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I have been reading one version or another of
the N.U. Magazine since 1965 and the November 1999 issue is the best I
have ever received. The variety of articles is outstanding. Keep up the
good work.
John Callaghan, BA'65, MBA'67
Wilmington, Delaware
Open Season
I read your article concerning the athletics program, "Gaining
Ground" [November 1999], with much interest. It was incorrectly titled.
It should have been titled "Gaining Mediocrity." Although it
is very encouraging to see that the women's programs such as ice hockey,
field hockey, volleyball, indoor and outdoor track, and basketball are
doing quite well on a relative basis, the major men's programs-i.e., hockey,
football, and basketball-are, quite frankly, horrible. During the 1990s
the football program has had only two winning seasons, the basketball team
has had only one winning season in the past five seasons, and the hockey
team has had seven losing seasons during the 1990s.
I need not go on concerning the ineptitude and incompetence of these
major programs. I will say that the main reason for these shameful results
is poor coaching and lack of competent leadership. Although there are no
easy solutions, Northeastern could take a large step in the right direction
by bringing in coaches in these major sports who not only know how to technically
coach, but also know how to inspire and make these young student-athletes
believe in themselves. Note that UMass, which competes with N.U. for many
of the same general students and student-athletes, had a 2-9 record in
1997 in football. They hired Mark Whipple, and with virtually the same
team, UMass won the national championship in I-AA football the very next
season. Obviously, excellent coaching and leadership speak for themselves.
Aside from possibly the University of Rhode Island, Northeastern is
the only Division I school in New England which has not won a national
championship in any sport. Furthermore, concerning N.U.'s favorable sixty-seven
percent graduation rate among student-athletes, it is my understanding
that this rate is one of the lowest among all Division I schools in New
England. Finally, in U.S. News and World Report's Best College Ratings,
I counted at least sixty big-time university programs in football and basketball
which have superior academic programs and reputations compared to Northeastern's.
I respectfully disagree with one N.U. official who stated in your article
that, overall, the athletics program is "on the right course."
I further disagree with this official's attitude that Northeastern should
not be chasing the "bigs." Given the aforementioned U.S. News
analysis, it is quite clear that Northeastern University could take a major
lesson from these big-time programs in terms of academics and the benefits
that honest and reputable big-time sports can bring to a university. As
a very dedicated N.U. sports fan and supporter over the years, I am sad
to see the incompetence of these major men's programs and the lack of immediate
steps being taken to correct this most glaring problem. I can only hope
that someone at the university will show the insight and courage to reverse
this cycle of losing and develop the men's hockey, football, and basketball
programs and make them once and for all programs that the university, the
students, and the alumni can be proud of.
Christopher W. DiSenso, LA'75
Grafton, Massachusetts
Daniel Penrice points out that N.U. football has had its problems persuading
potential recruits to spend their college careers playing in the humble
precincts of Parsons Field. As a recruit, I requested a visit to Parsons,
but was instead shown a beautiful but faded architect's drawing of a new
football facility slated for completion in "a couple years."
My first visit during camp the following summer was disappointing. I mentioned
the picture to a senior teammate. He and other upperclassmen laughed. Many
classes of recruits had been shown the same picture. If N.U. wishes to
break the "tradition of mediocrity" in Division I football, Parsons
will need to be put to rest. Good luck, coach Gallup. My best to [Director
of Sports Information] Jack Grinold.
Ray Querey, BA'86
Olney, Maryland
Querey was a captain of the football team in 1985.
"Gaining Ground" was most informative. Having been associated
with N.U. athletics for close to fifty years and having the privilege to
know many of the athletes from the 1930s and '40s, I wish to send my congratulations
to all the student-athletes, coaches, tutors, trainers, facility workers,
administrators, and others who are working so hard to bring the Huskies
to greater heights on all fronts.
The accompanying article, "A Different Kind of Co-op: N.U.'s Professional
Athletes," by Mike Kilduff, did not include a number of great N.U.
student-athletes who graduated and played at the professional level. These
include Sid Watson, BA'56, Pittsburgh Steelers; Bob Cappadona, BA'67, Patriots
and Buffalo Bills; Darin Jordan, AS'88, who earned a Super Bowl ring with
the San Francisco Forty-Niners; and Mike Williams, BA'90, Miami Dolphins.
In addition, Art Chisholm, BA'62, played with the Boston Bruins in the
early '60s. Thanks again for a great article on N.U. athletics.
Phil McCabe Sr., LA'63, MEd'67
Pembroke, Massachusetts
McCabe, who lettered in football 1959 61, was dean of admissions
and director of alumni affairs, retiring in 1997.
