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Out for a Run the First Day at State Leads to 18th Wedding Anniversary I met my husband the morning of my very first day at NC State. I was in the NROTC program and met another freshman woman to go running. I was surprised to see that a tall, handsome sophomore man was waiting with her. I am a poor runner and so I was quickly left behind, thinking how inconsiderate both of them were. Turns out, as we saw more and more of each other, that we had a lot in common (except for running!). I remember being teased about joining NROTC and being an engineering major just to get my M.R.S. degree. I always protested that I was a serious student and serious about the Navy. I guess I just got lucky. We will celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary and my 18th year in the Navy in May ’07. Cynthia Mason Womble ![[Top of Page]](../media/graphics/top_b.gif){kind=small}
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It Must Be Something in the Water My wife, Pam (class of 1975, BS Agricultural Economics), and I were at NCSU together during the 1974 run to the NCAA Basketball Championship. We took her parents to the Regional game in Raleigh during the tournament only to be "serenaded" with the alternate fight song, (alumni know which one), much to the bemusement of my Tar Heel-supporting, soon-to-be in-laws. We never will forget that evening. Some 33 years later, now our daughter, Heather, is soon to be a 2007 NCSU graduate, and she has found her fiancé while she is attending NCSU, too. It must be something in the water there. Sidney Keener,
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First the Princess Bride, then Here Comes the Bride It was my freshman year of college and I was watching "The Princess Bride" in my dorm room with a friend. One of my suite-mates got a friend to take her out on the town because she was bored, but the club they tried to go to was closed, so instead they came back to watch a movie. Since I was already watching a movie with a friend, they came in and joined us. Chris noticed me immediately, but I paid him no attention because I thought he was dating my suite-mate. He loved that I could quote lines from the movie as they came up. After the movie, he left -- I was still not paying him any attention. He called me later and asked me out, and the rest is history. We were married on February 29th, 2004. Susan Alexander, BS Computer Science 2003
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True Love and Two New Wolfpackers . . . and It All Started with a Cookout We were two freshmen who met at a cookout on Harris Field in April 1978. It was a cookout for the 7th floor of Metcalf (guys) and the 5th floor of Metcalf (girls). I was taken. Our first date was April 10th, and we enjoyed a sweet, yet brief amount of time together before we were to go our separate ways. June thought that was it. I knew I wanted to visit her over the summer. We just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary and are amazed that both of our children are currently attending NCSU . . . Wade Byrum, BS Civil Engineering, 1981
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An Offer of Help in Calculus Leads to Love and Marriage Yes, I did fall in love at NC State. In August 1994, I was a young freshman in engineering and my future husband was a junior engineering student. We met the day before classes began in the fall semester at a cookout at Pullen Park sponsored by the Native American Student Association and the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. He offered to help me in calculus, and well, I guess the rest is history. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES NC STATE! Alisa Hunt-Lowery
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Undergrads in Love Now Have Two Future Wolfpackers My senior year at NCSU, I lived in Bowen. I went to a Residence Hall Conference, and one of the other delegates was a freshman who lived in Turlington. We hit it off and spent the rest of my senior year getting to know each other better and taking long walks around campus. Thirteen years ago, we were married during his spring break, and we have two future Wolfpackers, ages 12 and 8. Carol Ann Wrisley-Williams
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Falling in love at NC State — A Flooded Car Leads to Matrimony I met my wife, Amber (2003) at NC State on August 21, 1999. We met on Hillsborough St. going into a Phi Delta Theta party at the Hideaway. I remember that there was a foosball table in the middle of the dance floor, wine was served in Dixie cups, and the air conditioning was broken. I gave her a ride home after the party, then proceeded to flood my car on Avent Ferry (there was a horrible storm that night). Many thanks to the people who helped me get my car out of the water. We were married in December 2001 at a church near campus and completed our studies as a couple. Needless to say, we have many fond memories of NC State. John Daughtry
