Iowa
State University Alumni Association| online edition | winter 2004
WINTER 2004
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Cover
Story:
Bridges: Designing, Building, Preserving
Feature Story:
Celebrating 125 Years
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The
ISU Alumni Association: Celebrating 125 Years
What a wonderful experience to receive VISIONS (Fall 2003)
and recognize Grandpa [Edgar] Stanton on the cover and then find all the
excellent articles. Your concept really brought him, George Washington
Carver, and Carrie Chapman Catt to life. And then the picture of Mother
[Margaret Stanton] in the middle of the C.O.B. picture with all the women
wearing their pins. I have her pin on my charm bracelet and remember her
explaining it to me a long time ago. I once received a letter from
Carrie Chapman Catt when I was in junior high and did a report on her.
She was in a later class, but Mr. Catt was in the first graduating class
and all of them would study together. She said they would gather at the
Maples for discussions and she felt that she learned as much there as
she did in a classroom under the leadership of Grandpa Stanton, a new
mathematics professor. Your article on her was excellent.
I
was reading the latest issue of VISIONS, and in the article “How
it began,” the first paragraph says “the nation’s first
land-grant college.” I had heard this statement before.
I was recently at a meeting on the Michigan State campus, and one speaker
said Michigan State was the nation’s first land-grant college. Which
is correct? Another question I have: We were recently on the ISU campus
and we were told Iowa State has one of the three most beautiful campus
settings in the nation. What are the other two? Michigan State says they
have the most beautiful campus.One more question: Reiman Gardens now has
the new butterfly house. Is Iowa State the first university to have such
a facility? What other universities have a butterfly house? How many such
houses are in the United States?
Editor’s
note: The Land-Grant Act, also known as the Morrill Act, was signed into
law in 1862. Although other land-grant schools of today existed before
Iowa State was chartered in 1858 (University of Wisconsin in 1848 and
Michigan State in 1855, for example), Iowa was the first state to accept
the provisions of the Morrill Act. Campus beauty, like all beauty, is
in the eye of the beholder – and clearly open to debate. The “most
beautiful campus” reference most likely came from the American Society
of Landscape Architects’ 1999 centennial listing of “Medallion
Sites,” which included Iowa State’s park-like central lawn
among three university central campuses to receive that designation. The
other two were Yale University and the University of Virginia. Additionally,
author Thomas Gaines, in The Campus as a Work of Art (1991), proclaimed
Iowa State to be one of the 25 most beautiful campuses in the country.
Iowa State was the first university to build a facility for the exhibit
of live butterflies and to exhibit both native and exotic species. Michigan
and Kansas State Universities each have a butterfly exhibit consisting
solely of native North American species, and a new facility is under construction
at the University of Florida in Gainesville. There are about 30 total
butterfly exhibits in the United States.
Dairy Farm Memories
I couldn’t help but respond to the request for memories of the Iowa
State Dairy Barn. (“Around Campus,” Fall 2003) The
year was 1982 ... the event was the annual Milk Maid Competition. Dressed
in all the garb of the event, the men of Pearson House and the women of
Pennell (including my future wife) attended in grand style. I was chosen
to compete for our team in the milk-drinking contest. (Yes, the one where
we drank from a calf milk bottle!) My efforts would have passed unremembered
as so many such events do, except that a photograph of me participating
in that event became a picture on the “You Know You’re an
Iowa Stater When...” poster produced that year by the Bomb
yearbook. Thanks for the chance to recall wonderful memories and friends
from my days at Iowa State.
I
was a resident of the Towers from 1969 to 1973. Our harbinger of spring
was the distinct aroma as the ice and snow melted from the area around
the Dairy Barns. Spirits and olfactory senses lifted by a slight southerly
breeze, we knew warmer weather was right around the corner.
Remembering
Dr. Parks
I read with great sadness of the passing of Bob Parks (“Around Campus,”
Fall 2003). I grew up in Ames, and my dad was a professor at
Iowa State. As a family, we observed President Parks and his quiet leadership
and vision for ISU from many perspectives and remember him with great
admiration and fondness.
My favorite memory of President Parks involved the celebration of VEISHEA
in 1979 or 1980. I was involved with a VEISHEA committee, and one of my
duties was to drive President Parks in a golf cart from the Memorial Union
to the start of the parade, where he would climb into the obligatory awaiting
convertible. The parade would officially begin once he was situated and
ready to roll. As we traversed the parade route, the crowd was already
waiting with much anticipation and cheered appropriately for President
Parks as he passed by. (I suspect they were glad to see him for many reasons,
not the least of which the fact that once he got into his car, the festivities
could begin.)
