Gandy dancer ID

In reading the December issue of the UC Magazine, it was a pleasant surprise to see the "1918 Gandy Dancers" picture, featuring our father, Joe Dave [Eng. '23], as one of the co-op students. My father many times related his co-op experiences.

It was because of the new co-op program that our father came to UC from Durham, N.C., and the program enabled him to pay for his college education. About 35 years ago, he established the Joseph Dave Civil Engineering Scholarship for students in their junior or senior year. My brother, Jerry [Bus '58], and I, both UC co-op graduates, are happy to learn that this fund has been active recently.

The December issue was a nice tribute for the 100th anniversary of the co-op program, and you are to be commended.

Bernard Dave, Bus '50
Cincinnati

Recalling 'old-timers'

Thank you so much for the UC Magazine article about the co-op program and my father's contributions [Ralph Van Wye, Eng '24]. My favorite story about him and his service as chemical engineering coordinator concerned his ability to remember his students' names years after they had graduated. Many times his "old-timers" would pop into his office saying, "Hi, Professor Van Wye. I'm sure you don't remember me." He would immediately call them by name and ask about their families and careers.

He loved his job and felt that the co-op program was special enough to devote his career to. His family has always been proud of his contribution to it.

Nancy Lodwick, A&S '44
Whitmore Lake, Mich.

Best in recent memory

Congratulations on a terrific co-op issue -- clearly one of the best in recent memory. I received the magazine this week and have already passed it along to my team electronically. It was great to see three P&G co-ops featured, including one on the cover!

John Mang, Eng '88
Procter & Gamble general manager
UC Foundation Board Trustee

I pored over my December edition of the University of Cincinnati Magazine. You and your team have done a terrific job in bringing this already excellent publication to an even higher level. The changes you have championed make our magazine even more interesting and attractive; alums will undoubtedly look forward to receiving each issue.

This magazine is such an important element of all of our efforts to establish and maintain the strong bonds between every one of our graduates and the university community that your efforts and success at producing a first-class publication are immeasurably valuable. We all appreciate your hard work.

Jeffrey Williams, chairman
UC Foundation Board of Trustees
New York, N.Y.

Congratulations on the newly designed magazine. We had never heard/read about many aspects of the co-op program covered in this issue. It was very enjoyable. We also found the candid comments about the basketball program refreshingly frank and interesting.

You have established a very high bar for subsequent issues. We are looking forward to reading them!

Betty Dieckmann Dechert, A&S '53; Doug Dechert, Eng '53
Westlake, Ohio

CDC oversight

I love the new look of the University of Cincinnati Magazine and its focus on "reality learning." My staff and I were disappointed that there was no mention of the internships offered through the Career Development Center, which are not faculty led, but employer-based and directed. In UC's effort to have an inclusive definition and perspective on "reality learning," we cannot afford to overlook CDC's internships, which offer UC students invaluable real-world experiences through hundreds of nationwide internship opportunities annually.

CDC was instrumental in providing to UC students 346 paid, employer-based and -directed internships in the 2004-05 academic year. Employers such as P&G and Dell have used CDC's on-campus recruiting service to conduct campus interviews for prized employer-defined internship positions in their organizations, and the national Black Collegian Magazine is featuring UC student Dirk Whatley in an upcoming issue focusing on his internship with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington, D.C., which he learned about through CDC.

We need to be sure that these internships are acknowledged and given the campus-wide exposure that other UC "reality-learning" experiences are given.

Linda Bates Parker, director
Career Development Center

New Web format

What a delightful surprise it was for me to visit the magazine online and see that you have a new format. I like it! Thanks for putting our university's name right up front where it belongs.

Joe Martinelli, Eve '54
Monroeville, Pa.

Hurricane survivor

The photos of Nippert Stadium caught my eye in the August magazine. In 1969, I was a University of Cincinnati freshman band member when the band was in its final year under the direction of the beloved Dr. Robert Hornyak.

There were some wonderful experiences as a bandsman, like marching in a blizzard at Miami and the trademark band entrance of running down the stadium steps. I have never been able to effectively explain to my family what that experience was all about, especially when the steps got icy. And don't forget the Club Seats in Calhoun Hall where, with binoculars, your favorite girl and a libation, you could enjoy the game from the comfort of your own room.

I am not sure when my magazine finally arrived at my home given the situation in southeast Louisiana. We live in Metairie on an ancestral Mississippi River levee, just a foot or two above sea level.

Being a good geologist, I had read the flood maps and the topographic maps before we bought what I still intend to be our last house. The house is on 18-inch piers on a little rise above the street, so water never threatened us.

The day before hurricane Katrina, we left for Pensacola where my daughter is at the University of West Florida. We tried to stay five minutes from campus, but the Comfort Inn threw us out when they saw our cats. We ended up in Jacksonville until my employer called me to Houston, about the same time Ophelia was heading up the East Coast.

We spent 16 hours traveling home because so few routes were open and stayed long enough to clean out refrigerators and pack some clothes, then drove nearly 400 more miles to Houston. Less than two weeks later, we were forced to evacuate Houston for Hurricane Rita.

The owner of our company flew employees, families and pets on a 757 to Kansas City for five days. Upon our return, we got a corporate apartment. I think we will be returning home just in time for the carnival season to get under way in greater New Orleans.

Now you have enough recollections. Do with me what you will. If keeping up the quality of the magazine means keeping me out of it, then that works too!

Mike Fein, A&S '73
Metairie, La.

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