Letters to the Editor

Sorry, I was first

When I phoned my daughter Kate ’06 and told her that Wooster had run a story by the first person to write an I.S. on a personal computer ("Pioneer in Print" by Jay Heiser ’82, Summer 2004), she asked, "There’s an article about you in Wooster magazine?"

I had told Kate about the eight-inch floppy disk on which I had stored my I.S. files and how I had to wait sometimes to use the computer in the basement of Andrews. She saw my I.S. copy with its dot-printer font, evidence of perforated feeder strip torn off, and right-justified margins (that was a big deal, I emphasized to her).

Kate knew that I turned in my senior I.S. on March 2, 1981. So sorry, Jay, it seems that I was the first to turn in an I.S. written on a personal computer, beating you by more than a year.

To be fair, I did use a regular typewriter to type my tables of coefficients and to add the Greek letters to my equations. (I used an IBM Selectric with those interchangeable font balls!) So if Jay wants to claim the "trophy" based on a semantic interpretation of the first I.S. entirely written on a personal computer, well then, I’d have to concede.

I returned to campus in January 1981 after spending the previous fall term at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. At Oak Ridge I had access to the energy data and "big computers" in which I could produce econometric estimates that I used in my I.S. I had three large boxes of punched cards which contained my model and data. I typed these cards myself on a punch card machine. At Oak Ridge I would summit a job to the computer "guys" and return a few hours later to check the results. My adviser, Gene Pollock (economics), graciously and patiently guided me so that my work was both practical enough for my supervisor at Oak Ridge, yet met the academic standard expected for I.S.

After that experience of high tech computing systems, I was naturally looking for the most progressive computing tools when I arrived back on campus. I had taken two courses from Carl Zimmerman (computer science) in Pascal and Assembly. It was his influence (and the thought of typing my I.S. on my typewriter) that prompted me to embrace the new system.

LuAnn McClernan Duffus ‘81

Granville, Ohio

Childhood Memories

Thanks for "If These Walls Could Talk," (Spring 2004). I’m not a graduate of The College of Wooster. I did put in a lot of time on campus back in the 1950s. I was a member of Boy Scout Troop # 61 which was sponsored by the campus church and met in the basement of Kauke Hall.

While I had zero knowledge of the building’s history, I was always fascinated by the architecture and the presence it had on campus. We lived some five or six blocks south of the campus on Nold Avenue, just one block east of Beall Avenue.

We moved away to Cambridge, Ohio, near the end of 1960. Since then I have moved a number of times (thirty-one, to be precise) all over the U.S. I have also seen many places in my travels all over the world. But many of my most favorite childhood memories come from right there in the basement of Kauke.

I’m the vice president of administration for Panasonic Battery in North America. A good childhood with good influences probably had a lot to do with my success.

John Rowe

Columbus, Georgia

Remembering Rev. Jim

A quick word of praise, appreciation, and gratitude for the life and work of Rev. James Blackwood ’41 (Obituaries, Fall 2004). His two books, The House on College Avenue and Howard Lowry: A Life in Education might well be required reading for all who seek greater understanding of the essence of the College.

As campus minister from 1951 to 1962, Rev. Blackwood served diligently in an era that still held daily chapel. He looked like an English vicar, but played basketball and served on a faculty volleyball team that was undefeated for geologic ages.

When his brother was ill, he brought him into his home. On Easter Sunday 1961, he preached a sermon entitled, "You can’t go home again." I reminded him at the door that Thomas Wolfe wrote another classic, Look Homeward, Angel.

Mr. Blackwood’s words are enduring jewels of the Wooster legacy. I am grateful to God for his persevering spirit.

Charles R. Van Wie ’54

Schenectady, New York