Letters - Summer 2010
Dialing for dignitaries
Howard Higman
The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of “HH” [Howard Higman (Art’31, MSoc’42)] is there is hardly a day when I do not think about him — something he said or something he did. The reason he had such a profound effect on my young life is he put into words what I thought and lacked words to say.
Here I was, a young Jewish boy from Denver with a businessman father and a Southern Belle mother, suddenly exposed to a powerful, iconic radical who spoke fearlessly in golden tones and let the arrows fall where they may.
Maxwell D. Epstein&Բ;(dz’54)
Santa Monica, Calif.
Your magazine is so beautiful, especially the centerfold photo of the Flatirons! It makes me homesick for Boulder. It was years ago when I took my savings and went to Boulder as a transfer student. I was self supporting for those last two years. Howard Higman (Art’31, MSoc’42) was one of my professors. I live in Los Angeles, but Boulder still seems to call me as if calling me home!
Rita T. McGreevy (A&S ex’51)
Los Angeles
I want to congratulate you on a great publication. I love the new format. It’s so much more user-friendly and easy to read. You are doing a great job with new ideas and the way you are presenting them.
I went to school when the Conference on World Affairs was going on [“Dialing for dignitaries,” March 2010 Coloradan], but I never went as a student. Now, as an alum, I would love to go, but I coach tennis in the spring, which makes it hard to get away.
Ralph Herbst (Bus, MechEngr’61)
East Falmouth, Mass.
Big oil in
I read through the recent issue of the March Coloradan today and was disappointed to note an inaccuracy and omission of information in the article titled “Big Oil In, Big Science Out,” by Paul Danish&Բ;(ᾱ’65).
Danish’s text states inaccurately that a $5 million dollar contract from ConocoPhillips is a research agreement among CU, CSU, Colorado School of Mines and NREL.
It would have been accurate for Danish to specify that this is a sponsored research agreement between ConocoPhillips and the (C2B2). C2B2 is a research and education center that enables collaboration among researchers at CU, CSU, CSM and NREL. The administrative headquarters of C2B2 is housed at CU-Boulder. In particular, the ConocoPhillips-C2B2 agreement only pertains to researchers at CU, CSU and CSM. By not mentioning C2B2, this article inaccurately portrays this research agreement and moreover omits mention of ConocoPhillip’s relationship with C2B2 and the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory.
Frannie Ray-Earle,Colorado Center for Biorefining & Biofuels coordinator
Boulder
[Paul Danish (Hist’65) responds:
My apologies for not accurately stating the relationship. I stand corrected.]
Remembering campus
Thank you for a fine publication bringing interesting news about CU. I am very proud to be an alumna of such a fine university. The [March 2010] issue brings back fond memories of Norlin Library, Old Main in the snow and Howard Higman (Art’31, MSoc’42), among others. In the winter leaving Sewall for 8 a.m. classes looked just like the photo of snow-covered trees on page 3, but there were far fewer students on the walk at that time. When we left Hellems at noon to return to the dorm for lunch, the sky was bright blue and the sun had melted much of the snow.
As a freshman in the l954-55 school year, I didn’t realize Norlin was only 14 years old [“Norlin gets a face lift for 70th birthday,” page 20]. It was so big and challenging that I felt like it had been there forever. It was an important place in our lives and people inside helped us a lot.
Thanks for the article on professor Higman and his conference — a highlight of my CU years [“Dialing for dignitaries,” pages 28-33]. And thanks also for the float picture marking CU Days in the spring [page 45]. I remember the chicken wire and crepe paper very well and the excitement and happiness of the occasion. Lastly, many thanks for the article about Laurie Mathews (EBio’75) and her work in Nepal [“Brushing with destiny”]. She motivates me to visit.
Suzanne Root (Hist’58, MEngl’59)
Merion Station, Pa.
Al Bartlett’s legacy
Regarding the “Open space” article in the December 2009 Coloradan, I was an undergraduate physics student of professor Al Bartlett in 1982-3. I see he still wears his trademark bolo tie. I don’t recall being aware of his involvement with open space, but on a related issue, exponential (population) growth, I carry his remarks on the topic to this day.
Read Chuck’s entire letter at CUAlum.org.
Michael Charles “Chuck” Hursch
(dz賧’88)
Larkspur,Calif.
Breathtaking Old Main photo
Our daughter is a sophomore and we receive every Coloradan issue and really enjoy each one of them. In the March issue there was a photo of the CU campus that is truly fantastic [“Breathtaking campus,” page 34]. It really makes us realize how fortunate our daughter is to go to college in such a beautiful part of our country and we are so happy that she is embracing both the university and the region’s offerings — not to mention we truly love our visits.
John Huff
Ocean City, N.J.