Engineered Memory

I thoroughly enjoyed the feature article on Andrew Viterbi (“He’s Got Algorithm,” Spring 2009, p. 30).

I am a BSME (building science/mechanical engineering) ’58 graduate, and the article triggered memories of the Sputnik launch in the summer of ’57 and the return to fall classes for my final year. On opening day of classes, professors told us that the dean and faculty decided we were to have the most intense year of studies yet encountered at USC. They were committed to keeping USA technologically ahead of the Soviet Union or anyone else; we were to be the best-trained engineers found anywhere in the world. Many of us seniors had hoped for an easy slide to the finish line, but this was not to be. In fact our Dynamics of Machinery professor flunked about 30 percent of my classmates that year because they didn’t meet his standards for a well-educated engineer. They couldn’t graduate until they passed his class. Obviously this attitude has prevailed ever since, thanks to then-dean [Robert E.] Vivian and men of vision like Dr. Viterbi and his JPL associates, plus all the engineering deans who have guided the school to the top of the heap.

The USC engineering school was a first-class teaching institution when I was there, and I couldn’t have asked for a better education, as proven by the many productive years I had working for Raytheon. In my company travels I met lots of engineers around the country. Those from USC always were ­talen­ted and professional, and somehow we/they found a way to connect with other Trojans – a wonderful feeling to meet a “friend” when traveling away from home. Now, with the addition of so many specialties and award-winning research programs, the school is ever so much better.

The article noted the launch of the first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1, in the early morning hours of January 31, 1958, from Cape Canaveral. I was home sick with the measles listening to the radio that night (actually on my birthday, Jan. 30, about 10 or 11 p.m. PST) when I heard that the launch had taken place atop a Redstone missile. I, along with the whole nation, was elated to hear the news. I would have been even more pleased had I known the involvement of the doctoral program that permitted Dr. Viterbi to study at USC while working on the Explorer ­project at JPL. Now I know the story, so thanks for the article and thanks, Dr. Viterbi.

Jim Hurst ’58 

GOLETA, ca

Olympic Dreams

What a great article (“The Measure of a Champion” by Matthew Kredell, Spring 2009, p. 21). Don Quarrie truly is one of the kindest and most thoughtful people one will ever meet. I had the pleasure of being on the USC track team with him from 1970 to ’75.

Bob Coffman ’74

GALVESTON, TX

Your assertion in the Spring 2009 issue that “Of the 385 Trojans who have competed in Olympic Games since 1904, 144 have competed for foreign countries” is an amazing ­statistic, but it actually understates the real count. There are others who fall into this ­category but are difficult to trace since they ­didn’t compete for USC as undergraduate athletes. For example, I competed in the 1956 Olympic Games as a member of the Canadian track and field team when I was an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. One of my team members on the 4x400 relay was Murray Cockburn, a USC undergraduate at the time. Subsequently, I acquired a MSE at USC in 1963. So, you can claim that 50 ­percent of the Canadian relay team was ­Trojans and the count mentioned above can be revised to 386 and 145.

Laird Sloan MSE ’63

Sugar land, tx

I’m one of those 385 ­Trojan Olympians. I was an assistant manager of Peter Daland’s ’57 and ’61 swim teams. Peter liked to tease me in 1961: “Wes, how many medals did you win?” “None” was the answer. After the Rome Olym­pics in 1960, my name was missing from the list of USC Olympians. I think Peter was responsible for my consolation prize. And recently my name was mentioned in David Maraniss’s book Rome 1960. I did get an invite to the 1983 homecoming honoring USC Olympians. That was quite a party: a dinner on the floor of the Coliseum with a fireworks finale.

Wesley J. Chowen ’61

denver, co

Wes Chowen was a member of the 1960 and 1964 U.S. Olympic cycling teams, and a 1967 Pan Am Games bronze medal winner.

Print or Pixels?

Per your request on page 8 (Mailbag), Spring 2009 issue, for ideas about an online version of the magazine, in response to feedback about “Watt Now?” In addition to your current publication on www.usc.edu, I would be pleased with either of the following options:

1. Send an e-mail notice that the publication is online as an HTML file (the current format) and discontinue mailing a hard copy.

2. Send an e-mail notice that the publication is online as a PDF file (retaining the layout of the hard copy version) and discontinue mailing a hard copy.

[Readers could print copies of either format from their home printers.]

Option 2 would allow us to see the publication with your professional layout and get all the benefits of the content. It would also mean we could see the entire publication with just one click on a link, rather than having to click on separate links for each separate article, feature, and/or department as we now must do with Option 1.

Either option creates the dilemma that you will need to print some number of hard copy magazines for the few alumni who do not have access to the Internet and/or e-mail or who really want to keep a hard copy version in hand for reading and/or reference. Still, having some number of printed copies, though more expensive per copy to print (due to low volume), would save a lot of trees and should reduce actual expenses for printing and mailing. Option 2 would also require the staff to continue creating an artistic and readable layout that adds value to the total reading experience.

