The Founders

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Remember When . . .

Here are several anecdotes and reminiscences provided by your classmates.  You may scroll the page or jump directly to the anecdote. History of Crew -- from the "First Annual Northshore Invitational Regatta", 1959 Old Fogies -- a collection of generational experiences The Strike -- a harbinger of student activity Surviving Oyster Bay -- a true story of the University crew team Jake -- a friend we all cherished A Shudder Went Down My Spine -- a memory of the Cuban Missile Crisis Well-Read Cars -- a classic college prank In the Snow -- the winter version Another Volkswagen Tale -- heave ho  Polity -- early history Late Afternoon Class -- an Engineer recalls My Golden Years -- fond memories One-Liners -- to stimulate your memory If you have one to contribute, please click here.

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HISTORY OF CREW Thanks to Ed and Alice Beuel (1962), who were cleaning out their attic, I recently received a copy of the program for the ?First Annual Northshore Invitational Regatta?. It was held at Oyster Bay on Saturday, May 16th, 1959. State U hosted the regatta with Fordham, St. Johns and Iona also competing. The program included a History of Crew at State U that I?ve included (below). There is reference to a race with Clark University, which ended in a dead heat. We were able to bring home a trophy and keep it for six months. As far as I know that was the first trophy for intercollegiate competition for our school.  Members of the crews for the Northshore Regatta: JV ? E. Knuffke, M. Davidson, J. Kelly, R. Warmbier, P. Vallely, H. Jamison, W. Engelke, R. Wilcox.  Varsity ? S. Weinberg, P. Crean, F. Carr, P. Coleman, R. Johnson, G. Little, K. Lotter, M. Morris Burt Marks was coxswain for both crews.  Contributed by Pat Crean, 1961 HISTORY OF CREW AT STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE  On a chilly October afternoon in 1958, a strange scene took place on the waterfront of Oyster Bay, Long Island. Eight seemingly sane young men were seen carrying a large cigar shaped object toward the choppy gray waters. This represented a milestone of a story, which began the preceding summer, and one, which we hope, will not be concluded for many years to come. The story is that of the history of crew at State University College.  The first chapter of our story begins on July 9, 1958. On that day, the college received a letter from Mr. Allan Borghard suggesting the establishment of a crew at State University. Interested in this idea, the college had Mr. Borghard present his plans. He offered to donate his time and energy to coach and make preliminary arrangements for the organization of a crew for competition in the spring of 1959.  Many years of experience, both in active rowing competition and in coaching at the New Rochelle Rowing Club make Mr. Borghard well qualified to perform these duties.  When the fall semester began, the newly appointed athletic director, Mr. Henry von Mechow, set about the task of organizing the first crew.  Many obstacles had to be overcome or bypassed before a boat could be put into the water. First and foremost, a shell had to be obtained and transported to Oyster Bay. Thanks to the Non-Pareil Rowing Club on the Harlem River, a boat was available. They offered to lend an old but still serviceable boat and a set of oars. Transporting an object over sixty feet in length is quite a problem.  After a nerve-wracking trip, which included a brief but decisive encounter with an EL stanchion in the Bronx, the shell arrived in Oyster Bay in two pieces. Mr. Borghard proved to be an excellent repairman and the boat was ready for the water by October 28, 1958.  The purchase of a small boat and an outboard motor for the use of the coach opens the second chapter of our story. Putting the shell into the water in late October proved to be a chilling experience for the crew. Lacking the conventional float, the crew had to wade into the harbor with the shell. This was the beginning of the awesome task of preparing two crews for spring competition. On November 22nd, practice on the water was suspended, and indoor training on some ancient rowing machines donated by the New York Athletic Club, by way of Iona Prep School, was begun.  Launching of the shell on February 28, 1959 starts the third chapter of the crew?s history. Instead of wading barefoot, the oarsmen were now equipped with hip boots. Early darkness coupled with the fact that Mr. Borghard was unable to meet the crews until 5:00 PM made it extremely difficult for the two crews to row with only one shell available. So the amazing Mr. Borghard acquired a twelve-year-old shell from his alma mater, Rutgers University and practice sessions now became two shell races.  Unfortunately, the original shell did not hold up too well and the teams were forced to work out again with only one shell. From the 28th of February to the fourth of April both crews worked hard to make ready for the first race.  The fourth chapter begins on April 4th and is still being written. The racing season officially began at the New York Athletic Club at Pelham where St. Johns University defeated State University by a wide margin. The crews returned to Oyster Bay realizing, perhaps for the first time, that rowing is not as simple as it appears and that it would take many hours of hard work to be successful.  An important decision by the College Administration approved formal intercollegiate crew competition and plans were then started for a regatta at Oyster Bay.  On April 11th, Iona College defeated State University at Travers Island and on April 25th the State University varsity finished in a dead heat with Clark University at Worcester Massachusetts. Today our crew season ends with the First Annual North Shore Invitational Regatta sponsored by State University.  Crew has had a remarkable beginning at State University College and already tradition has been formed which will become stronger as the years go by. The members of the crew express great appreciation and thanks to the Non-Pariel Rowing Club, Rutgers University, the College Faculty and Administration, Mr. von Mechow, Mr. Clint White and his staff, Mr. Stillwell at whose boatyard we beach our shell and above all to Mr. Borghard for his time and efforts on behalf of crew.

