewitt Sadilek (Comm’71)
Laguna Woods, California

Thank you for another good-looking issue of Coloradan. I appreciate your including my Class Note 1984, for sure. You and your staff do a very good job and I look forward to reading it as always.

Geary Larrick (DMus’84)
Glenview, Illinois

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Photos courtesy Carnegie Library for Local History/Museum of �鶹ӰԺ Collection (Old Main); CU Athletics (Carroll Hardy); Nancy L. Manahan; McGuckin Hardware; Matt Tyrie (The Sink); Lucile's

Letters from our readers

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Feedback Fall 2021

Anonymous — Fri, 05 Nov 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Feedback Fall 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 11/05/2021 - 00:00

Memories of Professor Nilon

Your picture and story about Professor Nilon [“THEN September 1963,”Summer 2021] brought back fond memories.

I am attaching a picture [shown above] I took of him in class in 1977, 1978 or possibly 1979.

George D. Halper (Fin’79)
Shawnee Mission, Kansas

Photo by Courtesy George D. Halper (Professor Nilon)

Coloradan for the Family

A quick note to say I’m only halfway through the new Summer 2021 Coloradan, and I’ve already torn seven pages out to share: one for my husband (“Life, Reincarnated”), two for my 7-year-old (“An Olympic CU Legacy”), two for my 9-year-old (“Pups of CU” and “Climate Change Causes Mammal Range Shifts”) and two for my 12-year-old (“Digits” and “Buffs at Bat”)! Thank you for publishing interesting content that I can share with my future Buffs!

Megan Elenbaas Harhager (Comm’03)
Westminster, Colorado

Olympic Infographic Correction

On pages 33-34 [“An Olympic CU Legacy,” Summer 2021], your photo spread shows “Billy Kidd (Econ’69) and Jimmie Heuga (PolSci’73)” in the center photo. Actually, the picture is of Billy Kidd and coach Bob Beatty. That said, the Innsbruck Olympic team with Kidd, Heuga and Jim “Moose” Barrows (Mgmt’70) was awesome.

George W. Aubrey (Geol’77)
Plano, Texas

Editor’s Note: We sincerely regret our misidentification of Jimmie Huega and coach Bob Beatty, especially from such a memorable time and photo. Thank you to all of the readers who alerted us immediately of the error. The online article and downloadable PDF of the magazine reflect a corrected version of the photo.

More on Aerosols and COVID-19

I found the comments by David Dennison (MechEngr’73) in his letter concerning clarinets and aerosol distribution very interesting. I find myself comparing the response to COVID-19 and the response to the Asian flu in 1957. That year, I was a music education major enrolled in the required clarinet class.

The university’s response to the Asian flu? I never noticed a response! Students rented instruments for the wind classes from the university; two students rented the same instrument. I never met the student who shared my instrument, but I believe I caught the flu from that student. We did have our own reeds, but we used the same mouthpiece. I was terribly ill for two weeks. Finally, when I was well enough to drag myself from class to class, I appeared at the studio door of the visiting piano professor who had taken the place of my regular professor who was working on his doctorate at Eastman. “Well, you should have had plenty of time to practice,” she said.

Does the university still rent the same instrument to more than one student? Surely it does not!

Irene Eggers (MusEdu'60)
Wheat Ridge, Colorado

Coloradan or Coloradoan?

I have a pet peeve that we should be called Coloradoans not Coloradans. So I found an article online you had in 2019 [“Origins: Coloradan or Coloradoan,” Spring 2019] that I tend to disagree with. I know it isn’t a big deal, but every time I hear what I feel to be incorrect, it drives me crazy! So I would appreciate it if you could help me spread the word that we should use Coloradoan more often.

Judy Green
Greeley, Colorado

Editor’s Note: Revisit a previous issue to read about the beginnings of the term “Coloradan”.

The Legacy of Carroll Hardy

Life is beautiful when you take time to look. This applies to the football field as well.

The late Carroll Hardy (A&S’55) was one of Dal Ward’s best ever and should have been remembered in your Coloradan with a full page. During 1950 to 1954 Hardy and Frank Bernardi (Mktg’56) were nationally known on the CU football team, and both men continued as very special people in later life.

I met my wife Barb Palmer (Bio’54) at the 1950 freshman mixer ... this has been an amazing journey. CU is a big part of our life.

