. . . Fall 1998Michigan Today
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Dear Readers:
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John Woodford
Executive Editor
Readers Catch Fish Error
I ENJOYED the article, although as a fisheries biologist I would make one correction. On page 13 in the yellow highlight area, "Cooler of bluegills," these are definitely not bluegill. Although the photo is small this appears to be a cooler of walleye. If you talk to Mr. Stark you can tell him next time he is driving through the west end of the UP he can look me up at the Crystal Falls District Office of the DNR and I will give him some fishing spots to try.
Larry Stark replies: A friend of mine surfed the web looking for an answer to your question and came up with the following sites:Piscatorial Pleasures claims that "The gods do not deduct from one's life the hours spent fishing" is an ancient Chinese proverb. Car Culture On the Road attributes it to Izaak Walton. Yet another site calls it a Babylonian proverb (I'd have to see the clay tablets to buy that one).
Larry Stark did not misidentify the fish. Michigan Today attached labels meant for unused photos. The cooler is full of walleye and the other mislabeled photo features a shovelnose sturgeon. Thanks also to readers Tom Roelofs '78 Civil Engineering of Plymouth Township, Michigan, and F. Cichocki '76 PhD of Boca Raton, Florida for correcting the errors--Ed.
YOUR REVIEW of The Last Jewish Shortstop in America (Summer 1998) contains a Yiddish expression, schmuck, that is considered exceptionally vulgar. If you check a Yiddish dictionary or Leo Rosten's Joys of Yiddish, you will find the word is obscene and, literally translated, means penis--a word not lightly used by those who remember growing up with the language--or one I would expect to find in a book review in Michigan Today.
The hero, David, may be a schlemiel (fool) or a schlimazel (unlucky). He probably isn't a shmendrick (too weak or inept to succeed), because you said he eventually does become a mensh (someone of good character).
Yiddish is a language full of colorful expressions; it isn't dying as was thought by many a few years ago. Its misuse certainly can cause embarrassment or, in David's case, character assassination.
Barbara Alpem '58, '62 MA
Troy, Michigan
We apologize for using a term whose English equivalents would clearly have been inappropriate.--Ed.
The e-mail address for responding to the Campus Plan Project is campusplan@umich.edu. The comments will be read by Venturi, Scott Brown and Assoc. (the Campus Plan consultants); Robert Beckly (chair of the Campus Plan Advisory Committee) and Anne Knott, special counsel to the president.--Ed.
Credit Due for 'Let's Go Blue'?
THE SUMMER issue included a letter discussing the origin of the "Let's Go Blue" cheer. I have long claimed to have originated in the 1950s the "Lets Go Blue" cheer that we hear at every U-M football, basketball and hockey game. Attached is an article on this subject from the old Go Blue magazine, plus press notices. It night be fun to challenge your readers for any earlier documentation as to the origin of "Let's Go Blue."
Richard Harper'50 BBA,'51 MBA
Beverly Hills, Michigan
Alumnus Harper enclosed an undated Detroit Free Press column by Bob Talbert and also a photo Harper and two friends posing behind a "Let's Go Blue" sign at the 1955 football game at Minnesota. He also included a clip from a 1954 Columbus, Ohio, newspaper describing Harper's "Let's Go Blue" banner held aloft at the OSU game that year. Talbert said Harper "probably started" the cheer. The musical phrase accompanying the cheer was written later, Talbert wrote, "in the Dennis Franklin era", by tuba player Joe Carl, according to fellow tubaist Dan Iannaci.--Ed.
At that time, M-Club members would sit together at various athletic events to support the members of other varsity teams. We even had a special M-Club section at the basketball games, then played in Yost Field House. Members of the athletic teams were quite supportive of all of the other teams during the 1946-51 period.
During the 1947 baseball season, I began cheering, "Go Blue" and "Let's Go Blue" as an alternative to the lengthier cheers, such as "locomotives" in use at the time. The brief "Go Blue" and "Let's Go Blue" could be cheered while batters came to the plate without disrupting the flow of the game.
Other members of our M-Club section picked up the cheers, and we had quite a loud, supportive group. Next fall, I continued the cheer in support of the 1947 National Champion football team. And during the 1947-48 basketball season, our M-Club cheering section rooted the team to Michigan's first Big 10 basketball championship in many years with lots of "Let's Go Blue's."
After graduating in 1951, I was away from Michigan for several years. When I returned for a football game in the early 1960s, I was astounded to hear thousands of Michigan fans chanting, "Let's Go Blue." I have been a football season ticket holder since 1965, and during that time I have felt a sense o pride each time I've heard the Michigan fans cheer the "Let's Go Blue" I first cheered in the Spring of 1947.
Ward Connerly, a highly publicized African-American opponent of affirmative action and a regent of the University of California, spoke on campus early this year.--Ed.
President Lee Bollinger replies: Thank you for your Letter of April 22. I always appreciate hearing from alumni. I am forwarding a copy of your letter to Michigan Today. The central issue at stake in the lawsuit filed by the Center for Individual Rights against the University of Michigan is of great significance to higher education, to our University community and to me, personally. Since its founding, the University has been committed to educating a wide range of students. Throughout our history, we have aspired to provide a first-rate education to a diverse student population.
