Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | winter 2008

WINTER 2008
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Cover Story:
Campaign Iowa State

Feature Story:
150 years of philanthropy

Feature Story:
First in the Nation

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LETTERS

Romancing the grape
I started a vineyard in 1996 and opened the third winery in Iowa (“Romancing the grape,” fall 2007). I may be the first ISU graduate to open a winery in Iowa, and if not, I am the first veterinarian to open a winery in Iowa.

The Eagle City Winery and Vineyard is located in Hardin County alongside the Iowa River on the Iowa River Greenbelt Scenic Route. The Eagle City Winery opened in 2000 and is a small family winery that produces less than 5,000 gallons of wine annually. We sell 15 varieties of wine, including 11 grape wines and four fruit wines. Twelve of the wines have won awards in international wine competitions.

Ken Groninga
’62 DVM
Iowa Falls, Iowa

Preserving your memories
Thank you for your wonderful article, “Preserving your memories” (fall 2007). I am making progress on what I have saved. I am 83 and have been a “scrapbooker” since grade school days. It’s heartwarming to see the hobby becoming so widespread.

Martha Polsley Gamble **
Gladbrook, Iowa

Iowa State at the Fair
Your State Fair issue (“A fair to remember,” summer 2007) brought back memories I didn’t know were still in the back pockets of my mind. The Fair was a big event in our lives. Just as soon as the Appanoose County Fair closed, our parents would load us kids into the car for the annual trek to Des Moines. The Fair was a requirement, as my dad was on the State Fair Board and that meant several days in a hotel and eating out. Big deal for a little Iowa farm girl.

Bev Fisher-Soshea**
’52 dietetics
Edina, Minnesota

It was with pleasure that I opened to the last page of the summer 2007 VISIONS (Looking Back, “Ready for the Fair”) and saw a picture of my great-grandfather, Edward Uhl, who took care of the sheep at ISU. Also in the picture was his oldest son, Glenn Uhl (the young boy on the far right). It is always nice to see family, whether by blood relation or part of the larger ISU family.

Tamara (Banwart) Wilcox **
’94 mathematics
Fairfield, Maine

Save Cy
The Iowa State University Athletics Department recently held an online vote for a new football helmet design for next season. By giving the fans a choice, the Athletics Department has said that the winning “I-State” design was “chosen by the fans.” There are two problems with this: First, the vote was advertised as being for a logo to be used on a white helmet when it was actually a vote for an entire new identity for Cyclone athletics and a logo on a cardinal helmet. Second, the Cy logo currently used on the football helmets was not even an option.

What better way to get an unpopular change accepted than to make it appear as though it is what the fans want?

ISU students, alumni, and Cyclone fans from all over the country are banding together to save Cy. The “Save Cy” Web site at www.savecy.com has information on the change as well as an online petition supporters can sign. The number of signatures has been growing rapidly and is over 4,100 as of Oct. 24.

The petition simply asks the ISU Athletics Department to let the fans choose the helmet logo – either the “I-State” logo or the current Cy logo. We don’t feel that is too much to ask, especially since the Athletics Department says they care about what the fans think.

Each reason the Athletics Department has given for making a logo change is countered on savecy.com. We firmly believe that this is the wrong move for Cyclone athletics. In fact, there are only two reasons for making the change that hold up to scrutiny – the preference of “I-State” over the current Cy logo and the fact that the current Cy logo has too much blue. The first reason is a personal opinion that is not debatable and the second can be overcome by reworking the colors instead of throwing out the entire logo.

Two separate independent polls conducted in October 2007 confirmed what we at savecy.com have believed all along – that the vast majority of the Cyclone Nation wants to keep Cy on the helmet. The polls, conducted by KCCI TV and the Ames Tribune, both found that over 80% of the respondents are in favor of keeping the current Cy logo on the football helmet.

With that type of support we cannot see any reason the Athletics Department would not put it to a vote and let the best logo win.

Ben Hall
’05 art and design
West Des Moines, Iowa

Andrew Pospisal
’98 electrical engineering
Clive, Iowa

Thomas Wacha**
’99 transportation and logistics
Ames, Iowa

Co-organizers of the Save Cy movement