Jim Deeds (ArchEngr, Mgmt’56)
Monument, Colorado

1956 Class Note

I am responding to an entry in Class Notes, page 55, Summer 2021 edition. Edward F. Altman (Fin’56) is searching for a classmate that he would like to contact. I am not a classmate (I graduated in 1957 in aerospace). But I had a fraternity brother in the Phi Kappa Tau Greek fraternity who was my pledge “father” named Ed Altman, who was from my hometown of Pueblo, Colo. He and I were not close friends, and after graduation we both went our separate ways, never crossing paths after leaving �鶹ӰԺ.

In June 1957 when I graduated, I immediately moved to the Dallas area to take a job as an engineer with Chance Vought Aircraft, and nine months later entered the Air Force, attended pilot training and followed a world-wide career path as a pilot until March 1984, when I retired in Annapolis, Maryland, to do a second career as a professional engineer and project manager with a defense contractor. I retired for good in June 2017 and am living in Annapolis with my wife and golden retriever.

Clay Johanson (AeroEngr’57)
Annapolis, Maryland

The Stones in Concert

I was at the 1981 Rolling Stones concert in �鶹ӰԺ. We were up front and Mick Jagger put a scarf around my neck at that concert. I was wondering if there is a picture of that? That day was one of the best days of my life. We rode our Harley to that concert. I don’t know the biker that lifted me up so Mick could put the scarf around my neck, but it was a great moment in my life. I am getting older, and my grandchildren know the story and I would like to have a picture to share with my grandchildren.

Deby Stanger

How about a commemorative plaque in 2028 placed at Folsom Field honoring the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones playing there on July 16, 1978? It would further endear Folsom Field to a great moment in history and would be recognition of an event not necessarily affiliated with CU Athletics.

Charlie Perkins
Avon, Colorado

Michael Goldman (Rolling Stones)

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Coloradan readers share their reactions to past issues and other CU happenings.

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Feedback Summer 2021

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Jul 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Feedback Summer 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/02/2021 - 00:00

A Community, Changed
I just received the Spring 2021 issue of the Coloradan. Absolutely beautiful. And given this past week [March 22, 2021], it made me wonder how different the Summer issue will be. And it saddens me how long might be the pall that the tragic 2021 �鶹ӰԺ Massacre eventually casts.

Gregory Hinton (Bus’77)
Los Angeles

COVID Restrictions for Wind Instruments?

I am a retired nuclear/mechanical engineer living in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I am also an amateur musician (clarinet and saxophone). I was particularly interested in the “Aerosol Superstar” article in the Spring issue. In the picture at the top of the article, I noticed that Shelly Miller was placing a cover over the bell of a clarinet in order to minimize aerosol distribution when the instrument is played. I can see how a cover over the bell works on brass instruments (trumpets, trombones, French horns, tubas, etc.) as all of the air blown into the horn by the musician transfers through all the tubing of the instrument and exits at the bell. However, for woodwinds (clarinets, saxophones, flutes, bassoons, etc.), unless you are playing the lowest note on the horn (all finger holes and keys closed), the air blown into the horn by the musician comes out all the open key holes as well as the bell. It seems a person would need to put the whole instrument into a bag to keep the blown aerosols from dispersing into the room (especially for the high notes where most of the keyholes are open).

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, all five of the bands and musical groups that I play in have been on hold since March of 2020, and I really miss playing. Therefore, I am really curious about how professor Miller was able to successfully mitigate the COVID risks for musical wind instrument performers at the university.

David Dennison (MechEngr’73)
Santa Fe, New Mexico

Idyllic Buildings

I’m always impressed by the continuity of the design of new buildings on campus with the themes of the past with the “trademark sandstone brick, limestone trim and red clay roof tile.”

How about a story on the unsung craftspeople that continue to build the new buildings and keep the tradition alive?

David Armstrong (Econ’68)
Thornton, Colorado

Coloradan Thoughts

I am always impressed by the breadth and substance of the subjects covered. Even though most don’t apply to me, I do find them interesting and informative. I like that this magazine is not just a “rah-rah” tool for CU. Despite this, it still instills pride in our university. I have always marveled at how much information you are able to gather on myself and my fellow alumni.