The University has taken a variety of steps to achieve this aspiration. We vigorously recruit talented minority high school students from Michigan and throughout the country. And we take race into account as a factor in our admission decisions. Yes, race can affect an outcome when determining whether to admit a minority applicant. This use of race is lawful, and it is the way we achieve a diverse student population.
The University has one system of admissions, within which every applicant is evaluated, using the same criteria. All of the criteria and taken into account in the case of every student. An applicant's high school academic record is overwhelmingly the most important factor in an admissions decision. In addition to race, other criteria include test scores, residency, being from an underrepresented Michigan county, the quality of a high school program, and the extent to which an applicant has taken advantage of the challenges it offers, alumni relationships, essay quality, personal achievement, whether the student comes from an educational environment that is socioeconomicaly disadvantaged, and athletic ability.
Although race is a significant factor in our admissions, neither race nor any other characteristic for which an applicant receives extra consideration overwhelms the significance of the high school GPA. No one is admitted unless we believe the student will be able to do the work that is required to graduate.
There are many strongly held views around the issue of using race in admissions, and there will be disagreements. I believe that a racially diverse student body is fundamental to achieving our educational objectives. It is essential for the preparation of students to function constructively and thrive in an increasingly multiracial and multicultural world. For this reason, I am prepared to defend the University's policies.
Although we may disagree, I would like to thank you for sharing your views on this very important matter
P.S. Jil was the artist who painted the Block "M" at Michigan Stadium above the outside entrance to the tunnel back in 1973-74, when she was engaged to a U-M football player. We're sure glad to see that it's still there today.
It all began with the passage of Title IX US Code when the University realized that it had to raise more funds in order to comply with Title IX. Today, I will not purchase "M" items if they have the Nike logo on them.
My last pedagogic nit pertains to the nuances inherent in the generalizations about Jewish athletes. While I am familiar with some of Dan Dworsky's athletic and architectural accomplishments I have no knowledge of his experience as a Jew in that era of polite anti-Semitism. The Academy Award winning Gentlemen's Agreement depicts the upper middle class version before widespread cognizance of the Holocaust rendered the polite end of the anti-Semitic spectrum less acceptable. But your readers shouldn't be led to believe there weren't Jewish athletes in that era before African Americans had access. (Organized sports pioneered an integration path followed by civil society. Jackie Robinson preceded Rosa Parks.)
While Jewish football players may not have been as frequent as Jewish boxers and basketball players, they were not unique in the immigrant and first generation population. During my boyhood in the 1930s, there was a year in which Jews held half of all the world boxing championships. That is documentable, as are the several years when Jews were more than one-third of the boxing championships.
Vol. 52 of the 1948 Michigan Ensian celebrates that year's team along with all Maize and Blue All-Americans. They begin with Willie Heston in 1903 and included my contemporary Merv Pregulman, who was Jewish. The legendary Bennie to Ben passing combination was a Jewish All-American named Friedman passing to Oosterbaan (later Coach Oosterbaan). Was Harry Newman Jewish?
The immigrant American experience has never been easy, with three major paths out of ethnic ghettos: education, sports and crime. Again, thanks for the memories.
Saul Isaac Harrison'48 MD
Pacific Palisades, California
I SEEM to have missed something in "Samurais of Summer." The author opens by describing her motivation to investigate the origin of a suit of Japanese armor displayed at the University of Michigan Museum of Art. She then quotes the Michigan Daily of October 16, 1929 as indicating that there were two sets of armor presented to the Michigan team by the University of Meiji. The article eventually explains that one set was retained by Fielding Yost and later donated to the University by Mrs. Yost. OK. But what happened to the second suit of armor? Did Ms. Yoshimura try to trace this one? If she did what did she find? If she didn't attempt to locate it, why was that?
A.R. Fredette'57 BBA
Tallahassee, Florida
Valerie Noe Yoshimura replies: The question of the "second set of armor" remains an enigma. The University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology does own another suit of armor, which I examined in consultation with Carla Sinopoli and Lars Fogelin of the Museum. This second suit, however, was not donated until July 9, 1956, much later than the original to Japan and four years after Mrs. Fielding Yost's "donation." Nor is it known whether the donors, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph K Sano, had any affiliation with the U-M baseball team. Unfortunately, the location of the Japanese saddle is also unknown.
REALLY ENJOYED article on Jim Tobin's life of Ernie Pyle [Ernie Pyle's War reviewed in Spring '98 issue]. Sure brings back memories of another time. I happened to see a flash of fire out of a hydraulic pump on bomb bay wall of B-24 while ferrying back to States from Valley, Wales, to Gander, Newfoundland. No chute; no room for it. Grabbed C02 extinguisher, put out fire and pulled wires while straddling 10,000 feet on catwalk. No brakes in Azores, but we rolled to a stop and were towed in to base. Kissed ground, got a shot for black plague, went into town and got smashed.
Used to wake up dreaming about the miracle for years. But are we not all miracles every day, with gratitude for another day? One day at a time. Cheers to Liberal Arts. It's the only way to fly!
. . . Fall 1998
Michigan Today