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How to Live on Student’s Budget My roommate and I lived on the third floor of Tucker. He managed to go the full year of school without ever changing or washing his sheets. In May we just trashed them. It Pays to Be Nice to Those You Meet Along the Way My dad, who worked for Burlington Industries, visited for a football game and was interested in a tour of the Textile School. My dorm manager gave him the tour, which Dad enjoyed. Years later, Dad went for a job interview with Dow Chemical, who was opening a new plant in Virginia. To the surprise of both of them, my former dorm manager was conducting the interview! Dad got the job and stayed with Dow until his retirement. A Word of Thanks to Math Professor, Dr. Levine As for myself, I graduated in 1958 and I owe a lot to the patience and understanding of Dr. Levine in the Math Department. He understood when I told him I had Calculus 201 in 1950 and was more than a little lost in Calculus 202. He carried me for three weekly tests until I caught up. I will always remember him. He never said a word about my problem or what he did. Francis Abernethy
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Thanks to All My Teachers; Thank You, NC State I started my life in the free world on the NC State University campus. This place is now a sacred ground to me. I walked the campus with deep emotions the other day. I immigrated to the USA from a communist country. I came with two “master's degrees” and enrolled in the PhD Econ and Business / Operations Research programs. Back in the old country I studied International Economic Relations among others. That is, I studied the free market economics. I thought of myself as a fairly open-minded person that communism could not have touched. I also thought of myself as a hard worker. I left the school with two master’s degrees instead of two PhDs and was utmost disappointed, disillusioned and totally distraught. I left school with a huge puzzle in my mind. I had the rest of my life to resolve this puzzle. Nowadays, more than 20 years later, I think I've got a handle on this puzzle. As free-spirited as I thought I was 27 years ago, I was in fact as brainwashed by the daily and insistent pounding of the communist propaganda as anybody else. It took me 27 years to free my mind of all that brainwash and to learn to live in freedom. Thank you, to all of my teachers for charging me with this important life puzzle. Thank you, to all my teachers for denying me the PhDs and challenging me to "LEARN TO LIVE IN FREEDOM." Life is not so much about whether you have a PhD or not. Life is much, much more than that. I have a happy family with two teenage sons I hope to see one day studying at NC State. Thanks to all my teachers for the important life lessons. Thank you NC State. Mircea (Mitch) Scurtu
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In the spring of 1958, the editor of the Technician decided that the dress of State College students was so bad that something had to be done about it. He noted that most students were walking around campus wearing t-shirts and dungarees with their slide rules swinging on their belts. The paper encouraged us to improve our looks and become more “Ivy League” in our dress. With this in mind, the next Friday was set aside as dress-up day for State College. Jackets, shirts and ties were encouraged. It was also suggested that we carry our slide rules with our books. As luck would have it, I had a job interview that Friday morning of my senior year, so I was dressed neatly in a shirt, tie and jacket. Needless to say, the students did not appreciate being told what to wear and reacted accordingly. They dressed even more sloppily. I was totally embarrassed by the stares and comments I received as I headed to my interview that morning. I was relieved when it was over and I was able to change back into “normal” student attire! Grady Sykes
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Getting Caught with Your Pants Down One of the funniest stories I remember occurred during a first-year Physics lecture, in which there were at least a hundred or more students. The professor’s name was [name withheld, let's say John Doe], an older gentleman who had been at State for a long time and was a good teacher. He had apparently had a stroke and had only partial use of the fingers on his writing hand. He would take the other hand and insert a piece of chalk between his fingers and use both hands to write on the blackboard while lecturing. He had, shall we say, an "ample belly," and on this particular day he had apparently forgotten to wear his suspenders. He was lecturing and writing on the board at the same time, with his back to the class most of the time. As he talked and wrote, his pants began to slip lower and lower and, finally, fell to the floor! There was absolute silence except for one guy who laughed out loud, as most of us were feeling sorry for Professor [Doe]. He had to ask a guy on the front row to come and help him get his pants back up. As that was happening, he said, "I know that you guys think I am embarrassed by this, but I saw a woman loose her bloomers on an elevator once, and she was a whole lot more embarrassed than I am." With that, as the class broke into hilarious laughter, he turned around and resumed his lecture and continued to write on the board as if the whole incident had never happened. I always admired the wonderful way he handled this and turned it into a really fun class! God bless Dr. [Doe]! Bill Sides, Jr.