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OLD FOGIES Do you need proof as to how much of an old fogie you really are? Younger generations have quite a different mindset -- you can pinpoint when they were born from this list. Review it carefully, because these are the people who will be at the reunion with us! World Events  The "evil empire" has moved from Moscow to a setting in some distant galaxy. The US and the Soviets have always been partners in space. Watergate is as relevant to their lives as the Teapot Dome scandal. They have never referred to Russia and China as ?the Reds". There has always been a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. Three Mile Island is ancient history, and nuclear accidents happen in other countries. They do not remember the Cold War. If they vaguely remember the night the Berlin Wall fell, they are probably not sure why it was up in the first place. They don't understand why Solidarity is spelled with a capital "S". President Kennedy's assassination is as significant to them as that of Lincoln or Garfield. They have never seen white smoke over the Vatican and do not know its significance. They were not led to believe that, in the year 2000, we'd all be living on the moon. The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI, WWII and the Civil War. They think that ?Duck and Cover? is the name of a heavy metal band. Tianamen Square means nothing to them.  They are too young to remember the Challenger space shuttle blowing up. Gadgets and Technology Cars have always had eye-level rear stop lights, CD players and air bags. Cyberspace has always existed. Telephone bills have always been totally incomprehensible. We have always been able to choose our long distance carriers. The GM Saturn has always been on the road.  Resonance Imaging (MRI) has always been available to doctors. There has always been Diet Coke. There has always been a hole in the ozone layer. They have always had access to email. Tylenol has always been impossible for children or adults to open. They have probably never used carbon paper and do not know what cc and bcc mean. Major newspapers have always been printed in color. It has paid to "Discover" most of their lives. A ?45? is a gun, not a record with a large hole in the center. They have always bought telephones, rather than rent them from AT&T. There have always been ATM machines. Toyotas and Hondas have always been made in the United States. They have never heard a phone ?ring". They never dressed up for a plane flight. IBM Selectrics are antiques. They have never used a bottle of ?White Out". They were born into Luvs, Huggies and Pampers. They don't know what a cloth baby diaper is. They have never needed a prescription to buy ibuprofen. They were grew up with Microsoft, IBM PCs, in-line skates, NutraSweet, fax machines, film on disks and unregulated quantities of commercial interruptions on television. While they all know her children, they have no idea who "Ma Bell" was. Travel to space has always been accomplished in reusable spacecraft. They have no idea how big a breadbox is. They have probably never dialed a phone or opened an icebox. The only thing a "church key" has ever opened for them is a church. They have never seen a BankAmericard. They can't explain the "cha-ching" thing. They never had a Swatch. The statement "You sound like a broken record" means nothing to them. They have never owned a record player. They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter. Bottle caps have always been screw-off and bottles have always been plastic. Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave. They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are. They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong. They may have never heard of an 8 track. They have always had an answering machine. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black and white TV. They have always had cable. There has always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA was. They cannot fathom not having a remote control. They never owned cassette singles. Entertainment Fox has always been a television network choice. Their generation has never wanted to "be a Pepper too". Oprah has always been a national institution. They have no clue what the Beach Boys were talking about when they sang about a 409, and the Little Deuce Coupe. Bear Bryant has never coached at Alabama. The Colts have always been in Indianapolis. They have never seen Larry Bird play. They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.  They neither know who Billy Joe was, nor wondered what he was doing on the Talahatchee Bridge. They never heard Walter Cronkite suggest that "That's the way it is. They have always been able to get their news from USA Today and CNN. They have spent more than half their lives with Bart Simpson. They don't think there is anything terribly futuristic about 2001, and were never concerned about the year 1984. Star Wars looks very fake to them, and the special effects are pathetic. They never heard the "Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial. They never heard: "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel," or "De plane, de plane!". They don't know who Mork was, or where he was from. They do not care who shot JR and have no idea who JR was. John Lennon and John Belushi have always been dead. They feel more danger from having sex and being in school, than from nuclear war. They don?t realize that Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not only music bands. There has always been MTV. They don't know what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and think he has always been white. Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show. Pop Culture Barbie has always had a job. George Foreman has always been a barbecue grill salesman. The drinking age has always been 21 throughout the country. The British Royal family has always behaved badly. The Social Security system has always been on the brink. There have always been warnings about second-hand smoke. They have never experienced a real recession. They have heard "just say no" since they were toddlers. Woodstock is a bird or a reunion, not a cultural touchstone. Hurricanes have always had men?s and women?s names. ?Coming out? parties celebrate more than debutantes. ?Spam? and ?cookies? are not necessarily foods. They do not know the profound meaning of "Wax on, Wax off". Roller skating has always meant inline for them. They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool. *   *   *   *   * Adapted from The Mindset List, Beloit College, WI. Please send in other favorite examples and we?ll post them here.

