River Campus Starts 5th Season

Southeast Missouri State University’s River Campus is kicking off its fifth season from 1-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17. Here’s the schedule from The Southeast Missourian.

First handball court west of Mississippi

I’m pretty sure I was never inside St. Vincent’s College Building. The thing I remember most about it was the handball court that you’d see on your way to the Mississippi River Traffic Bridge. A report filed with the National Register of Historic Places said the court was constructed in 1843 and was supposed to have been the first handball court west of the Mississippi River. (Ever notice how many things bear that moniker – First Whatever West of the Mississippi River?)

I know there was a lot of controversy about the University acquiring the property, but in the long run, I think this is the highest and best use of the land and buildings. It’s better than letting it sit idle until it had to be demolished. It’s a nice way to introduce travelers to the city when they come across the bridge, too.

River Campus Gallery of Photos

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery.

 

SEMO Looks the Same

It’s nice to see that some things in Cape remain more or less the same. Academic Hall has undergone a bit of a facelift, but it looks pretty much the same as it did in around 1966.

Academic Hall in the mid-1960s

The trees are a bit different and there are parking meters there today, but a student from the 60s would have no trouble identifying the building, even though the photo was taken from the parking lot behind it instead of the more traditional front view.

Foreign Languages Building today

There are a few more bushes and it’s shot in a different season, but the Foreign Languages Building looks like a copy of itself. Even the downspout on the side looks identical.

Foreign Language Building then

I see my old 1959 Buick LaSabre station wagon in the shot. I need that car back. Since I left West Palm Beach on June 21, I’ve driven my Odyssey Minivan 3,278 miles, requiring 15 fill-ups at an average price of $50 per tank.

I was supposed to head back Friday so I’d be back in town in time to hop a plane with Wife Lila for a vacation trip to Seattle (because that’s as far as you can get away from Florida and still stay in the continental U.S.) Day before yesterday, a couple of warning lights flickered on, then went off. Since it’s 1,100 miles back to Florida, I took it into the local friendly Honda dealer for a checkup. I’m not being sarcastic when I say “friendly folks.” I like the service I’ve gotten from them in the past.

The bad news came back that I need a new center brakelight. And to replace the cabin air filter. And a new catalytic converter. And a new transmission. New transmission? Say what?

“I can’t in good conscience tell you that you could make it back to Florida with the error code that the computer is showing,” the nice man from Honda said. The new trannie would cost about $5K. If I did everything they recommended, the total bill would come to about $7,500. Plus tax. The car’s got 144,360 miles on it. That doesn’t make sense.

Want a good deal on a Honda Odyssey?

So, after weighing options, I’m leaving the car at Mother’s, flying back to West Palm Beach, hopping another plane to Seattle, seeing what 40-degree temperatures feel like, getting in Wife Lila’s car and driving back to Cape to pick up my bike and computer gear. By that time, we’ll figure out what we’re going to do to keep us a two-car family.

In the meantime, is anyone looking for a 2000 Honda Odyssey with good air, new tires, a few dings, comfortable seats and a bad transmission? I’ll make them a good deal.

What happened to the Buick, you ask? I drove it until I left for college. It was a bit of a challenge at the end. Reverse went out. With practice, you get pretty good at figuring out how to not need to back up. Dad finally gave it to one of his mechanics to haul firewood on his farm. I wonder if it’s still kicking around? I got in the habit of never needing to back up. I could make it work.

Do These Photos Say Cape?

I have a friend who was looking for some stock photos of Cape to use as headers on a web page. I started poking around and came up with these old and new photos that I think capture some of the spirit of the town.

The biggest challenge was finding pictures that would fit the exact format shape – a skinny horizontal.

Photographers HATE to shoot for shape

Photographers HATE going out to shoot for shape. We always figured that was a sign that the page designer was too lazy to work with the most story-telling photos on deadline. He wanted to dummy the page early so he could go home early.

Photographers, of course, believe that every photograph is perfectly composed. Some would express that conceit by printing their photos “full frame” with black borders that indicated that the picture had not been cropped. (Guilty as charged.)

Of course, as a guy who had to do his own layouts, I found that sometimes cropping the photo made the page look a lot better. It was OK if I did it; it was a mortal sin if someone else did it.

Photo gallery

Since I’m not exactly sure what my friend is looking for, I’ve pulled together photos that you’ve seen before and some that were in the pipeline. I’m curious to see what you think best says “Cape Girardeau.”

If she uses any, I’ll post the website address. As always, click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery.

 

1967 SEMO Graduation

I see that Saturday was SEMO’s graduation day. The Missourian’s reported that Dr. Fred Janzow, vice provost and dean of the School of Graduate Studies, delivered the commencement address to the 1,129 students receiving degrees. Dr. Janzow will retire in June after 35 years at Southeast, where he began his career as a biology teacher.

Dr. Janzow, The Missourian said, told the audience “Change is inevitable, unexpected and unpredictable. It creates new possibilities for our own life. You have been well prepared by the faculty and staff here to take advantage of these possibilities.”

Dr. Charles J. McClain spoke in 1967

Dr. Charles J. McClain, president of Hillboro’s Jefferson Junior College, addressed the 204 State College students and a crowd of about 1,300 at the October 1967 graduation.

One of the students was Andrew B. McLean, above, a fellow who would be my best man two years later. We met while working on The Capaha Arrow and The Sagamore. I don’t recall if he was much of a student, but he had memorized every Bill Cosby album ever made and could do Bill Cosby better than Bill Cosby.

He was NOT invited to do any of his routines as part of the commencement exercises.

A student must know his instructor

Dr. McClain made some interesting points. He said that excellence in education can only be maintained when a student knows his instructor: “A common [approach] is to group students together and attempt to stuff their minds as if they were a gut. I categorically reject this is sound educational practice.”

I don’t know your names

College today cannot afford to have instructors who stand before a class and say, “I don’t know your names now. I won’t know them at the end of the semester. And, furthermore, I don’t want to know them,” he warned.

Colleges face challenges

Looking, accurately, into his crystal ball, he said that each American faces the stark reality of re-eduction three or four times during his working years because of rapid changes. “To produce leaders and other highly trained persons to carry forward our civilization, higher education, once considered a privilege of the elite, now becomes a necessity for all.”

Look to your left, look to your right

Dr. McClain said that he couldn’t think of a worse statement to make during freshman orientation than, “Look to your left, look to your right. By next semester, one of you will be missing.”

I found this to be perfectly ironic, because that’s exactly what we freshman were told while we were sitting in Houck Stadium for our orientation.

“Perhaps our approach to education is wrong,” he continued. “Contrast this to one used by the Army, where every effort is made to make each individual a good soldier.”

Educators, he said, must devote more time to students and the learning process rather than mere accumulation of knowledge. “No one would argue railroad owners once knew how to run a railroad. However, if these owners had been thinkers and sensitive to change, they would now own the airlines.”

Dr. Scully’s advice

Dr. Mark F. Scully, State College president, told the graduates, “The reputation of the college now rests with you.” He said in fulfilling this responsibility the first thing graduates can do is “go out and do a good job. You’ve been well trained.” The second thing is to influence other young men and women to attend State College, he added.

The cute girl congratulating Andy McLean is Lila Perry, who would become Lila Steinhoff in 1969. (I’d tell you the date, but I never can remember it.)