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The Naked Truth About NC State I remember the biggest shock was walking from registration freshman year in Reynolds Coliseum to the Carmichael gymnasium pool and standing in line naked to jump in the pool and swim over and back naked so we could be judged by observers whether we would be in beginning, intermediate or advanced swimming class. I guess they just did not have that many swim suits. This was a shocking site to a farm boy from Cabarrus County. Add that to the Chancellor giving the look to your left and your right speech and it was a day of total shock. I knew from that day on life would never be the same — and it never was. My time at NC State has framed my life since in many ways and improved it in so many ways I can't count. Thank You N C State !!!!! Larry G. Bost
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Mr. Petrea was reviewing the results of a freshman math exam with the class. He awarded partial credit for problems that one got somewhat right. A student interrupted several times to quibble over the amount of partial credit awarded. Mr. Petrea became more and more annoyed as the student persisted in arguing over the credits. Finally, after the umpteenth interruption, a frustrated Mr. Petrea said to the student, "If you are running for ass of this class, let me assure you that you are way out front." Mr. Petrea was an avid basketball fan, and we often chatted about college basketball between classes. I posed a question: "Mr. Petrea, if you were a coach, would you prefer a tall, slow team or a short fast one?" He immediately replied, "Mr. Sessoms, I would prefer a tall, fast one." Bill Sessoms
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I remember Professor Petrea in the mathematics department. He was not only an excellent instructor but a wonderful person to talk with. I visited with him almost daily, asking him math questions that we had not yet studied. I had an “A” average in his class, and he would call on me at times to listen to my off-the-wall responses. I actually believe I was about one chapter ahead of his lessons so I did not always pay attention to his lectures. Once he called on me for a response, and I gave some simple, off-the-wall answer that showed I was not paying a lot of attention. Then he announced to the class that I was an “A” student . . . and if I didn't know the answer to a simple question, then other students should try harder — not much harder, obviously, to be an “A” student also. Some years ago, I read that he retired. Don Jessup
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Returning Veterans Laid the Foundation I graduated from State in 1950. My freshman year of 1946 was an enlightenment of college life. Even though a veteran, as many of my classmates were, I was unsure of how to react to classrooms, studying, and professors. Classmates, professors, the desire to further my education, and the school got me through. I remember the friendly people, classmates, professors, and staff, who always wanted to help, and the little sleepy town of Raleigh. Now both State and Raleigh are alive with progress. I like to think that in the 1946-50 time the veterans coming back to school laid the foundation for the booming times that followed at State and in Raleigh. Lots of memories, but enough for now. William E, Prevatt
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I bet my son, who was entering his freshman year in 1989, that if he made all “A’s” his first year I would buy him any automobile he wanted. He was an average student in high school, and making all A’s at State seemed like a good bet for me. He did it that year — and several more semesters to boot. I was so happy that I could not back down, and he got his dream car. Don Jessup
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I noticed a slide rule on the desk in your picture. I still have mine, AND the genuine, deluxe leather belt holder as well; I should strap this on one day w/ my cell phone and PDA. My kids think the multiplication and division is some kind of voodoo magic. Richard Brandon ’74, ’88
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I remember in my freshman year playing practical jokes on dorm mates in Bagwell Dorm. This one time, we put a big trash can of water leaning on a classmates dorm room door, put a rag under the door and lit a small tip of the rag as it slid under the door. The door was jerked open and his room was flooded. We all chipped in to clean it up and to dry his wet clothes. This was fun then but now it doesn't seem so funny... or safe. I also remember when the group glued a “road runner” poster to the top of my VW beetle. It was a cute joke, but it never did come off. Don Jessup
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More State Grads Doing Great things for the Navy I'm writing in response to an article in the January 2004 edition of Engineering Frontline which profiled an NCSU alumnus who is the project manager for the newest aircraft carrier under construction (“Aircraft Carriers a Passion for Alumnus Stabler”). Along the same lines, I thought it might be interesting to call your attention to a few other NCSU grads doing great things for the Navy. Elton Fairless (BSAE '97) is the head structural engineer for the Navy and Marine Corps’ fleet of C-130 cargo aircraft. As for myself (BSAE '97, BSM '98, MSAE '99), I work for the Navy engineering branch that handles all of the Navy's unusual aerodynamics issues. In particular, I'm on a team that does industry-leading research in aerodynamics of ships — hence the aircraft carrier connection. We run aerodynamic analyses to evaluate airflow around ships in order to improve their ability to operate aircraft. At first, we mostly worked to understand the problem and troubleshoot existing ships, but more often now we are becoming involved in the design process, helping the Navy evaluate designs and helping the shipbuilding contractors improve their designs, by trying to head off these aircraft/ship interaction problems (we call this dynamic interface) before the ship is built. This involves applying our computed simulation results to flight simulators so that actual pilots can practice landing on proposed ship designs and report any conditions of wind speed or direction that are unsafe. Our branch and the flight simulation engineers are the only people that provide this service to the entire Navy fleet, chiefly large ships so far (aircraft carriers and helicopter landing ships). Another of our branch members, Shawn Woodson (BSAE ’83, MSME ’85, PhDAE ’88), is beginning to contribute in this field as well by considering a smaller ship that operates helicopters, the destroyer. Previously, he had done some award-winning work on F-18 attack/fighter jet performance in solving an abrupt wing stall problem under certain flight conditions, among other projects. Our previous admiral in charge of air vehicle engineering (Joe Dyer) was also an NCSU alumnus. It's nice to see so many fellow Wolfpackers at key engineering positions in a wide variety of fields. Ryan Czerwiec |
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This picture from the 1941 Agromeck was taken during the week of the Engineers’ Fair 1941, leading up to the Engineers’ Brawl dance. We built this exhibit in the Aero Department to demonstrate how an aircraft is controlled. The operator, myself here, using the stick and rudder controls, would “fly” the model off the table to a sustained and maneuvering flight position using air flow from a fan off to the right out of the picture.
