Letters / Chapel Clock / Table of Contents / Home
Take Back the Laugh Lines
Our art director says I have to explain the joke in one of my headlines "Through the Flour," the title of our books-page treatment of a feminist anthology about cooking. Elizabeth didn't get it, and ain't she a woman?
Yes, she is. So is everybody in this corner of Munson Hall, as it happens, which is one of many reasons it was so fun and fulfilling to produce this special issue of UMass.
Readers who have been paying closer attention than we have a right to expect will note that is our second "theme" issue. The first came out last summer and was dedicated to "sport and spirit at UMass." The second, as our cover announces, is a tribute to women at UMass.
Sport, as a thing interesting to more men than women, probably goes back to about the first fifteen minutes of our institutional history. Our early institutional history was a guy thing. Higher education in general was a male domain in 1863, when the campus was established. How much more so, by the lights of the time, an agricultural college?
There were no women students here until 1892, no women graduates until 1905, when there were two. One of many ways of imagining how "other" these women were is to read lines like these from Harold Whiting Cary's 1962 history of the university: "What disappointment must have accompanied the departure of the only young lady in 1892; how popular the Misses Esther Cushman and Monica Sanborn, who became freshmen in 1901!"
People given the creeps by Professor Cary's tone at once mincing and heavy-handed, chivalrous and dismissive are probably still mostly women. But times change. Few men who aren't actively trying to be annoying adopt that tone today. And women who twenty years ago were seriously bent out of shape by such beefy pleasantries find it easier to appreciate that that is what they were.
At least I find it easier perhaps because I've come to so value pleasantries. They're wrong-headed, sometimes, but that's mendable; if genuine, they're good-hearted, and on that, everything else depends. Which is why this issue is filled with pleasantries, jokes, puns. That, and the fact that she who laughs last best. And the fact we can't help it.
Our sports issue just sort of happened. Our women's issue was inspired by two things: an initiative and an upcoming event. The initiative by our colleagues Sharon Davenport and Nora MacKay is to find better ways of reaching out to UMass alumnae; we write a bit about this on page ten. The event is the "Women Activist Reunion" planned for this September. There's a story on that on page thirty-six.
Of course broader purposes gripped us as we got involved in our task, and of course, they're very serious. Acknowledging the powerful and constructive female presence that began building here early in the century is something we don't, and can't, do enough. Likewise honoring the early administrators who labored so long, hard, and patiently to enlarge opportunities for women. Likewise celebrating the confident sometimes even blessedly unselfconscious centrality to the life of campus of the thousands of women who work and study here today.
But the thing is: serious as it all came to seem to us, it was also fun. Learning so much more than we knew before, especially about the magnificent Edna Skinner and her era, was fun. Eating sandwiches with Helen Curtis Cole and a bunch of women deans was fun. Turning a sculptor loose on UMass women's history was fun. Even finding thousands of pictures for photomosaicist Rob Silvers was fun.
Thinking about UMass women was fun. It got us joking around even more than usual. And showing our age and political history. The citation behind the joke is: Chicago, Judy, Through the Flower: My Struggle as a Woman Artist , Doubleday, 1975. PW
With the recent uproar concerning campus building takeovers and the purported leniency of UMass administrators in dealing with activists, it was refreshing to see "Otherwise Occupied: Student Protests Divide Campus" ["Around the Pond," Spring 97], which attempts to be student-centered.
The title, though, recalls the criticism by white clergymen that precipitated the stirring "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The clergymen felt that King's campaign of nonviolent direct action brought divisive tension into the communities involved. But I would suggest that UMass Amherst, like other campuses, is already divided on issues of diversity and institutional support for students of color. The March takeover of Goodell only dramatized the gap in understanding.
In subsequent issues, I hope UMass probes the issues and perspectives of all involved protesters, administrators, and student body. When Rep. Dennis Murphy of Springfield publicly castigates activists as "derelicts," and columnist Jeff Jacoby alludes to so-called "illegal violence," there is obviously a need for more in-depth reporting. When many in power and a significant proportion of taxpayers insist that UMass adopt a harder line towards youthful idealists, someone must present the student activists' side.
Perhaps I should add that having been inolved in building take-overs myself, I never found school administrators quick to cave in.
R. Jay Allain '73
West Yarmouth
How interesting! Once again the UMass student protests and takes over a building. Bravo! We did it twenty-seven years ago, so why shouldn't you?
Our issue was a dirty little war that killed innocents, friends, brothers, dads, hope, and trust. It was a war without purpose that may have wasted a generation.
So what's to protest in the '90s? Let's see. Sixteen demands centering around financial aid, support, academic services, and daycare. Is this the "Gimme Generation"? Where are the issues? Is it money? Is it diversity? What a great catchword when you don't know what you want. How can anyone disagree with it?