Thanks for asking our opinions. Perhaps a survey for alumni with a variety of options would generate even better data upon which you can base a decision. I, for one, am strongly in favor of Option 2.

Richard Simonds, Ph.D. ’72

san carlos, ca

Bermuda Short

As it pertains to question No. 9 (“Last Word,” Winter 2008, p. 64), I believe if you check a map you will find that Bermuda is not in the Caribbean. It may be in the song, but does not qualify as an answer to the question you asked. However, two other Caribbean destinations are mentioned in the song, Martinique and Montserrat, and should be considered acceptable answers.

Tom Jorjorian MBA ’93 

SMYRNA, GA

Musical Note

Since I’m now living on the North Shore of Boston, I was delayed receiving the Autumn 2008 article on my favorite radio station, KUSC (“Tuning into the Digital Age,” p. 40). For more years than I can remember, I have listened to KUSC and have been not only educated but also amused at the comic antics especially of Alan ­Chapman. (How can I ­forget his Schumann series a couple of years ago called “Everyone Loves Robert”?) ­Naturally, I had missed Rich Capparela (I remember occasionally chatting with him in the mid-’80s when KUSC was located the other side of Figueroa and I was a student working down the hall in the ­Western Trade Adjustment Center), and I was delighted to hear his friendly voice again that first afternoon at 4 p.m. after K-Mozart’s classical programming went the way of the dodo. (And with all their commercial interruptions, I have to say I was not sorry – I wanted KUSC to get all the listeners!)

Since I am now living on the East Coast, I listen more than ever to my friends and teachers at KUSC and am completely de­pendent on their Internet broadcasts ­during my workday. (I’m unimpressed by the Boston stations.)

To all my friends at KUSC, keep up the good work. I don’t know what I would do without you!

Patricia (Travis) Anders ’85   

SOUTH HAMILTON, MA

More News Is Good News

I really enjoy reading USC Trojan Family Magazine, but I would like to see a more ­frequent publication that covers more aspects of the university including new programs, capital project updates, more in-depth features on faculty, students and alumni, ongoing community development news and events across the campuses. Consolidating news and features from the various individual school publications from USC Marshall, USC Viterbi and USC College, to name a few, could give you enough to create a monthly publication that covers a wide range of interesting topics.

Effectively communicating the wide array of interesting and impressive activities and achievements at USC not only strengthens its relationship with members of the Trojan Family, but also could help in improving the perception that USC is a top-notch, cutting-edge university.

Either way, keep up the good work.

John Crocker ’86, MA ’02 

VALENCIA, CA

Trojan Memories

Dora Miller ’05, who attended the USC School of Dentistry from 1901 to 1904, was the mother of my second cousin removed, Beverly Thomas, who is now 87 years of age.

Dora was the daughter of Jacob and Dorothea Miller, two early California ­settlers. Jacob had come from Germany in 1849 as a gold miner and was a horticulturalist of national renown and a rancher in the ­Hollywood area. The couple had six children, five girls and one boy, and strongly believed their children should get at least a college education. Dora and her brother William attended USC’s dental school.

At a family reunion, Beverly told me the story of how her father gave her a special book that belonged to her mother, a yearbook titled Extractions from the dental school class of 1904. [The yearbook was given to USC in January 2009.]

Dora contributed many pen-and-ink sketches to the yearbook, and also was the subject of an allegorical tale written by a fellow dental student expressing love and concern for her. As Beverly Thomas and her ­sisters Pat and Connie write in a letter to the University Archives: “In the early 1900s, the USC dental school was much smaller than it is now. Apparently, the students were like a closely knit family. All were intimately familiar with one another, and enjoyed and appreciated each other’s talents, gifts and personalities. Extractions largely consists of writing authored by classmates.

“The story goes that Dora was in her final year of dental school when she was jilted by her boyfriend, who was also a dental student. She was so heartbroken that she was unable to complete her final year and graduate. In her emotional pain, she began walking north from her father’s ranch near the Hollywood Hills where she lived and walked all the way to Santa Barbara. In the course of this journey, she painted pictures and wrote letters, sending them back to her friends in dental school. Her friends were greatly relieved to know that she was OK. This story is told, along with many others, in Extractions.”

Dora’s plight was followed throughout Los Angeles and was reported in the Los Angeles Times.

Tom Miller Harmon ’69

LONG BEACH, CA

Dora Miller '05 is second from right in this 1889 photo taken in front of the Sackett Hotel, the first hotel built in Hollywood. The letter writer’s grandfather is third from the left, on a bicycle.

SECURITY PACIFIC COLLECTION/LA PUBLIC LIBRARY

For the Record

Jeffrey Gold, an assistant professor of anesthesiology and pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, was incorrectly described on page 17 of the Spring 2009 issue. He is a pediatric psychologist.