Joe Felice (Span’72)
Aurora, Colorado

Correction

I am a communications officer at The Colorado Health Foundation, and I work on our annual poll, Pulse. I got an alert about your March 18 article "How to Cope in a Pandemic." I plan to share it on our social media channels but saw that a correction is needed. In the article, it states: "The statistics back her up. A September 2020 survey from the Colorado Health Foundation found 77% of Coloradans reported anxiety, loneliness or stress related to COVID-19." In fact the percentage is actually 53% of Coloradans who have reported they experienced mental health strain, such as anxiety, loneliness or stress. You can see that in our interactive dashboard [with Pulse].

Austin Montoya

[Editor’s Note: We updated our online version with the correct statistics. We regret the error.]

Emirates Mars Mission

The following letter is in response to our March 31 online exclusive, “Everything You Need to Know �鶹ӰԺ CU’s Involvement in the Emirates Mars Mission.”

I really enjoyed that Mars article. I didn’t realize that it was a collaborative effort, or that CU was involved, let alone at that level. And so respectful to the Emiratis, really a professional grade article — it gave plenty of information for us to understand who was involved, what was contributed, what’s the background, what’s the accomplishment, etc.

Yousif Aluzri (MCDBio’15)

“My Time as CU Student Body President”

Following is an excerpt from Isaiah Chavous’ (PolSci’21) guest opinion essay in the �鶹ӰԺ Daily Camera, published May 20. Read the full essay at dailycamera.com:

I learned quite a lot in my senior year at the �鶹ӰԺ, but not all of it came from the classroom. I had the privilege to serve as student body president, which provided me a frontrow seat to engage and observe during perhaps the most tumultuous year in CU history.

Despite all odds, much was accomplished this year. Yet there is much still to do.

The confluence of COVID and a civil rights reckoning had an impact on just about everything, not just at CU, but in society.

Through it all, my fellow students and I received important lessons we can carry with us the rest of our lives. We learned how to adapt to dramatic shifts in how our education was delivered and how to be flexible. I suspect these skills will serve us extremely well in the future.

We saw that we could transition to remote learning and developed an appreciation for faculty who had to do the same. It wasn’t optimal for anyone, but it worked. Students had to be creative and improvisational in how we fostered the “traditional” college experience so crucial to academic success and personal growth. Again, valuable lessons.

Student government was particularly invested in focusing on student mental health. The isolation, uncertainty and fear the pandemic wrought led to a crush of need for mental health services. We worked with the administration to ramp up services and increase personnel, and to connect those with students in need. This effort must continue as the pandemic subsides.

The racial reckoning that began with George Floyd’s murder was a significant focus this year, as well as a tremendous learning experience. Students engaged on the issue at unprecedented levels, and it remains at the forefront. We learned how to make our voices heard and how to work productively.

Isaiah Chavous (PolSci’21)
Colorado Springs, Colorado

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Letters edited for length and clarity.

Letters from our readers and some thoughts from the former CU student body president.

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Feedback Spring 2021

Anonymous — Thu, 18 Mar 2021 06:00:00 +0000

Feedback Spring 2021 Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/18/2021 - 00:00

Social Buffs

'Tis the Season for Buffs Pride

#skobuffs @elerik ledezma

A Buffs Fan in the Wild

@scottdbender

Best Pals on Campus

@denver_dood

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Beyond a Moment, a

Movement

What a phenomenally powerful piece! As a multi-generation CU Buff, these essays will open up some important conversations with my family.

Kristi Bishop (Mktg’07; MBA’10) Erie, Colorado

I grew up in �鶹ӰԺ in the 1940s and 50s, living in the rooming and boarding house my mother ran for college students on the Hill. The Coloradan always brings back powerful memories. The Fall 2020 issue with its emphasis on racism was particularly meaningful given my subsequent involvement with the civil rights movement. During vacations with the CU dorms closed, my mother would feed those (mainly international) students who were not able to return home, with a special meal at Thanksgiving. I got an amazing education eating with them.

Ray McKinnis
(Phil’61) Raleigh, North Carolina

COVID Economy

Thanks for the feature on Richard Wobbekind. I first met Rich in the late 1980s when I began my career in local and regional economic development. We’ve been collaborators ever since and now are friends, too. Much of what I know about the �鶹ӰԺ and Colorado economies I learned from him. “First and foremost an educator,” indeed!