The sixteen demands have become "the twenty-one commitments." I can't wait to see how they are implemented. Don't worry, you'll probably be more successful than we were. It took us five years and lots more dead. I'm sure your money is on the way.
George Medelinkas '70
Haverhill
I would like to say that I always dreamed of coming to UMass, following in the footsteps of my father, Richard F. Brennan '72. Currently I am attending a small private college. Though our enrollment is small, we are a diverse group and respect each other and ourselves. We have students from all fifty states and various countries. We do not have "minority students," because we consider ourselves equal, and no one treats anyone any differently than they would expect to be treated.
Your article saddened me greatly. Perhaps I am being naive, ignorant, or both, but it appears to me a most foolish thing, these students protesting. By creating groups such as ALANA, you do two things: you further cultural awareness and provide students with an opportunity to explore their own heritage and culture, or you end up with a group which does nothing but promulgate differences. Further, the administration's negotiating with these students does nothing but show that if students make enough noise, they will do anything to keep them quiet. If this is the standard action taken when protests arise, the administration would be better off resigning and giving the students their jobs.
Equality is a mindset, not a dollar figure. That the administration allows more financial aid or scholarships for 'minority' students does not mean that the students will stop feeling unequal. Until these students can appreciate their differences and realize how special each one of them is, there will never be equality.
Sylvia Brennan
Jacksonville, Florida
ON BEHALF OF OWNERSHIP
I enjoyed "Hominid with Heart," [Spring 1997], but before economist Herb Gintis creates a new discipline to solve traditional economic problems, I suggest he reread a traditional economic textbook.
Gintis is paraphrased as arguing that "traditional economics encourages destruction of the environment by assigning no value to its preservation." Actually, traditional economists believe that stewardship results from clear assignment of ownership. Owners have the highest incentive to not only preserve but enhance value. Since ownership of the environment, a public good, is unclear, its destruction often results. Focusing on the importance of ownership gives traditional economists a quick understanding of why the same person who litters in a public park does not do so in his own backyard.
Property rights is not a broken economic model, just one apparently not understood. I trust that current economic majors have the opportunity to understand, test, then decide on their own which model is more powerful.
Paul Lawrence '78
McLean, Virginia
FROM LAWRENCIAN AFIELD
I'd like to compliment my fellow Lawrencians and UMass alumni, especially Mike Morris and Paul Theberge with whom I grew up on Tower Hill, for their work with the youth of Lawrence's Boys and Girls Club ["The Lawrence Link," Spring 1997]. We can and do make a difference! I found this out three years ago when I returned to education as a teacher at Los Amigos High School in Fountain Valley, California. Lawrence claims many distinguished "homeboys and -girls;" although our names aren't synonymous with Frost and Bernstein, we do have a UMass education and association that enabled us to build the foundation that made us successful.
Sheila M. Prolman '63
Huntington Beach, California
OXONIAN HEARTSTRINGS
Claire Hopley's article on the Oxford Summer program ["A Green and Pleasant Seminar," Spring, 1997] evoked very fond memories of my five summers at Trinity College (I returned four times as staff assistant) summers that figured importantly in my education. I was working toward a doctorate in British literature, and my exposure, through this program, to British culture and education significantly shaped my research and teaching.
Ernest Hofer used to say to "Summer Seminarians," "I want this to be the best summer of your lives." At the time, I thought that he exaggerated. I now know that he did not. Nothing quite teaches you the value of education so much as knowing that education has been important there for 700 years.
Paul M. Puccio '55G
Orlando, Florida
I attended the Seminar the summer of 1977 and it was a life-changing experience. A whole world of opportunity and realization of independence opened up for me and my fellow students. I remember fondly pledging on, I believe, a Bible, not to chew gum in or otherwise threaten the books at the Bodleian Library; shopping Blackwell's Bookstore; seeing the many beautiful colleges; taking in Shakespeare and afternoon tea.....so many very new experiences.
It is so good to hear Professor Hofer "speaking" on your pages; he gave me a work-study job in the Oxford Seminar office in Bartlett and a stipend to attend the program, thus encouraging me in wonderful ways. I was a little kid from the Berkshires, and that's a long way from Oxford.
Thanks for your fine reporting and for touching heartstrings!
Karen H. Sibley '80
Foster, Rhode Island
REMEMBERING SUMNER DOLE
Your last issue should appeal to graduates of all eras. The tribute to the "The Class Who Made UMass" was especially apropos; as a student in 1946-47, having just returned to MSC after a four-year break with the Marine Corps, I remember well all the activites involving the name-change. Those cited in the article were the dedicated "shakers" at the time, and I am pleased to see them receiving the recognition they deserve.