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THE STRIKE The Board of Regents had decided to install a new President for the College, replacing Dean Olsen, in preparation for the move to Stony Brook. Also, they acted to replace the interdisciplinary academic divisions (Social Science, Humanities, etc.) that were important to the intellectual ideology of the college, with traditional departments (Sociology, Psychology, etc.). The entire student body boycotted classes. The result of the Regents' action was the eventual dismantling of the incredible classical approach to undergraduate education that flourished briefly at Oyster Bay, for the more routine and conservative structure that became Stony Brook. The experiment that was Oyster Bay - to provide a classical and intellectually challenging education for future science and math teachers - was an incredibly transformative gift to those of us who were fortunate enough to have been there. The narrow decision to replace it was a great mistake and a loss. Many years after the strike, I remember reading something by Paul Goodman (who had visited the campus). Our strike to restore our Dean and the intellectual spirit of our educational experiment was referred to by Goodman as the first action of the student movements of the 60's! Whooda thunk? Contributed by Mike Davidson, 1962

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SURVIVING OYSTER BAY The weather was overcast and windy. Not the best of weather for a late afternoon crew practice session in March, 1960. 18 of us met at the launching site on the north shore of Long Island ? Varsity and the JV crews (two 8-man crews plus coxswain). We were a new, ?low-budget? team who had older, donated shells and launched directly into the surf at a beach ? no dock for us! The Varsity had a year under its belt, but the JV were freshmen novices. We had not been out more than 3 or 4 times before. This was our first season and most had no prior rowing experience. But we were enthusiastic! The coach was already there and we lowered the shells into the water. Coach (forgot his name) was having trouble getting his powerboat (a rowboat with an outboard motor) started and we headed out without him. In retrospect, he should not have permitted us to go out unescorted.  He lost his job as a result of that indiscretion. But we did get a better powerboat!) It got dark very quickly and a storm front began moving in. The wind was kicking up the water and the freshmen boat was taking on water. The cox, who was inexperienced, tried to turn the shell around and got sideways to the wind (and waves/current). This maneuver was hampered by the inexperience of the oarsmen. Eventually, the water rose over the sides of the shell -- the boat was swamped, leaving nine of us in the water.  A few fellows (Tony Haug was one) began to swim to the shore that was visible, but probably at least 1/4 mile away. Others remembered the old advice to stay with the boat, and turned it over so it would float and could be straddled like a horse. We shouted to the swimmers to return and a few of us swam out a bit to help them back onto the shell.  Meanwhile, the Varsity crew sprinted to shore for help. Their cox, Harry Waitz (also a novice freshman) guided the shell straight (actually by weaving around the anchored boats and oyster poles in the harbor) onto the beach.  We remained on the shell, up to our chest in cold water (not more than the low 50?s?). God it was cold! Someone found out later that the outside air temperature was 170F. We kept shouting at each other to keep some circulation going as we were all losing any feeling below our waists. Some prayed. No one remembers whether we tried ?100 bottles of beer on the wall?, but we must have. Maybe that helped our rescuers find us.  On shore, members of the Varsity crew had found some ?off duty? fishermen who were having some after-work beers on the end of a small pier. They convinced them that there was an overturned boat with crewmembers in the water. So they set out in the small outboard powered oyster boat (don?t forget, we were on Oyster Bay).  It was pitch dark by the time we heard the motor. It was miraculous that they found us. We learned afterwards, that the fishermen doubted whether we would survive in that cold water and whether they would be able to find us in the dark. Fortunately, the fishermen were very familiar with the Bay and its currents. This was probably the only way that they we could have been found. But we all made it.  We were hauled into the boat (was there more than one?) and taken to Meadowbrook Hospital where we were examined and released late that night. Tony Haug remembers jumping into the fishing boat and not noticing that his foot was stuck in a bucket until he tried to get out of the boat at the dock. That's how numb his foot was. Phil Mighdoll couldn?t feel a thing in his feet for a month!  We didn?t appreciate, at the time, how close to death we all came.  There?s a picture in the 1961 Specula of the JV and Varsity crews that was taken one year after the event.  Tony Haug is in that photo and he was in the JV boat that memorable night. We found a newspaper clipping, saved by a 'proud Mom', that lists the following members of the ill-fated crew as:  John Czerniewicz, William Margulies, Richard McManus, Burt Marks, Bill Muller, Phil Mighdoll, Lance Lessler, William Lederman and Tony Haug.  Who was the JV coxwain? Who was on the Varsity crew that night?  We think that Harry Waitz was their coxswain, but who else was there? Contributed by Phil Mighdoll, 1963