George D. Lewis |
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Big Bands and the March on the Capitol
In the '30's and '40's there were many dances held on campus, among them the Engineer's Brawl, Fraternity dances, Scabbard and Blade Society, Mid-Winters, Finals and many others throughout the year, popular with all, many featuring so-called Big Bands, the likes of Tommy Dorsey, Eddie Duchin, Benny Goodman etc. Several were formal, the biggest bash being the Finals at the end of the school year. They consisted of a Friday evening dance, a Saturday tea dance (4:00 PM), a Saturday evening dance, and a Monday evening dance. There may have been a Friday and Monday tea dance, I'm not sure. The dances were held in Frank Thompson gymnasium.Graduation exercises were on a Monday afternoon, followed by the evening dance. In 1938, about mid-year, the School decreed that we could no longer hold the Monday evening dance, after graduation. The School held that the graduation exercises should be the last event in the school year. By the time that announcement was made, a lot of arrangements had been finalized for the '38 Monday Finals evening dance, dates, band etc. The student body reaction was immediate and strong. A protest march was organized, down Hillsborough St. from the campus to the State Capitol building. Several hundred students participated, burned the Dean of Students( Dean Cloyd) in effigy on the Capitol grounds. On the way back to the campus, the protesters stopped at the house occupied by C.R."Romeo" LeForte, the assistant dean of students. His house was on Hillsborough St. near the old Sigma Nu house and close to the Morgan St. intersection. The protesters chanted "Romeo for Dean" for several minutes before proceeding back to the campus. It was a peaceful demonstration, and it was successful. The School rescinded the ban on the Monday night dance for the year 1938, and it was held as planned. I believe the band was Jimmy Dorsey. However that was the last year that it was allowed. George D. Lewis |
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State College memories – seems a lot of mine center around my major professor, Dr. Harold B. Hopfenberg. After all, we had so much in common. I was from a small Southern town, Weejuns and Gant shirts, pursuing a Ph. D. at NC State; he was from Yonkers, Brooks Brothers suits and custom-made ties, with a Ph. D. from MIT. So when Dr. Hopfenberg took over a cooking column in the News and Deceiver one summer, I was surprised to see an article on “red-eye gravy.” I mean, what would HE know about red-eye gravy? So, I had to quiz him on how mixing ham drippings, coffee grounds, orange peel, and several other flavorings and spices could really be red-eye gravy. His quick (VERY quick) reply was, “That’s right. It’s not red-eye gravy, it’s red-eye SUPREME!” What could I say? Later that summer the ChE grad students challenged the Profs to a night of bridge. Seems the profs had already beaten us on the basketball court; I’ve never been about to figure out how! My partner, Ernie Alexander, and I sat down with Dr. Marsland and his partner at one table, while others paired up at two more tables. Marsland placed his bidding conventions card on the table – I had no idea what it was. Still, after being set the first hand, Ernie and I stomped our competitors royally. Then we rotated to Dr. Hopfenberg’s table. I just had to point out the score on his table – it was something like 800 to 0 in favor of the Profs. Ours was more like 1200 to 50 in favor of the students. I mentioned that it looked like the students did pretty well at OUR table; Hopfenberg had to mention that our score didn’t measure up to the RATIO of scores at HIS table! Then there was the evening Dr. Hopfenberg showed up for a presentation to the student chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He walked in with a book covered in black leather and labeled “The Bible.” When he read from it, he was reading “Catch 22.” He commented that in the armed services, often the college-educated officers had to rely on the worldly wise privates to make their equipment work. He expected that we bright, young engineers needed to realize it would be the experienced technicians that would make our lives easier at the chemical and fiber plants where we’d be working. He was right, of course. Another time, I took a female friend to hear jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie play at a local night spot, the Frog and Nightgown. Who should welcome us at the door but Dr. Harold B., himself – in Brooks Brothers, hand-painted tie, and SANDALS!? Come to find out, he was one of the owners. . . . While Dr. Harold B. Hopfenberg has had numerous esteemed positions, awards, and titles – like young researcher, ChE department head, Kenan professor of something-or-other, and even AD – and has taught a number of excellent courses and workshops, I remember these little vignettes best. Mack Bailey |
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The “Engineers’ Brawl” was a celebrated annual event at NCSU years ago. It was a dance held at the end of the “Engineers’ Fair” week, when student exhibits were open to the public. The dance was held in what was then Frank Thompson Gymnasium, before Reynolds Coliseum was built. In 1941, as Chairman of the dance committee, it was my responsibility to guide the selection of an orchestra, or a band as we called it then. Our first selection was Larry Clinton, nationally, a very popular 20-piece “swing” band in those days. The Faculty Council would not approve the cost of this band, so alternate arrangements had to be made. A New York band was selected and approved by the Council.