We passed several pockets of people who happened to know who I was: a
group of my fraternity brothers, a group of VEISHEA committee members,
a group of Cyclone Aides – even some of my younger sister’s
friends. These groups were quite boisterous and probably surprised that
I had such a visible role.
Their cheers got louder and louder as we passed by and actually overwhelmed
the cheers for President Parks himself – it got to be kind of embarrassing.
At that point, Bob leaned over, and without even cracking a smile whispered
in my ear, “I guess I should be YOUR driver – they’re
probably wondering who the heck is in the golf cart with Doug Pletcher.”As
you can imagine, it’s a favorite snapshot from my days at Iowa State
and a fond memory of a great and compassionate man.
As
a young teacher with little experience, I was nervous and concerned to
find that the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Parks would be in my Madison School
kindergarten during the 1959-60 school year. Happily, they quickly put
me at ease, and their daughter was a darling and very able child. I remember
them as interested and supportive parents, who always had time for their
daughter, despite what must have been many other pressures.
I graduated from ISU in 1975, and my favorite memory is getting to sit with Bob and Ellen Parks at the dinner honoring new inductees into Phi Beta Kappa. I have no idea how I got so lucky to be seated at their table, but it was great fun to talk to them both. I worked in the library as a student assistant, then went on to library school at Illinois after graduation. I was delighted when the ISU library was named for them. I joined the Alumni Association as a life member when I graduated, and I’ve been proud to be affiliated with ISU all my life. Thanks to Bob Parks’ enlightened leadership, ISU was and is still a remarkable institution.
My memory of Dr. Parks comes from the summer of 1975. I was working with other Cyclone Aides (the summer orientation group). We were having a team-building game called “Bigger or Better.” Each team was given a tennis ball and challenged to bring back something greater. One team brought a canoe, one a bale of hay, etc. Well, our team went over to the Knoll and asked Dr. Parks (on a Saturday night) and he was more than happy to be our “prize.” He came over and gave a GREAT motivating speech about how we were the representatives of ISU and the first people the students and parents would meet. It was very moving. Later, when I was class president, I came to see his management style and how much the faculty respected him. I guess I always thought of him as larger than life. He was truly a wonderful man.
Fall
of 1972, I was a sophomore in animal science. As my wife and my parents
were walking with me to Clyde Williams Field from our Pammel Court apartment
for
a football game, Dr. Parks – who seemed to know who I was and certainly
gave my parents the impression that he did – came out of Beardshear
and stopped to talk with us on the sidewalk for a good five minutes. You
would have thought I was the most important student on campus! What an
impression he made. My dad talked about that until the day he died.
I
graduated from Iowa State in 1978. I lived in Lange House (in the Richardson
Court Association) for four years. I was the social chairman (along with
Paul Meenan) of Lange House in 1976. We came up with the idea to invite
President Parks to one of our “dinner exchanges.” (A dinner
exchange was when one dorm floor asked another dorm floor to dinner.)
Paul and I approached President Parks’ secretary to see if he would
come to one of our dinner exchanges.The reason why was simple –
President Parks was our neighbor. He lived right next door to the RCA.
Why couldn’t neighbors share a dinner together? This approach worked,
and a dinner date was set up. President Parks and his wife were wonderful
guests. Everyone enjoyed the meal and conversations. President Parks continued
to eat with Lange House every year.
I only met Bob Parks one time, but I’ve always remembered our chance meeting. I was attending my first presidential caucus in January 2000. The room was crowded, so I decided to take a seat on the floor. At the time I didn’t realize I was sitting next to former ISU president Bob Parks. As soon as I took my seat, he jumped up and insisted that I take his chair. After much dispute, I finally accepted his kind gesture. He introduced himself to me, and we started a conversation about ISU and politics. He explained to me how exciting it was to see young people like myself participating in politics. He also explained how hard it was for him to not be politically involved while he was president, because it wasn’t appropriate at the time. I don’t remember our conversation word for word, but his kindness and our shared enthusiasm for ISU and politics was inspirational to me.
Correction
In the Fall 2003 issue of VISIONS, the ISU Alumni Association’s
historical timeline on page 14 incorrectly lists Jim Hill as composer
of “The Bells of Iowa State.” The song’s composer, and
contest winner, was Jim Wilson.