ARTICLES ON THIS PAGE:
(Today through April 2nd)
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1. NEW Announcements.
2. NEW article: CNC's First Asian Student: Motokazu ("Mark") Tsugiyama.
3. Lightly revised 2014 article: Recollections, by James D. (Jim) Lowell, M.D.
4. How Mr. Usry Faced the Prospect of His Death, by Dr. Mario Mazzarella (A Memories Book Bit).
5. The Historical Importance of Chris's Crier : Issue 5 (Vol. 1, No. 5, dated May 4, 1962).
6. NEW cartoons: COVID-19 in March 2020.
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You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you anywhere, if only out of curiosity.
Colin L. Powell
Four-star General; former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff
Born April 5, 1937
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I'm tall when I'm young and I'm short when I'm old. What am I?
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1. 50th REUNION & COMMENCEMENT POSTPONED UNTIL JUNE: The 50th Reunion of the CLASS OF 1970 is now scheduled for Saturday, JUNE 20th. CNU's Commencement is now scheduled for Sunday, JUNE 21st. You will be kept up to date via emails from the Office of Alumni Relations, emails from Dr. Jane Chambers, and announcements on this website. Official announcements re CNU during the COVID pandemic are also posted on the Facebook pages of Christopher Newport University and Christopher Newport University Alumni.
2. UPDATE ON CLASS OF 1970 STUDENTS WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR: Of the 42 1970 alumni we've been looking for, 20 have thus far been located. They are, in Group 1-- Robert Shelton BOYCE, Adele BROWN, David P. CAMPBELL, John Dee CLARK III, Lucy Anne Hudson COOK, Becky CRENSHAW, Donald M. HALL, Annette M. HENNESSY, & Thomas HOGGE; in Group 2--Barbara HEWIN, Linda M. HOWARD, Connie L. Journell TURLINGTON, Michael LABEAU, & Beverley W. LEE, Jr.; in Group 3--James Thomas MINGEE, Billy NEEDHAM, Susie Patrick WHITE, & Jayne ROGERS; and in Group 4--Matthew TIERNEY & Carolyn Bosta WARRICK. The Alumni Relations staff, using an expensive new search program, found recent mailing addresses for most of these people and will continue to look for others.
3. ATTENTION FIRST DECADERS WHO ARE ARMY VETERANS: The ARMY section of Honoring CNC's First Decade Veterans is being revised to include more FD veterans and provide additional information (e.g., military honors, pictures, deceased veterans). The revision will add veterans not covered in the initial article who later sent their information--e.g., Norman COVERT, Jay DUNN, John HUGHES, Bill MANN, John NORMAN, Roman SCHENKKAN, Monte WHITE--& YOU, if you are not in the first version. It will also include service details about deceased Army veterans such as Bob ARTMAN, John FLYNN, & John Ward BANE.
Our website tab First Decade Veterans (left margin, near top) has the original article and lists of veterans' names. If YOU should be included there, then email your info & (if possible) at least one photo of you in your Army uniform to Dr. Jane at cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com. ASAP.
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CNC's First Asian Student:
Motokazu ("Mark") Tsugiyama
by A. Jane Chambers
(Includes material from Chris's Crier)
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The first student at CNC who was from another nation was a young man from Tokyo, Japan named Motokazu ("Moto") Tsugiyama (pronounced Sue-gee-ah-ma). He arrived in Los Angeles in 1960, at age eighteen, explored America for awhile (especially Washington, DC, and the Virginia Peninsula's historical locales), lived in Buckroe with a local junior high school teacher, took an English course at Newport News High, and then attended Hampton High for a year (1961-62 session). In September of 1962, at age twenty, he entered CNC as a freshman, telling his classmates to call him "Mark."
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| 1964 Trident portrait of Motokazu Tsugiyama, identified as "MarkTsugiyama." |
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Moto ("Mark") immediately joined the staff of CNC's first student newspaper, Chris's Crier, which in October published an article about him entitled "A Portrait of Mark" (Vol. 2, No. 1 [October 23, 1962], p. 3). After a short introductory paragraph, the unnamed reporter wisely let Mark himself write the remainder of the biographical article, quoted below.
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In his second year at CNC (1963-64 session), Moto continued being engaged in student activities, this time working on the staff of the first edition of the CNC yearbook, the Trident. In the above photo, from page 52 of it, he is standing at the right end of the second row of students. He had to return to Japan in 1964, after his two years at our young college, but at some point he not only returned to America, as he had hoped, but remained here.