On the day before the dance, while practicing for the Grand March in the gymnasium, we were notified that our band had a schedule conflict and could not make it. A frantic NC search failed to produce a band commitment. At the Engineer's banquet late that afternoon at the Sir Walter Hotel, we still had no band and were faced with having to cancel the dance — not an acceptable choice. One of the waiters at the banquet overheard the conversation of our dilemma and offered to help with a small band in which he was one of eight. We scurried to set it up for the band to play but could not get a consensus at the faculty level. So we took it upon ourselves, the committee, to engage the band. The music was fast and loud. A good time was had by all, even the chaperones. It was the first black band to play on the NC State campus. George D. Lewis |
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After reading the “Thanks for the Memories” entry entitled, “Remembrances of College Pals and War Heroes,” one alumnus wrote, “I roomed in Watagua during that time (Rm 305) and remember Len Cox — red-headed as I recall — but can't place Joe Noah. Anyway, those were good times, and I, too, remember the Hoosier Hot Shots, as E. Case's ball team were called. Enjoy your publication — keep up the good work.” W. Gilbert Smith |
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It is hard to believe that it has been 30 years since I graduated from NCSU, Civil Engineering 1974. I often think about those days especially now that I have both of my sons, Brandon and Hunter Tweed, attending NCSU. One of the best memories I have of the Civil Engineering program was the concrete boat race we held my senior year. The 1974 Civil Engineering class designed and built two concrete boats and challenged other engineering schools to do the same. A competition was scheduled using a lake at McGregor Downs Country Club (in Cary, NC, near Raleigh). This was the first such event and to my knowledge started an annual concrete boat competition between engineering schools that continues today. My class built a canoe and kayak out of Portland cement and light-weight aggregate (vermiculite). Our boats were formed using chicken wire over a wood frame, then plastered with the cement mix. After hardening the frame was removed and the boats were coated with a waterproof epoxy paint (red and white). These boats were very light and worked very well. The rules were that the boats had to be built using Portland cement with no internal flotation. The day before the race, we had a call from Clemson saying that they were not coming. When asked why, they said their boat failed. Turns out they used a mix of Portland cement and sand. When they put the boat in a lake, it just barely floated. When someone stepped in the boat it lost its freeboard and sunk, just like a block of concrete. Let's see, a concrete block is made out of Portland cement and sand. A CONCRETE BLOCK DOES NOT FLOAT. They must have left that out of Clemson Civil Engineering text books. It was so deep in the water that they just left it and gave up on making another boat. Way to go Clemson!!!!!!
Another school, VMI, I think, built their boat by carving out a large block of Styrofoam and coated it with a cement paste. This boat didn't meet the rules, but since they had made the long trip to Raleigh we allowed them to try. When they put it in the lake during the competition, the boat was so narrow and set so high in the water, it kept turning over. They tried everything, even nailing boards to the bottom to try to stabilize. Nothing worked; turns out they never tested their design. Two schools down before we started. We had a lot of fun during the competition with sprint and slalom course races. During one of the races our kayak was rammed, breaking the epoxy paint. The light-weight concrete started soaking up water, and by the end of the competition, it weighed a ton. We had to break the boat up with sledge hammers to get it out of the water. Enclosed are several pictures, I am the one on the bull horn and at the stern of the boats. To say the least the NCSU Civil Engineer students won the first concrete boat race. Yeah!!! Go Pack. It is fun remembering those years at NCSU. My sons just love (NOT) to hear my old NCSU stories. Hope they will have some for their children someday. Thanks for the opportunity to submit a memory, there are many. Gary T. Tweed, P.E.