Although you cannot possibly do total justice to all deceased graduates, there are always some who deserve greater coverage than a mere listing under "Obituaries." One in particular is Sumner A. Dole '15, who died in January at age 104 in Keene, New Hampshire. He was one of the great ones. He was an institution at UConn, having coached three varsity sports, served as dean of students, and evaluated college sports for the Yankee Conference; additionally, he served on the Mansfield, Connecticut, Zoning Board in retirement, and taught Sunday School for many years, calling any absent youngsters to inquire why they were not there!
When Sumner and his wife moved to New Hampshire to be closer to their daughter, they were offered more than the asking price for their house. Sumner turned down the offer, saying it was not worth the inflated amount and that all he would accept was the advertised price. These are but a few of many true anecdotes about Sumner Dole. He was one of a kind of whom we need many more in all of our communities.
Donald M. Kinsman '49
Storrs Mansfield, Connecticut
MORE DETAIL FOR IN MEMORIAM
We would like to say how much we look forward to each and every issue of UMass; however, we do have one complaint that is shared by many other readers. We feel deeply that the obituaries are too vague. It is distressing to read of the death of old friends and not know the circumstances. We realize that a few years ago you were forced to cut back on the magazine due to money constraints, but what a shame that the obituary section must suffer the loss.
It would help us immensely in dealing with our grief over the death of a friend if we knew the cause. Just one more sentence stating the cause of death would make a world of difference for us, and we are sure for many others.
Wendy Glick-Veale '86, Weston
Susan Crossley-Alexander '87, Boston
As the preceding letters make clear, the issue of obituaries is an exceptionally troubling one. Because space is always at a premium in a quarterly magazine and because we sometimes have a great deal of information, about a person's life and death, sometimes very little we've tried to keep all obituaries extremely brief. But we realize that the short notices for which we have room must seem painfully inadequate.
Indeed, we've wondered if it wouldn't be preferable to carry a simple list instead. Perhaps we could carry a list in our print version and a fuller obituary again, when information is available in our on-line version.
In the meantime, thanks to Donald Kinsman for his tribute to Sumner Dole, and toWendy Glick-Veale and Susan Crossley-Alexander for reminding us to include cause of death, when we know it, for younger alumni and faculty.
SEEKS MORE SPECIFIC EMBLEM
In addition to UMass I read the Campus Chronicle, another excellent source of information. The May 23 issue had an article in which the magazine editor was quoted about the name change: "UMass tells you where it is." This prompts me to write about an issue that has been on my mind for a long time: the use of the state emblem as the official symbol of the university.
Don't you think it would be more appropriate for the school to have a symbol which reflects its educational mission? Among other public colleges this seems to be the norm. Plus, it would subtly recognize that much support for the university comes from non-state sources.
Surely there are artistic persons on campus who could create a new design. I recognize this is not a major issue, but I also am aware of the need for UMass to develop its own distinctive identity. This could be one piece of the whole cloth.
Brian E. Silman '66
Concord
A LETTER from Barbara (Bullock) Jones '56 in our winter issue posed several questions, to wit: "Who was the maker of the Old Chapel Clock? Would this clock be called a tower clock? How was it wound in 1884?" Alumnus and staff member Dick Nathhorst has composed the following reply.
Our clock, "Old Aggie," is indeed considered a "tower clock;" specifically, a Seth Thomas #16, hour-strike, eight-day tower clock, manufactured by the Seth Thomas Clock Company of Thomaston, Connecticut.
The cornerstone of the Old Chapel Library was laid in November of 1884, and the building was completed without a tower clock or bell. In 1892 the graduating class donated money for the clock, and a trustee the money for the first bell. The clock, manufactured in 1892, cost the Massachusetts Agricultural College $450. It was powered by the effect of gravity on 1300 pounds of ten-inch-round, iron weights driving time- and strike-capstan drums via a series of cables and pulleys. It was "wound" once a week by cranking the weights back up to the top of their shafts. My friend and fellow caretaker of "Old Aggie," English professor John Nelson, performs this duty today for a clock at a local church.
Thirty-eight years after the clock was installed, in November, 1930, the college ordered an "electric-wind mechanism" and "electric release" from Seth Thomas. Also purchased were new glass and cast-iron faces allowing illumination of the clock from within. The generous fiftieth reunion gift of the class of '44 will restore these clock-faces to their former glory and make them weatherproof.
In recent years the tower clock and bells have been looked after by a group of alumni, students, and staff called the Quasimoto Club. In conjunction with University Advancement, our group is currently raising funds for a number of chapel-related projects. Among them is restoration of the clock movement's original, pendulum-driven escapement.
Richard Nathhorst '79,
Shutesbury
