Letters to the EditorSharing the Love

Though a few readers felt that campus dating was not an appropriate topic for the magazine of a great research university, most found no conflict between life-changing learning and life-changing love. Many wrote in to share their own stories. An engaged couple asked for an extra copy of the spring issue so they could frame it, and another sent the magazine an invitation to their wedding. We were also excited when our publisher received a kind note from Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman, ’62, the Beaver who was the inspiration for Gidget, the iconic, in-love-with-love surfer girl of book and movie fame.

The story on romance in the current Oregon Stater was inspired. It contained so many great moments. It is also an excellent cultural history of the university.

 —Stephen A. Forrester

I enjoyed the recent edition of the Stater magazine, with its focus on alumni who met their future spouses through OSU connections. Alumna Zelma Reed Long, ’65, well known wine maker, introduced me to Tom McCoy. He and Zelma attended the same high school, and I was a good friend of hers at OSU. Since he went to college at Harvard, it was unlikely we’d ever meet. I’m grateful for the OSU connection that led to a marriage in 1967. Thanks for publishing a magazine I read from cover to cover. 

 —Nancy Austin McCoy, ’65

I read with interest “OSU, a Love Story” and was inspired to share our story with you. Oct. 12, 1962. Columbus Day. I was living at the Theta Chi fraternity house. It was a Friday afternoon. I was having my very first date with this wonderful person I had met in analytical chemistry class. She and I spent nine hours together in lab each week. We were going to have dinner at the fraternity house and then go to the Sophomore Cotillion and hear the Four Preps. 

The wind started blowing late in the afternoon and got stronger and stronger. I stood on the front lawn of the fraternity house and watched a chimney topple over on a house across the street. All the electricity went out. The Sophomore Cotillion was canceled, but because we had a gas stove in the house, our amazing cook was able to put together a meal. We all were dressed up and had dinner by candlelight. 

Then, instead of going out, we had a quiet evening dancing to music from a transistor radio in the basement of the fraternity house. The next day, we walked all over campus and were amazed at the devastation, particularly on the Quad, where most of the century- old trees had been toppled. 

My date, Judy Thompson, and I got married shortly after her graduation. Years later they decided to make Columbus Day come on a Monday, but Judy and I always remember our first real Columbus Day together, 59 years ago, Oct. 12, 1962.

 —Jim Mutch, ’66, and Judy Thompson Mutch, ’65 

I read with great interest the OSU alumni love stories in the Oregon Stater. I too met my husband, Eric Stone [M.F. ’69], at the Memorial Union back in 1968. I can’t remember if the MU has two separate stairways, but it was that way on April 5 of 1968. I kidded that my future husband came down one stairway, asked me to dance and walked up the other with his wife. He was in the forestry master’s program, having transferred from the University of Connecticut just a couple of weeks before. We were pinned on April 18, 1968, engaged on May 18 and married a year later on June 7, 1969, after he graduated. We are extremely happy almost 55 years later, raising two sons. I did not graduate from OSU — U of O was the only university offering a bachelor’s in nursing — but did meet the love of my life at OSU.

 —Teresa Stone

We had a quiet evening dancing to music from a transistor radio.

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The Orange and… MasBlue?

With a new Pac-XX on the horizon, and as a proud alumnus and embracer of change, I was thinking maybe it’s time to shake things up with our school colors, with the addition of the OSU-discovered MasBlue. While black and orange will always have a special place in Beavers’ hearts, the addition could bring a bit of excitement. It would also serve as a tip of the cap to our sea-, space-, sun- and land-grant designations and heritage, as well as the great work our scientists do. Should we get other Beavers’ thoughts?

 —David Akerson, ’83

A Bounty of Beavers

Sally Goodman, ’70, sent us this photo of three generations of Beavers gathered at Commencement this June. The family was celebrating their newest grad, Wyatt Holliday, ’24, as well as a $1.4 million gift to the OSU Foundation from the estate of their relative Carol (Hansen) Isbell, ’55, Ed.M. ’67. Pictured from left: Brooke (Carlson) Goodman, ’99; Sally (Bay) Goodman; Geoff Goodman, ’99; Gary Goodman, ’70; Wyatt Holliday, ’24; and Emily (Goodman) Holliday, ’00. Sally and Gary are holding a picture of Carol.

Kudos for Students

A recent SFGate article contrasted the sorry state a Shasta Lake campground was left in by UC Davis and UO students versus how it was cared for by a group of Oregon State students who had visited just a few weeks before. I was very proud of the student body and the lessons they learned at OSU!

 — Ron Rusay, Ph.D. ’77

Mountain Memories

I now think back about my time at Oregon State, from 1959 to 1963, and realize what a wonderful experience it was. One of my strongest memories is my first climb with the Oregon State Mountain Club. The faculty leader was Willi Unsoeld. I, of course, had no idea of the stature he would achieve in the world of mountaineering. [Unsoeld was part of the first American expedition to summit Mt. Everest.] 

Our destination was Coburg Caves on the way to Eugene. Professor Unsoeld drove us, singing Alpine mountaineering songs all the way. We learned belaying, a safety technique involving a rope attached to a climber. In our case, the end of the rope was wrapped around the waist of a person who was located above the climber and secured with a safety rope. Belaying was especially critical when rappelling, a technique in which one lowers oneself on a rope. The first time I rappelled, Willi Unsoeld belayed me. Had I known more about him, I would have been more relaxed. 

As I backed up to the edge of a 100-foot-high cliff, Willi, with a huge grin, asked if I really wanted to do this. I sort of joked, “Do I have a choice?”  He laughed and said, “Not really.” So down I jerkily went. When I reached the bottom, I looked up and waved, and he waved back. The next thing I knew, he followed me, but he rappelled to the bottom upside down in one smooth continuous motion.

 —Richard “Dick” Demers, ’63

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