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Civilian Pilot Training in Piper Cubs
In 1939, with war in Europe as a gathering threat, our military realized that if we had to expand our military air capability, we needed more of a civilian pilot pool of experience in our country to draw upon for military flight training. They instituted a Civilian Pilot Training (CPT) program experiment. Thirteen colleges were selected to conduct the experiment. NCSU was one on the 13. Each school was allocated a student quota of 20 participants. Training was to be in Piper Cubs, a small and popular airplane then. Each student was to be given 50 hours of flight training and solo practice to qualify for a Private Pilot license. Each student was to pay $50 toward the training. Selection criteria was established for applicants as (1) Seniors in Aero Engineering,(2) Seniors in other engineering programs, (3) Seniors in any other curriculum, (4) Juniors in the same order, and on down the line to the lowly freshmen. I was ecstatic with wanting to get in the program. At the time I was but a lowly sophomore, with scant hope. Surprise — I made it. The school contracted with the local airport operator to perform the training at the old Raleigh airport, south of town. After our training was completed, we learned that there was additional money in the program for some supplemental training. Each school was allotted a quota of two trainees to go to a summer program in Boston to train in Cubs on floats for water operations. Two more were allotted to go to Elmira, New York, for glider training. I lucked out again and went to Boston, getting my seaplane rating there. The following year an advanced program was established in the schools, using larger and more powerful aircraft, like the military used in their primary training program. We trained for 50 flight hours including aerobatics. Lucky again, I was selected and received the training. The experience molded my future. After graduation from State, I pursued military and civilian aviation, for a 40-year career, loving it all. NCSU was one of the 13 original pioneers in the training program. The group was later expanded to many more schools. The program provided many pilots for the military to recruit from, thus enhancing our military air capability to face the events following Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. The program ended after the war was over. George Lewis |
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I'll never forget how the "Cardiac Pack" under Jimmy V made the Cinderella story real during my freshman year in '82-'83. It was an amazing journey starting with the double overtime victory over Pepperdine, following by a trip to "take Hillsborough Street" and the amazing celebration there. Next came the one-point win over UNLV, followed again by a trip to Hillsborough Street to celebrate. Then, a decent tromping of Utah and yet another trip to Hillsborough Street. From there, I remember a Spring Break trip to North Myrtle Beach with my friends/alumni, Steve and John, and watching the Pack beat UVA again by one point to win the West Regional Final, from a Myrtle Beach Bar for golfers. Back in Raleigh, the excitement was building as we beat Georgia in the Final Four — and another amazing trip to take Hillsborough Street as well as the Brickyard. State never gave up as we headed to the NCAA Final against Houston, who had the likes of Clyde Drexler and Akeem Olajuwon to contend with. I'll never forget crowding 12 or more people into one of the small rooms in Bowen dorm (back then it was an all-female dorm) and watching the Cardiac Pack live up to its name with a 54-52 win on the last-second Dereck Whittenburg "pass" to Lorenzo Charles for the championship-winning dunk. That night is one of my greatest memories of my lifetime, with tens of thousands of people celebrating on the Brickyard and Hillsborough Street with the massive bonfires! Even my good friend, Max, came over from Chapel Hill to help in the celebration. We stayed up until dawn the next morning, and I missed English class the next day, but believe it or not, it was the one semester I actually made straight A's! I think that the Cardiac Pack must have inspired me to do my best that semester, as I'm sure many others have been inspired by that magical Cinderella team and the memories of Jim Valvano over the past 20 years. M. Keith Lanier, Jr. |
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Sunday, December 7, 1941 will be remembered as Pearl Harbor Day. To those of us in R.B. Rice's Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) class, it will be remembered as that "all-day-exam" day. After the class voted to take the exam on Sunday, and get away early for the holidays, we gathered at Page Hall at 8:00 a.m. with slide rules and all the books we could carry (open book exam). None were adequate for the ordeal we were in for. As the papers were turned in at 6:00 p.m. per dead line, we stumbled out of class to find the campus in an uproar — the Japs have bombed Pearl Harbor! What nonsense! We wearily went to Hillsboro Street for dinner and escaped to a movie. T he news just didn't register with us! All were later impacted by it. W.S. (Bill ) Johnson |
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Lasagne, Engineering, and Basketball I remember heading through the tunnel over to Harrelson Hall for a Calculus exam and just feeling drained after it was over, but then going to Amedeo's Italian Resturant for lasagne in the evening to recharge my mind and body. I also remember going to Reynolds Coliseum that same winter to watch number 44, my friend David Thompson, play one of his last games at State. David and I had become friends that previous summer, hanging out in North Myrtle Beach, driving around, shooting hoops and just enjoying the summer as college kids. I tried out as a non scholarship guard out of Greensboro, NC, but going to practice and trying to manage my Engineering studies at the same time proved to be too much, so I decided to stick to my studies. My basketball skills have waned at age 49, but my focus on school paid off as I am a contract quality consultant to the Federal Government working in Washington, DC, enjoying the view from the top of my profession — and I owe much of it to those difficult but rewarding days at State. Robert Hungate, CQE, CQA |