Addendum from Burt Marks: I was the coxswain of the ill-fated crew. Many of the oarsman were on the water for the first time. The air was cold, the water was rough and we were also splashing a lot. I was freezing even before we sunk.  Most (all?) of us were back in the crew shells a few weeks later. So far as I know, nobody suffered any long-term injury except to our pride. Our crew coach was Al Borghard (sp?), a volunteer. He and our PE professor VonMechow (sp?) were our leaders. I saw Lance Lessler for the first time since college just a few years ago. Other than a few gray hairs, he looks the same as he did in college.

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Remember the coffee shop at Oyster Bay? We used to sit around and drink the diesel fuel that Slater laughingly called coffee. One of the fixtures was Mrs. Sorenson, known to one and all as "Jake." She shared all of our little triumphs and tragedies, as if we were her own relatives. We could always count on her for a cheerful word, and she could get a smile out of anybody. Contributed by Bob Walker, 1961

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A SHUDDER WENT DOWN MY SPINE I was walking through the hallway in my dorm one afternoon in October, 1962. As I started to pass by the open door to the lounge I spotted a half-dozen students standing in front of the television. This was clearly unusual, so I stepped into the room to find out what was going on. As I approached the group, I started to say something, but someone shushed me. President Kennedy was standing before an easel, pointing to it with a stick and talking about one or several ships shown on the easel, that were headed toward Cuba. I remember Kennedy saying something like "Therefore, I have given orders for our ships to interdict any Soviet ship which . . . " Suddenly Pete Zimmer whispered "This means war." The whisper stunned me more than Kennedy's own words. A shudder went down my spine. Contributed by Howard Blue, 1963

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IN THE SNOW There was a math professor who used to park his Volkswagen bug near the Butler building. It would snow and cover up the car and then after class the professor would have to come and shovel the car out. After one snow, the professor came to shovel out his car and he shoveled and he shoveled and he shoveled, and no car. Some of the students has pushed he car around the corner and left a big mound of snow in place of the car. Contributed by John Unrath, Class of 1963, who claims that he was only an observer.

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ANOTHER VOLKSWAGEN TALE Pedro Ortiz (Class of 1964) drove a Volkswagen Beetle. One day some of his frisky classmates (while waiting for the infamous 4:45 PM Calculus Class in that tiny building just south of the main parking lot -- that is, the one that was paved!!) decided to put his car between two trees -- head-to-tail. How did we all turn out to be such loving, caring and brilliant people? Contributed by Ed McCullough, Class of 1963, who still believes that he is brilliant.

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WELL-READ CARS Irene bought a new Corvair -- this was around 1959-60. Why we did what we did is no longer a part of my memory -- I suppose that's what happens with the pranks of one's youth. However this is the story of a practical joke that was, at the same time, a success and a failure. Three of us (names omitted to avoid acts of revenge) went to the library and picked up the Sunday copies of the NY Times, Washington Post and the St. Louis Post Dispatch. We then went directly to Irene's car which had been left unlocked. One page at a time, we crumpled the papers and threw them into her new Corvair until it was filled from floor to ceiling.  We even put paper in the gas filler door and then went to the coffee shop and looked innocent. When Irene approached the car, all she saw was the paper in the gas filler door. It seems that her boyfriend had seen the papers inside her car and placed them into another nearby car. And when we checked the parking lot later, we noticed that the papers had moved from car number 2 to yet another one. Well, I forget how many cars got the paper treatment that day.  But, eventually, one sore head threw them on the ground and threatened bodily harm to whoever had placed the papers in his car. Confessed by a member of the Class of 1961

