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Bravissimo! . . . I just finished reading the Jan./Feb. 1999 issue of Northwestern and wanted to let everyone who is responsible know that it is greatly appreciated. It certainly makes me feel proud to have gone to a school that produces so many successful and important people . . . in all disciplines. Diane Brzezinski (SESP97) Lemont, Ill.
[Northwestern] is a good read and certainly
the best since I graduated 37 years ago. With a
good mix of articles and excellent use of color
and graphics, there is something of interest
here for all members of the Northwestern
family.
Congratulations on the first issue of
Northwestern magazine. All of you
involved in its production have really got it
right! The layout, organization, artwork and
especially the articles are so well done that it
was difficult to put the magazine down until
it was read cover-to-cover. I'd like to let you
know that receiving such a well-conceived
publication has made this alum proud to be
connected to Northwestern.
I just finished reading the Jan./Feb.
1999 issue and I must tell you how
terrific it is. I am proud to be a music
graduate, so the music articles are
most interesting to me, but this whole
issue was terrific. Good work!
Congratulations on the beautiful new
format. For a long time I've read the alumni
magazine and have consistently found
articles with unusual and important
information. But this issue! It's attractive
with lots of color and good artwork, and I
loved reading about what Northwestern
grads are doing. Fellowships, Nobel Prizes,
contributions in a variety of fields. I liked
"Global Dreamers," "Nurturing Nature,"
"Analyzing Asia" and "Mole, Olé!" As I read
it, I thought there's more to this than
Newsweek. Thank you for the magazine and
the top-notch job you're doing.
Congratulations on the new
Northwestern magazine! I just read
the premier issue and think it is great.
Not only is it very well organized, but
I particularly like the primary focus on
alumni.
. . . Taking Issue
The strangest part of the whole thing
was pages 58-63, where alumni news of those
still alive alternated with the obituaries.
Please don't do this. You find yourself
wondering if the person whose name you
recognize is dead or alive.
And Taking Umbrage (Tusc, Tusc)
Rotary Roast
Button up Your Overcoat
Paging Maureen Holohan
My husband, Richard, and I own a
newspaper that has been in my family since
1892, and we also operate an independent
book and magazine store. Girls basketball
here is big right now since [Montgomery
County] is the home of the Nokomis Lady
Redskins, 1998 and 1999 Class A state
champions. The team's star is Molly
McDowell, which makes a perfect promotional
fit with Holohan's first book, Friday Nights
by Molly.
Different Yardsticks The high school had arranged for representatives of institutions of higher education to talk with parents. A gentleman from Northwestern University represented the four-year private colleges and universities. He passed out the entrance applications of a girl from Florida and a boy from Appalachia. He asked for a show of hands as to which one we thought would have been accepted at Northwestern. The girl was from an affluent city, a cheerleader, very popular, a good student with good SAT [scores]. The boy was from a poor area, an average student with average SAT scores. Each of them included an essay on why they wanted to go to Northwestern. The girl essentially [wrote], "My daddy said it was a good school." The boy said, "As I worked in my daddy's tobacco field, I dreamed of the day I might possibly go to college." The show of hands was 90 percent for the girl and 10 percent for the boy (including our vote). The boy [was] accepted and had a 3.85 out of 4.0 grade average in the Technological Institute in his junior year. The girl was not accepted. The girl's application interviewer's notes said, "She would be a good student who would neither add to nor detract from the University."
To me, that's what Northwestern is. I
would hope that [the University's] desire for
higher academic average goals never leaves
out the student who is willing to make a
sacrifice to reach to his or her goal.
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A Good Nudge on Class Notes [Monica Metzler's] thoughts on class notes in "Class Act" [Purple Prose, Jan./Feb. 1999] speak precisely to the point. It will be interesting to note whether the content and quality of future class notes change as a result of your observations. Dick Marra (GSM74) Carol Stream, Ill. What I do when I receive a first issue of Northwestern magazine is to immediately go to the back page in search of a wry, entertaining essay with an appropriate cartoon. OK, I did look through the class notes first, but only out of professional curiosity.