Clif Harald
(DistSt’75) �鶹ӰԺ

Fake News

I take issue with the “Fake News” article in the recent Coloradan. There have been recent congressional hearings on the unmitigated power of organizations such as Facebook, Google and Twitter. Interestingly, CU professors Hopp and Ferrucci write that Facebook now removes news it deems inaccurate and sends out warnings to those who have liked or shared it. The question I would ask — who is to judge our freedom of speech? Short of obscene content, I would say it is entirely up to the reader to decide, not journalists, professors or tech giants.

Pete Rabbitt
(Mktg’64) Newport Beach, California

The issue of misleading the public through incorrect information or deliberate disinformation cannot be overemphasized. Tiny, local events can be magnified and dispersed as “national news” via a simple post on the internet. Fabricated posts — designed to distort facts and inflame human emotions — are used to distort our values as a nation and incite distrust and hostility among our citizens. The “Fake News” article in the fall issue of the Coloradan only touches the surface of this clear and present danger to our democracy. I suggest developing a focus group — made up of individuals at CU in collaboration with other institutions in the state — to develop a concerted effort and strategies to help turn this around. It’s not enough to just sit back and think or write about it. Our “best and the brightest” need to start changing how we deal with this attack on our information systems, with intent to disrupt, manipulate and tear apart our society.

John Radley Matis
(Geol’67) Loveland, Colorado

I wanted to respond to the article titled “Fake News.” Unfortunately, this article misses the point. No doubt there are many fake stories of the kind the author points out — I do not question those. But what the author, and most likely the university, fails to recognize is that most mainstream media has gradually become fake — meaning they only espouse and endlessly push one left-leaning ideology.

When I was a journalism student at CU in the early 90s, we discussed concerns about concentration of ownership, but nothing was done about it. And here we are, where one idea — progressivism, globalism, name your ism — is all the media will show. I hope universities, the news, social media and tech companies start re-embracing a respect for the free exchange of ideas that the First Amendment protects, then start rejecting the concept of “safe spaces” where no one can even consider ideas to wrangle the best ones.

Laura Wright
(Jour’92) Fort Worth, Texas

Yard Signs

With CU being a forerunner on environmentalism, I would have hoped that the “Yard Signs” article would have noted the massive downside of all those signs. So. Many. Signs. Welcome to preschool, every team ever played on, every birthday, graduation, political signs... Here’s a movement: Stop putting out so many signs, and spare our earth all the vast dumping of signs in landfills — not to mention the mining, energy production and most likely toxic paints and dyes that go into making them.

Natalie Nordin
(Econ’93) Atlanta, Georgia

Would you like to share your thoughts and comments? Contact the editor at editor@colorado.edu

Feedback is a place where our readers express themselves.

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Feedback Fall 2020

Anonymous — Wed, 11 Nov 2020 06:00:00 +0000

Feedback Fall 2020 Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/10/2020 - 23:00

Shakespeare at CU

Your summer issue arrived at a most welcome time for those of us older Buffs who have been mostly staying at home. I loved the nostalgic photos and was especially moved by Sarah Kuta’s article on the Shakespeare festival.

Shortly after my family moved to �鶹ӰԺ in 1957, we started attending those outdoor productions, and the accompanying 16mm film presentations in the Forum auditorium. Although my brothers and I didn’t at first appreciate all the dialogue, we liked the sword fights.

I would also like to say hi to Sam Sandoe (BioChem, Thtr’80). Your father Jim was a remarkable man, who besides his work on the festival was responsible for making the acquisitions at Norlin Library. His class in comedy, which I took my senior year, is one of the two or three educational experiences I had at CU that I think back on the most often.

Lawrence Chadbourne (Class’70)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Please pass along to Sam Sandoe (BioChem, Thtr’80) how much I treasured, and still treasure, my freshman year, five-day-a-week classes with his amazing father. Dressed in jeans and a jeans work shirt, he introduced us to a world outside the Hellems classroom. The buttoned-down world of high school was nothing like this. I can still remember some of the questions on his final exam, and the license his assignments gave us to see connections. He inspired us to travel through books — we read a lot of history — and planes. We saw many of the paintings we studied during our 11-week, “Europe-on-$5” adventure — the first of about 20 times to cross the Pond.

After my 32 years teaching English, my wife and I co-produced a PBS show on the Marshall Plan, and that took us to work for the State Department on the renovation of the Talleyrand in Paris. I’ve had many bracing experiences; James Sandoe’s classes were first.