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PE 100, the Swim Test, and the Weeding Out One of the things I think really set NC State apart was the Physical Education requirement (4 semesters, which may have changed) and specifically the requirement to take PE 100. It wasn't as much the fact that everyone had to put on the red shorts and gray shirts, neither of which ever fit, but the Superhero grading scale which was used for the physical fitness portion. I remember being in decent shape coming out of high school and still having a hard time scoring an "A" in any of the events. If I remember correctly, I had to do over 60 sit-ups in a minute, bench-press my body weight 10 times, do about 15 pull-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 9 minutes to get the minimum "A". Thank God I took the class my first semester, before all the beer and Doritos took their toll. (One other small memory was everyone trying to get a PE shirt from 1983, the year of the NCAA championship.) Along those same lines was the requirement of being able to swim to graduate. The swim test itself was a surreal experience. A huge group went down to the pool and lined up at the edge. A whistle was blown, and the first wave plunged like lemmings into the water. Everyone then swam out half way and treaded water for a while, then swam to the other side. If you didn't pass, you were required to take a swimming class. I don't know how this related to my ability to function as a graduate, but I loved the fact that it was an oddball requirement. In talking with co-workers, I have heard of only one other school that had this requirement — the University of Richmond, which is built around a lake. I think they have discontinued their requirement. I hope NC State hasn't and never will. Everyone knows the Engineering story — "Look at the person to the left of you and the person to the right. Only one of you will leave with an Engineering degree." . . . Which is OK as long as your are the one. Jim Pippin |
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Big-Brothers-Big-Sisters Program I recently was asked by a couple of people in Cincinnati to help recruit volunteers for a special organization called Youth Opportunities United (YOU) and their activity called Youth Empowerment & Support (YES). This group, originally founded in California, works with troubled teens in the 15-to 19-year-old age bracket. The YES activity is a year-long program where youths make a commitment to change a life of crime, drugs, and despair. Documented results include a 50% drop in crime, 75% drop in school truancy, and a 550% increase in time worked on a job. Helping them made me recall when I was President of NCSU's University Student Center during the 1972-73 school year. The Student Center, which I believe is now called the Talley Center, after the wonderful administrator/teacher Banks Talley, was in its first year. I was second in power behind the Student Body President. However, my nine activity centers controlled the on-campus activities such as rock concerts, lectures, and movies and was funded through student fees. We enjoyed a great deal of autonomy in those days. The indoor rock concerts were most visible with All Campus Weekend drawing over 10,000 attendees. We were in competition with Duke and Chapel Hill for bragging rights to the best program. However, one small activity was the Big-Brothers-Big-Sisters Program (BBBS). The program was floundering. It was also hit by a tragic event. Its student-leader was the first person in the country to be shot and killed by a random sniper in a shopping mall parking lot. It happened at a Raleigh mall during the summer of 1972. The local BBBS officials could not get students to volunteer after his loss. This was considered one of the lesser activities so I put a challenge out to the NC State student body in a Technician article that I would cancel the program if no one came forward to lead it. As it turned out, the fellow who was shot had a student-wife of about nine months. She was a shy, soft-spoken, and distraught widow. She came forward to run the program as a way to maintain something her husband started and had dedicated so much time to. She did a great job — we even got Chancellor John Caldwell to play Santa for the group at its Christmas party. Running the BBBS program helped her overcome her grief and move on with her life. She won the next election, taking over my role. She went on to happily remarry a year or so later. This accomplishment and the experience of directing the other activity groups led me to pursue an MBA degree at Wake Forest University and taught me valuable lessons that I have never forgotten. Nick Ursini |
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Professor Bill Easter (and More)
In the Electrical Engineering Department, it was our junior year in EE914 (linear circuits) taught by Professor Bill Easter. Howard A. "Hal" Chamberlain and myself had been buying our own electronic components since high school. One of our first projects in this lab was to build a simple Class A linear amplifier. We were given the standard components bag with a transistor (yes, they used to come one per device) with a forward gain of 10. We were to take a 10 millivolt signal and output a 100 millivolt amplified, relatively distortion free signal. We had recently read in the trade journals that Fairchild had released a transistor with a forward gain of 2000. Well, here was a great opportunity to pull a prank on Prof. Easter. We drove across town and bought several of these super transistors from Cramer Electronics. We replaced our standard lab 10x gain device with our 2000x super-duper. Of course, we had to modify the circuit feedback components, and that was done in short order. Our 1000x gain circuit took a 1 millivolt signal and output a 1 volt signal. It was time for the "kill." We called Prof. Easter over, shyly scratching our heads and saying that we couldn't quite figure out what was going on. Prof. Easter looked at the input and output signals. He was clearly befuddled. I think he said, "How can that be?" He pawed through our breadboard circuit, saw we had changed some of the feedback components, then . . . he saw the super transistor! It didn't quite look like the standard issue one. He stood up and grinned. "Got me on that one!" We all had a good, long laugh! The highest praise a student can give a professor is to prove one has learned well what was taught. Professor Bill Easter was the best professor I remember, and the mutual respect was flowing that day. David B. Cox, BSEE ’70 |