Taking a cue from Metzler, a Podrazik
class note: With some apprehension, Wally
Podrazik (S74) recently stepped into a wicker
basket the size of a card table (and just as
high), attached to a hot air balloon. As he and
his wife, Grace, reached a height of 2,000 feet,
they looked out at sunrise over the Fox River
in Illinois and concluded that they had found
the perfect place to celebrate her latest
birthday. OK, I'm busted. I'm one of the many [who] go straight for the class notes. Frankly, I'm not sure I'd bother with the publication at all if it weren't for the notes. But at the same time, I do also feel a bit like Myra in the cartoon that illustrated your article. I'm not married. I don't have any kids. I'm not a partner in a law firm, or a vice president of marketing. I think my life is interesting but, then again, I'm aware of the intrinsic bias in that statement! I hope you are getting inundated with notes and e-mails from all the "Myras" out there. I'd love to pick up the next edition of the magazine and see the fruits of [Metzler's] labor!
For me, one of the true
treasures of the Northwestern
experience was the opening up of
horizons - new people, new cultures,
new ways of doing things, new ways of
thinking. I hope that Metzler's article
might be the impetus to have the
notes reflect this more thoroughly. As
for me, here it is in a nutshell: Six
weeks after graduation, I moved to
Sydney, Australia, for what was
supposed to be a 6-to-12-month
internship with a large retail firm in
market research. Eight years later, I
returned to the U.S. . . . Luckily, I gained
dual citizenship and harbor a plan to
return to the land of Oz in the not-too-distant future. It's been a long, strange
trip so far and I hope it stays that way.
For now, I keep busy as
communications manager for a
private, not-for-profit child welfare
agency in my "real" life and I
moonlight as sponsor/media relations
manager for Champ Car driver
Shigeaki Hattori.
Mansion Memories In 1955, I was the director of alumni relations and occupied the office located in the northeast corner of the building. The view from my office was so spectacular it was almost impossible to accomplish anything.
I should add that it was in this
building that McLean Stevenson (S52),
assistant director of alumni relations
launched his career, but that's another story. I can't recall venturing more than a few steps inside the front door of the John Evans Center while I was at Northwestern. Its opulence intimidated me terribly, for I was a poor boy on scholarship from rural northwest Georgia, just barely managing to make ends meet. But I did spend a considerable amount of time in Alice Millar Chapel, which was built while I was an undergraduate. Professor [emeritus] Grigg Fountain accepted me into the chapel choir in 1962, I think. At the time, University Chapel services were conducted in Lutkin Hall, where we choir members sat on the stage just behind the organ console. I clearly remember the announcement of plans for a new religious center, the unveiling of the building's design and, especially, professor Fountain's participation in the design of the marvelous organ that was to be installed in the choir loft. The hours I spent in that building in rehearsal and at Sunday morning services were among the happiest I knew at Northwestern. For a brief time each week, I was able to forget how cold and hungry I often was, transported not so much by the music, or even the service, as by the enveloping warmth of Grigg Fountain, who was then and is now an exemplar of all that can make human beings nearly divine.
If you could clarify at some point in a
later issue whether the 1955 Alice Millar
Religious Center and the 1964-65 building I
saw constructed are the same, it would be
useful, if for no other reason than to know I
am not altogether losing my mind. Editor's reply: Your mind is fine; ours is a bit hazy. The Alice Millar Chapel was dedicated on Nov. 19, 1963. Thanks to professor emeritus Dick Leopold for also catching our mistake. He attended the dedication ceremony.
From Far and Wide
Northwestern . . . always brings back golden
memories of my six years in Evanston. Still, I
keep the pride and dream in my heart just as
in my Evanston time. I would like to extend
my sincere appreciation to the alumni editor
and staff for having the alumni magazine
reach me in Korea without fail. I will
have a new post as president of FAG
Hanwha Bearing Co. with 1,500 employees.
Thank you very much again for all the
correspondence.
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