Eric Christenson (Edu, Engl’60)
Southern Pines, North Carolina

Phi Kappa Tau, 1950s

In the summer issue of the Coloradan, I noticed a letter, “Spring of 1946,” written by Ruth Duffy Hirsch (A&S’49). I am a Phi Kappa Tau member, having gone active in March 1953. I lived in the fraternity house for over three years. The house mother in the article was my house mother as well, and this letter serves to make a slight correction. The house mother’s name is Mrs. Rose “Owens,” not Mrs. Rose, and she preferred to be called “Mother Owens.”

She was a wonderful woman with whom I was very close, and who, during her term as house mother, ran a very tight ship and was highly respected. She grew up in Leadville in the late 1800s during some violent times, saw many bloody occurrences and had no appreciation for firearms.

Thanks to Ms. Hirsch for the article.

James Berger (Mgmt’56)
Colorado Springs

Picture Perfect

I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed the cover art on the Summer 2020 issue. Two seconds after retrieving the issue from my mailbox, I was immediately transported back to my dorm room in Cockerell Hall. Cockerell Hall is located directly across the quad from Aden Hall, so the art depicted is exactly the view I feasted on for nearly two years from my dorm room.

Even today, 41 years after my graduation, this is the view in my mind’s eye when I think of the years I spent in �鶹ӰԺ. Great memories!

Chris Glasow (IntlAf’79)
Broadlands, Virginia

Oh how I appreciated the “Thinking of You” postcards in the Summer Coloradan. The postcard picturing the bridge over Varsity Lake is special to me. What decades of student experience the bridge could tell us.

The bridge was the route to Norlin Library study hours, dances in the Glenn Miller Ballroom, Saturday football at Folsom Field. It was the place of Greek pledge sneaks. The meetings of Hysperia, the Junior Women’s Honor Society. The clandestine passing of class notes and exam questions. The snow and slush walks to January final exams. And many a late-night romantic kiss.

Students crossed the bridge to the world of ideas, challenges of thinking and learning, the opening of young minds. From the chrysalis of learning, students crossed the bridge into adult life. Decades of grads took with them fond memories of the bridge and gratitude for a CU education.

Judith Hannemann (A&S’57)
Cape Elizabeth, Maine

My husband and I are both alumni and we always enjoy reading the Coloradan. We especially enjoyed this issue’s “Thinking of You,” when we noticed the picture of the Old Main postcard. Just a couple of years ago, we discovered this same postcard in some belongings of Ruth Platt, my husband’s paternal grandmother who resided in Wyoming and �鶹ӰԺ in the early 1900s. Ruth’s son Lester (A&S’53); her grandson, my husband Lester (EnvDes’83); and great-grandson Trevor (AeroEng’20) are all graduates of CU.

This year when our daughter Cori (Mktg’23) began her college career, we gave her this postcard as a reminder of her family’s connection to �鶹ӰԺ and CU and she displayed it on her desk in her dorm room.

Kim Willson (CivEngr’96)
Lakewood, Colorado

University Pride

Thank you for continuing to send the Coloradan. I read every one and have saved them as well. The photos and the articles are outstanding and make me proud to be an alum. I graduated in 1965, so I remember Paul Danish (Hist’65) well and always look for his column. Please keep the same format.

Sally Adams O’Connor (Edu’65)
East Hartland, Connecticut

The Connection

I was the game room manager and assistant director [of The Connection] from 1974 to 1980. I succeeded long-time manager Larry Burkett. I was hired by Jim Schafer, the student union director, immediately upon my graduation in 1974.

The Connection, then and now

Before I became assistant director, we modernized it along with having a naming contest. Therein is how The Connection got its name. “The Connection,” said it all — a place to connect with friends and family.

We had a lot of fun remodeling and modernizing the area. We brought in graphics, colors and lights, which brightened up the area with life. We were able to get permission to add 3.2 beer. Needless to say — that was a big hit — it drew in beer drinkers and added to the atmosphere of fun.

We also brought in nationally known pool trick shot artists as another way to promote the game room. It was a fun job, and a vital part of the student experience. We hosted the ACLU games on numerous occasions.

It appears from the Coloradan that The Connection has been taken to yet another level, all for the enjoyment of students and patrons.