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I'll never forget my sophomore year [1992-93] in Lee Hall when the Wolfpack basketball team was living through their first Les Robinson season without Fire and Ice. Carolina comes to town and the Pack takes them down in great fashion as Tom Gugliotta reigns in three after three. Then the losing streak begins — 9 straight. Horrible!! A Season in Despair. Then the dreaded journey to Chapel Hill for the rematch with the then-ranked #1 Carolina “Tarholes.” What a game!! The Pack finds magic for one brief game. I sat and watched from my Lee Hall Room 911D as the Pack plays ever so tough and the last minute ticks down. My parents are waiting for me in the lobby to go to dinner. Game ends!! Pack wins!!! And then, the phone books go flying. One, then another and another and another. Every single student in the dorm that day tossed his or her phone book over the side. There are phone books in the trees, phone books on the ground. If anyone needed to find a number, all they had to do was look anywhere on the ground or in the trees. My parents were puzzled over this hysteria, and I said, “We just beat Carolina. What a fitting way to begin and end a losing streak!! You gotta love the Pack.” Steve Humphrey |
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I have to say Dr. Nagel is probably one of my most vividly remembered professors while I was at State. My favorite memory was during the fall semester of ’84. I had Dr. Nagel for Boundary Layer first thing in the morning. The problem was, on this fall morning, Hurricane David was heading for the NC coast in the area where my parents lived. Living on the coast most of my life, I have ridden several hurricanes out before so I wasn't really concerned about their safety. What bothered me most was the unknowing! Normally the whole family rode out the storm together, but my brothers and I were gone! As if my folks couldn’t handle it by themselves! I was sitting up front in Boundary Layer and as nervous as a long-tail cat in a room full of rockers, swinging my legs to the distraction of Dr. Nagel and a few of my classmates. He finally asked what my problem was. I gave him the explanation of Hurricane David and home. He chuckled and said, "Would you do better pacing the halls?" I said, "YES!" and walked out. I don't think he was serious, but I needed to expend that nervous energy. I paced the halls for the remainder of class. The front office even let me TRY to call home. "Your call cannot be completed at this time," was all I got. By the end of the night, it was MY apartment that was flooded. Mom and Dad? They were a bit windblown but comfortably dry. I always appreciated the offer Dr. Nagel gave me that fall morning, whether he was serious or not. Wendy Edwards Doubles, BSAE ’85 |
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Remembrances of College Pals and War Heroes I remember entering NC State College in the fall of 1945, and as a freshman, I was given a room in Watauga Hall with my close friend from Greensboro, Len Cox. (Len went on to get his PhD in civil engineering). I had just been discharged from the US Maritime Service (the War had just ended), and I was so fortunate to have been admitted on short notice. During my four years at State — interrupted by two more years in the US Marines — my most vivid memories of sports involved the players brought in by Coach Everett Case from Indiana: Vic Bubas, Dick Dickey, Sam Ranzino among others. Those guys were good!! But a scholar also made a huge impression on me. His name was Charles Deese [editor’s note: BSME ’51, MSNE ’54]. He majored in nuclear engineering, and he was the top student in our engineering class. Charlie worked hard for his grades, unlike some who just breezed through. Along with seven others of us, he was awarded the distinction of being an Air Force Distinguished Military Graduate. All eight of us had to enter the Air Force in 1951. One of the eight, Huey Maples [editor's note: BSCHE '51], was killed in a crash after finishing flight school. Maples’ death reminded me of my two cousins, George and Bill Preddy, who were killed in combat while flying the P-51 Mustang fighter. George is the top Mustang ace with 27 aerial victories to his credit before being shot down by friendly ground fire on Christmas Day 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge. Bill, younger than George by five years, entered NC State in 1942 for one quarter before joining the Army Air Corps. He arrived in the ETO in January to learn about the death of George. Bill was shot down while strafing an enemy aerodrome at Ceske Budejovice, CZ, on April 17, 1945, just days before the war in Europe ended. Those interested in learning more about the Preddy brothers may visit this website: http://www.preddy-foundation.org. Thanks for allowing me to share some memories. Blue skies, Joe Noah |
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In 1966 all freshmen were required to live in a dorm on campus. Mike Coats and I were assigned to Sullivan 8th floor. We had our share of football jocks on our floor, and we quickly learned they were impatient. Everyone cut a wide path when they showed up. Like they say, “Where does a 400 pound Gorilla sit? Anywhere he wants.” Late one night we heard an incredible crash on the Lee Dorm side of the building. We ran to the railing to see what was happening ... this time. There on the brickyard below, we could make out a crumpled snack machine. Shortly, a very large male approached it, pulled its broken door open, picked up something, and walked off. Soon we heard that the snack machine in our lobby had “stolen” a Jock’s money and not delivered the goods. There is punishment when you steal, no matter who or what you are, so he invited it into the elevator, up to the 6th floor, took it for a stroll down the walkway, then helped it ... up and over the railing! Cheering echoed off the Lee Dorm wall from all our floors! He wasn't the only one it had been stealing from ... just the boldest, and that night ... the most creative! Yes, NCSU provided us an education in many ways. David B. Cox, BSEE ’70 |
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