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POLITY In the late 80's I attended the graduation of my nephew from Stony Brook. The student speaker was introduced as the president of the polity. I remember thinking that I was probably the only person in the audience, faculty included, who had any idea why the student government was called the "polity". In 1958 or 1959, a group of students went to Dean Austill to ask if we could have a "student government." Consistent with the Socratic underpinnings of our education, Austill asked us to come back to him when we could explain why we wanted a government, what its purpose was, and what form it should take. This lead to a year long study where we concluded, not surprisingly that the ideal form of government was the Greek polity where all citizens would have an active role in the process of government. The "government" actually took on a fairly routine representative form except for one unforgettable occasion when the question arose of whether we should be using our limited resources on intercollegiate sports rather then spending them on more "appropriate" cultural and intellectual events. A small group (including me as the sports editor of the "Sucolian" and a member of the crew team) argued that the needs of physical fitness could be met with intramural sports and the money used for better purposes. The matter was put to the polity. The entire student body met in the Coe Hall ballroom to vote. After debate, the matter was put to a vote by a division of the house and our small band was roundly defeated. I gather that the question has not been revisited! Contributed by Mike Davidson, 1962

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LATE AFTERNOON CLASS I remember a funny event in the E&M Fields class I had in my junior year at Oyster Bay. Mr. Giordano, an adjunct faculty member, taught it and it started at 4:45 in the afternoon. It was a warm spring afternoon and the air conditioning was having difficulty keeping up, so we had the windows opened. Engineering majors will remember how exciting E&M Fields was (dull and dense). Half the class is dozing and the other half is watching a fly buzzing around the room. The fly gets close to one of the students who reaches up with his open textbook and slams it shut on the fly. This did wake up the other half the class, but the professor didn?t skip a beat! Contributed by John Unrath, 1963

Addendum from Ed McCullough: Class was in one of the geodesic domes. It was a bee, and the 'student' was me. The bee stain was in the book for many years until it went the way of all textbooks after I finished my doctorate at U of Wisconsin. By then I knew just about everything there was to know. John Unrath and I lived in an attic near the Oyster Bay Campus in East Norwich. I look forward to seeing him at the reunion in June.

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MY GOLDEN YEARS Oyster Bay was a dangerous place to be when spring exams were coming up. You didn?t want to be indoors or studying. I remember sitting with my friends enjoying the spring on Coe Lawn. Every time the lawn mower came near a tree a couple got up and walked away. But my first memory of Oyster Bay was of the geodesic-dome classrooms. We were told that this was a prize-winning new architectural design, but the domes really made us think of circus tents. The older buildings, the trees and greenhouses, the lawns and woods really made our environment. And the school was so small that I knew half of the other students. Stony Brook, with one dorm, a few academic buildings, and acres of mud was a change of pace. Students today might not be able to picture it, but the place where I had sex the first time -- in the woods near the Humanities Building ? is now in the middle of a road in the middle of the campus. Most of all, I remember being surrounded by the brightest and most curious people I have ever known. Every day I learned something from somebody. We were constantly discussing new ideas which ? more often than not ? were not in our respective majors. It doesn?t get better than that. Contributed by Ed Strasser, 1965

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ONE-LINERS to stimulate your memory Remember when a slide rule was a useful tool, not a museum piece? The cost of the first set of books, $25 and change. Jagman? Mr. Nelson's multiple watches, some of them alarm watches. A B C Parking not enforced because C was a sea of mud. Classes in the Laundry Room. Jars of fruit flies for Biology class. Congressman Derounian's anger at a "beatnik" poem. Gordon Little's poetry e.g. The Ballad of Jonas White. The Beck Illusion. Tibius O'Reilly Mr. Rodin's dog, Bruno, an obedience school drop out. Soc. I's final exam on the French Revolution, while Charles deGaulle was leading his own. The University of Chicago vs. Columbia -- the great book theory. The Deacons of Elizabeth Joyce. Down with IDS. Learning to play bridge and skipping classes (thanks, Neil Rothman) Bob Victor playing the Light Cavalry Overture on his phonograph in the dorm at 6 AM every morning to wake everyone up. Daryl Meltzer receiving a draft notice. First Spring Regatta.