Mike Nunnery (PolSci’74)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

I was a member of the UMC Board during my time at CU. After dinner at the Alferd Packer Grill and our meetings on Tuesday evenings, the whole board would go bowing at The Connection. Both staff and student members participated. The prize for each member of the winning team was a 50-cent can of pop bought by the losing team members from a machine located on a landing of the main stairway. I live in �鶹ӰԺ and still bowl at The Connection sometimes!

Kate Carroll Schmid (Anth, Ger’92)
�鶹ӰԺ

Readers comment on the Shakespeare Festival, The Connetion bowling alley and nostalgic memories from their time at CU.

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Anonymous — Sat, 01 Feb 2020 07:00:00 +0000

Feedback Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 02/01/2020 - 00:00

Life Back When…

It was the fall of 1969 when I moved into Sewall Hall for my freshman year. I lived in a corner room on the fourth floor (a long walk up!). It was an unforgettable year (the first Earth Day, the student strike and the breakup of the Beatles), and I met some great women there with whom I remained close throughout my four years at CU �鶹ӰԺ. We had such a good time together that we were devastated when they turned it into a freshman-only coed dorm the following school year.

Markie Greer Sparks (Math’73)
Magnolia, Kentucky

Mary Lou and David Rife

I met my now husband of 58 years in the fall of 1959. He was one of the leading rushers on the CU Buffaloes football team [Dave Rife (PE’62)]. We were married in September 1961, but had not yet graduated. Each of us had another semester to finish our degrees. In order to survive, Dave got a job as a married counselor in a freshman men’s dorm, Willard Hall, for free room and board. We lived and ate in the dorm with several hundred freshman men our first year of marriage. We had a bedroom, bathroom and small sitting room on the second floor. I was the only female allowed past the first floor. Since we were only four years older than the freshmen, we did many activities with the students, like hickey bobbing behind cars on snowy roads! I guess CU dorm living was a good start for our marriage because we are still happily married!

Mary Lou Rife (PE’62)
Blairsden Graeagle, California

As a CU grad and a 25-plus-year CU Housing & Dining Services employee, I was glad to see the pictures and article about the recently opened Williams Village East residence hall in the Fall 2019 Coloradan. It would have been more appropriate, though, if the headline of the article was 21st-Century Residence Hall rather than 21st-Century Dorm. Residence Hall is a more fitting term than the mid-20th-century word “dorm.” A dorm is a building where students sleep. A residence hall is a place where students live, learn, interact with faculty, staff and other students and build community — in addition to sleep.

Elise Graninger (Edu, PolSci’81, MEdu’84)
Louisville, Colorado

Thank you for the delightful article about the gorgeous clay roof tiles capping the buildings on the CU �鶹ӰԺ campus. The first time I saw them, visiting the campus with my father, John Nelson (ElEngr’31) at age 16, I found them irresistible and enrolled two years later.

Martha Nelson Harmann (A&S’61)
Denver

During the winter of my freshman year, 1970-71, �鶹ӰԺ encountered a week of constant high winds, ranging up to 70 mph. I found a full red roof tile on the sidewalk near Willard Hall that had been blown loose by the ceaseless gales. I was grateful that this three-pound flying projectile didn’t harm anyone. I kept it for years as a souvenir of the beautiful and unique architecture of CU �鶹ӰԺ.

Doug Henninger (Mktg’74)
Denver

More on Ralph Carr

Ver Smith’s letter [Feedback, Fall 2019] lauds Colorado Gov. Ralph Carr for refusing to put Japanese Americans in internment camps, and inviting them to come to Colorado to avoid internment elsewhere. Carr’s courageous, principled stand is to be commended. But... Carr’s defiance didn’t succeed long. In February 1942, little more than two months after Pearl Harbor, the federal government authorized internment camps. It purchased land near Granada in the southeast corner of Colorado for one of them; and on Aug. 27, 1942, in the year before Carr left office, a Japanese internment camp, Camp Amache, opened there.

How forces overrode Carr’s opposition is a story worth the telling. Camp Amache had a peak population of 7,318 (mostly U.S. citizens) before closing Oct. 15, 1945. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2006. Under the direction of John Hopper of Granada High School, students are involved in researching and preserving the site.

Franklin Bell (Jour’70)
Bluemont, Virginia

The Theatre Pipe Organ

Regarding “The Sound of the Silent Film” in the last issue, how can this article not mention the theatre pipe organ which was specifically developed to accompany silent films?