Huntington History
"Operatic Intrigue" in the November 1999 issue made for some
intriguing reading for me, as I recalled the demolition of the Boston Opera
House in 1958, my senior year. As a commuting student from Peabody, Massachusetts,
I walked between the St. Stephen Street parking lot and the quadrangle
twice a day-literally in the venerable shadow of the opera house. I remember
the excitement that accompanied the coming and going of performing companies,
as paraphernalia in the form of stage scenery, props, etc., was unloaded
and reloaded from/to the huge trucks squeezed in along the sidewalks. Large,
eye-catching posters on the redbrick opera house walls announced the latest
playbill.
The demolition process was a fascinating demonstration in destruction.
The windows of the apartment house across Opera Place (it was called by
that name even back then) were boarded up with plywood before the first
thuds of the wrecking ball were heard, to protect against demolition shrapnel,
and with good reason. At first, there were the pings from fragments of
exploding brick and masonry. Later, as the riveted-steel framework came
under assault when it stood free of the masonry curtain walls, I remember
hearing the eerie whine of rivets spinning through the air like rifle bullets-unleashed
as structural members parted in milliseconds, popping the rivets under
the tremendous destructive forces of the wrecking ball.
A huge, brick, Bastille-like fortress of a building-Boston Storage Warehouse-stood
to the south of the opera house. It was still standing when I graduated.
Admittedly, the warehouse didn't have the upper-crust cultural appeal of
the Boston Opera House, but the leveling of this monstrosity had to be
a project of enormous proportions!
Peter Kushkowski, E'58
Haddam, Connecticut
Tales of the City
I read with great interest your article, which was very well written,
regarding "Building a New Northeastern" [September 1999]. It
really hit home because in 1959 and beyond, I had trouble finding a good
place to stay. In fact, that was probably the major hurdle of my five years
at N.U. I came from New Salem, Massachusetts, and so was seventy-five miles
from home. Also, I co-oped in Springfield, so I couldn't take a residence
full time. I started out at a fraternity, but soon discovered they were
not well supervised and that my grades were suffering. I then moved to
the YMCA along with a college classmate. It certainly was not a real friendly
or safe place, so we rented an apartment, but could not get anyone to take
it over when we co-oped, so we had to move back to the YMCA.
The next four years were a combination of the YMCA and apartments. (Fellow
1959 grads Al Desrosiers, Jim Hanson, Sam Richards, and Ken Black will
remember the night we were all studying together in a newly rented apartment,
when four rather rough and inebriated men stormed it because they thought
we were living with three women who had run a rather interesting business
in that apartment prior to our rental. The next day we decided to find
other accommodations.) I went home many weekends because of my living situation
and always regretted missing out on a great part of college life. I applaud
the action now being taken.
I take great pride in N.U. and always felt my education was second to
none.
Allan B. Bixby, BA'59
Sebastian, Florida
Apostolic Adviser
An article on co-op experiences [Co-op Chronicles] caused me to reflect
upon my own co-op, which I call "The Heavenly Advice of a Co-op Adviser."
I have told this story in several churches in our area.
During my third year at Northeastern, having completed three co-op assignments
with Texas Instruments in Attleboro, Massachusetts, I decided that electrical
engineering was definitely not for me. So I went to my co-op adviser and
asked if he could help me decide what I needed to do with the rest of my
life. He advised me to take a battery of tests to help determine what course
of study I should focus on. I can't tell you how excited I was over getting
some answers. I was desperate. Several weeks passed slowly; then the co-op
adviser gave me a call and scheduled an appointment. I dashed out of West
dorm into his office to find my answers. With a veiled smile on his face,
he handed me the results. The professional job category that matched up
with my skills and personality was a . . . mortician! Egads! You could
have swept me up right then. My life was over!
However, some grace came with the news. The adviser told me that the
job category per se was not important. "Thank God," I replied.
"Yes," he continued. "I would like to make a suggestion."
"Please do!" I said. "What we really think you ought to
do is focus on full-time Christian ministry," he said.
Well, that was not much help. By that point in my education, I had learned
that I did not have the commitment, the piety, the spirituality, or the
education for that profession. Besides, ministers don't make any money!
That was definitely out of the question!
As I reflect back, I am amazed at how accurate that analysis became.
In 1977, I helped found a new company, called Insurdata, that supplies
software and related network infrastructure support to clients in the insurance
industry. In 1997, UICI purchased Insurdata. That purchase gave me the
opportunity to pursue a career in full-time Christian ministry. During
the last two years, I turned all of my responsibilities over to other managers.
In September 1999, I started my final semester at Southern Methodist University's
Perkins School of Theology, serving as pastor-intern at Valley Ridge Community
Church in Colleyville, Texas. Valley Ridge is a new church with a congregation
of approximately 150 people. I will graduate in June 2000 and start another
new church in the Dallas area.
I don't even know the name of the co-op adviser who planted that seed
in my brain. But I am certainly grateful. Clearly, he went a bit on the
edge to make that suggestion, since Northeastern has no school of theology.
But he took the risk and it only took thirty-two years for me to execute
that plan. God works in mysterious ways!
Doug Freeman, Ed'69
Richardson, Texas
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