Piano and orchestra accompaniment was described, but the theatre organ was in reality a unit orchestra that provided all the music and special effects required to provide perfect accompaniment for all action and moods. Both of the Grauman Theatres mentioned in the article were equipped with impressive theatre pipe organs. There were many builders, but Wurlitzer was the best known.

With the advent of the “talking pictures” these amazing instruments were mostly retired and many destroyed. However, there are still many in playing condition maintained by loving owners, most of whom are members of the American Theatre Organ Society, an organization dedicated to the preservation and promotion of these instruments. Fine theatre pipe organs still impress audiences today in the Denver Paramount and Colorado Springs City Auditorium.

The theatre pipe organ was the real “Sound of the Silent Film” and a truly amazing sound it was!

David Weesner (Arch’72)
Colorado Springs

Victory over Penn State

I am a 1973 CU grad, and was so happy to see that you chose the Sept. 26, 1970, victory over Penn State as one of our biggest wins!

I was at that thrilling game, and I will never forget watching an interview with Joe Paterno prior to the matchup. Paterno stated that CU was lucky to even be playing a team of Penn State’s caliber!

Words cannot fully express how exciting it was to be in the stands that day to witness such a sweet victory.

Nancy (Schweda) Nicholson, PhD (A&S’73)
Durham, North Carolina

I was sent reeling back in time when you published the 1970 Sports Illustrated cover of the Buffs’ huge win over Penn State in your last issue. There’s a story in that photo.

I was 12 and, growing up in �鶹ӰԺ, naturally, snuck into the game.

It set up as one of the most cataclysmic games in Buff history — Bad Dude Stearns, Cullen Bryant and the heart-stopping Cliff Branch vs. the No. 4 Nittany Lions. I was loitering around by the field, looking for an old chinstrap or towel to add to my CU wall collection, when a cool-looking young guy with a beard and New York sunglasses yelled up, “Hey kid.”

It would turn out to be Walter Iooss, who would become arguably the greatest SI shooter of them all. “You wanna carry my cameras today?” he asked. “I’ll pay you.”

I spent that unforgettable day carrying lenses that were almost as tall as me and watching my glorious heroes stomp the Nittany out of the Lions, 41 to a paltry 13.

True to his word, Mr. Iooss gave me $12, cash.

That Thursday, I sat on the lawn waiting for the mailman to deliver the SI to see if one of “our” pictures made it. When he handed it to me, my 12-year-old heart stopped. We got the cover. Even better, it featured no less than a �鶹ӰԺ hero, LB Phil Irwin.

Later, when I became a writer at SI, I met Walter Iooss at a restaurant and told his whole table the story.

“Yeah?” said one of his photog buddies. “How much did he pay you?”

“Twelve dollars,” I said.

They all broke up laughing and hooting.

Walter and I became great friends, and I never once accused him of shorting me. He’d given me a gift — a day that I can still see right now, in Technicolor.

Rick Reilly (Jour’81)
Hermosa Beach, California

Photos courtesy Mary Lou Rife; Glenn Asakawa; CU Athletics; David Weesner

Residence hall nostalgia, silent film instruments, Ralph Carr and game-day memories.

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Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2019 06:00:00 +0000

Feedback Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/01/2019 - 00:00

Duly Noted

Two entries in the In Memoriam section [Summer 2019] should not go unremarked. Lynn Baker (PE’67) was a standout on the CU basketball and track teams, and went on to play semi-pro basketball for the Phillips 66ers. In 1967, just before I joined the faculty of the CU English department, I finished a close second to Lynn in the National AAU Pentathlon Championships in Indianola, Iowa. Lynn spent a long career teaching in the �鶹ӰԺ County schools.

Bill Brundige (A&S’70) was a first-team All-American for Buffs football in 1969 and also the top shot putter on the track team. He was drafted in the second round of the NFL draft by coach Vince Lombardi of the Washington Redskins. Bill was a starter throughout his eight-year pro career and made one of the most famous plays in Super Bowl history when he blocked a field goal attempt that led to a Redskins touchdown in Super Bowl VII.

In the same issue, my old friend Paul Danish recounted the history of the Colorado Daily, originally called The Silver & Gold. What Paul didn’t relate was that the name was resurrected in 1970 as Silver & Gold Record, an enterprising biweekly newspaper published by the Faculty and Staff Councils. I edited the S&G for three years in the mid-70s, during which time we broke the news that �鶹ӰԺ campus officials intended to tear down Woodbury Hall as part of a redevelopment plan. The story inspired campus-wide protests that led to the preservation of that historic landmark. S&G was published for almost 40 years before being shut down in 2009 during a round of budget cuts.

David Merkowitz
Clarksville, Md.

President

I was disappointed to see the letter [Summer 2019] regarding “New CU President” from Robert Porath (A&S’69).

His criticism of Mark Kennedy before he even started his assignment as CU’s president is totally inappropriate. Decidedly, Bruce Benson (Geol’64; HonDocSci’04) is a hard act to follow, but he brought the university to heights we could never have imagined. Could Mr. Porath perhaps give Mr. Kennedy a chance to perform before he condemns him? His conduct is unbecoming that of an educated and fair-minded person.

Susan Wright (Bus’61)
Denver

Latin Lesson

I was interested in the letter in the recent Coloradan regarding the inscription above the original Norlin Library entrance [Summer 2019] — “Who knows only his own generation remains always a child.”

George Norlin, before becoming a courageous CU president, was a well-respected Classicist and editor of the orator Isocrates. It is fitting therefore that an English paraphrase from Cicero should grace the library that bears Norlin’s name.

The original reads as follows: Nescire autem quid antequam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum (Cicero, Orator 120). Literally translated: “But to not know what happened before you (masculine singular) were born, that is to always be a boy.”

In the inscription, the clause “Who knows only his own generation” is modeled on ancient Greek and Latin syntax and style. In those languages, when a relative pronoun (“who”) would serve the same function (here, the subject) as an antecedent personal pronoun (“he”), the antecedent is commonly omitted. The relative clause then becomes an indefinite relative clause and serves as the noun-equivalent subject of the main clause, “remains always a child.”

Some of your readers were right: A relative clause without an antecedent is not acceptable modern American English usage. But George Norlin might say that the true point of interest here is that CU students could not recognize the allusions, either to the classical source or the erudite imitation of Latin style, thus proving both Cicero’s original and the library inscription quite apropos.

Peter Cohee (MClass’89; PhD’94)
Milton, Mass.

Woodstock

[Re: THEN — Woodstock; Summer 2019] I had just moved back to New York City in August 1969. I had a good friend and former boss there named John Myers. He was also my statistics professor at CU in 1962. While visiting him after Woodstock, he told me he had loaned a brand-new sleeping bag to a friend going to Woodstock. He then described what was returned to him as a round ball of mud and cloth. That is my only Woodstock story.

Patrick Shima (Econ’63)
Alamosa, Colo.

Baseball

It would be nice to see the athletic department reinstate baseball and begin softball at CU. All Pac-12 schools have baseball teams as well as softball. CU needs to join the rest of the league. Having baseball would also allow for athletes who excel at both football and baseball to enroll at �鶹ӰԺ rather than at other schools offering both sports. Thanks for the consideration.

Jack Price (PE’66)
Camas, Wash.

Ralph Carr

You almost missed the boat on Ralph Carr’s (A&S1910 Law1912) watch [THEN, Spring 2019]. It is true that he opposed the internment camps publicly, but he did much more. As governor he declared that no Colorado Japanese American would be put in an internment camp, and he invited Japanese-American citizens from other states to come to Colorado to avoid internment.

Vern Smith (Engl’51; PhDEdu’66)
Bloomington, Ind.

Lettters edited for length and clarity.

Corrections: On page 11 of the summer issue, we misspelled Sewall in one instance and also misstated the date a Sewall Hall fountain was installed. It went up in the mid-1930s, not the 1960s. The errors have been corrected online. In the photo of Maddie McNamee (EnvEngr'19) and Riley Kenyon (MechEngr'19) in the "Table of Contents" of the summer issue, we printed the incorrect major for Maddie. It is environmental engineering, not environmental studies.

Lynn Baker, Bill Brundige, The Silver & Gold, CU's new president and more.

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Cinnamon Rolls and Peanut Butter

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Remembering Joyce Lebra

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Wow…

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Old Main Memories

Carroll Hardy

Life on Mars

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Love for Outdoor Preschool

Special �鶹ӰԺ Place(s)

Contact for Jim Wagoner

Coloradan Love

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**Life as the Colorado Daily Photo Editor**