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| In his 1964 listing as a CNC First Decader, Moto stated that he had a successful twenty-years career in international corporate management, particularly in New York City, before going into NYC real estate. He became an agent with Prudential Douglas Elliman, which specializes in multi-million-dollar homes for the extremely rich (typical price tags: $55,OOO,OOO per home). He lives in Bayside, NY, one of the most expensive sections of Queens, and is a fine art connoisseur with an eclectic collection of 19th and 20th century paintings and sculptures. He attended our 2011 First Decaders Reunion at CNU. I found this fairly recent photo of him on the internet.
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Published March 20, 2020.
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Recollections
by Dr. James D. (Jim) Lowell, M.D.
In August of 1965, still a boy of 18, I had completed a tour of active duty in the U. S. Coast Guard and was looking forward to beginning studies at Christopher Newport College. As I recall that time, a warm melancholy comes over me, realizing that nearly all the icons of my youth are gone, and so are the instructors who so influenced me during that first year of college.
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I decided to major in chemistry. Jane Byrn (photo L below) was my chemistry instructor. Years later I would pursue post graduate education at her alma mater, The University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Instruction in botany and zoology was by Fred Brewer (middle below) . I remember his gentle and soothing southern accent. I worked in the library under Flora Gill (below R) , whom I remember as a very proper Southern Lady who showed concern for all her coworkers. The photos below are from the 1965 Trident yearbook, pages 16 and 13.
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| James D. (Jim) Lowell during his Coast Guard Boot Camp days. Author’s photo. |
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"New Math” had become the rage while I was in the Coast Guard, so I was totally lost in Algebra-Trigonometry, and Calculus with Analytical Geometry, both taught by Daisy Bright. The picture here of her helping a student (1966 Trident, page 3) is typical. Even her imposing physique could not hide the kindliness of this loving woman. I’m certain I was a beneficiary of that kindness in receiving a passing mark in both courses.
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And then, there was Dr. Sanderlin, who influenced me more than any other instructor that first year. His courses in English grammar, composition, and literature (English 101 & 102) were among the most demanding courses I would ever take in college. We could be assigned to read a novel for class followed by a quiz which might ask us to recall the color of the eyes of one of the characters mentioned only in the first chapter. We were required to read and be quizzed upon material in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, a copy of which was in the CNC library. This assignment was especially difficult for me. Unknown to me at the time, I am dyslexic, and I have always been and remain an extremely slow reader. I had to subscribe to the paper via the mail, which was not a small financial burden at that time.
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| Dr. Sanderlin lecturing, perhaps striking fear in the hearts of freshmen. 1966 Trident, p. 49. |
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| A rare sight on the CNC campus: Dr. Sanderlin coatless. In or out of the classroom, he was often jovial. 1972 Trident, p. 116. |
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| Dr. Sanderlin would not accept any excuses for late papers, some of which he detailed the first day of class. These included “that time of the month” and writers’ block. There were certain major errors on theme papers which earned students an automatic F, including any three of these in one paper—dangling participles, improper use of its and it’s, inartistic sentence fragments and comma splices. He helped me considerably in grammar, however. At some of the many schools I attended as a military dependent, I had learned English and not American punctuation. He recognized my problem and explained the differences between the two systems for me. Of all the grades I received that year, I am proudest of the two B grades I received in Dr. Sanderlin’s English classes.
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Decades after that first year of college, I would visit Dr. Sanderlin in Norfolk. We reminisced over those early CNC years, swapped sea stories about our time in the service, brought each other up to date on our lives, and exchanged ideas on multiple things. I felt honored to address my former professor by his first name. We kept in contact with each other via e-mail following my first visit. I offered to drive Steve to the initial (2011) First Decaders Reunion. Steve declined, and died before the event and before I might visit him one more time. I miss him.
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James D. (Jim) Lowell first attended CNC in 1965-66 while also serving in the US Coast Guard. He earned an RN in 1970 from the Riverside School of Professional Nursing (the first male in the RSPN program), a BS in Psychology in 1972 from CNC, and an MD in 1977 from The Medical College of Virginia at VCU. Now retired from his medical career, Jim lives in Addison, TX, with his wife, Carol. They have four children and four grandchildren.
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| A recent photo of the author, Dr. James D. Lowell, M.D., provided by him. |
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published originally on July 11, 2014.
Published again (lightly revised) on March 20, 2020.
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A Memories Book Bit:
How Mr. Usry Faced the Prospect of
His Death
Dr. Mario D. Mazzarella's Account on pages 216 - 217 *
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A man of unostentatious faith, he faced the prospect of his death with calm and equanimity. His health had not been good for years. Forced to give up playing tennis, his strength was not robust. Returning from a medical exam, he told me, "Well, the doctor told me, 'Don't go takin' out no long magazine subscriptions.'" He said it as a joke, without a trace of self-pity. Perhaps feeling that he might not survive to the end of the spring 1971 semester, he prepared his exams in advance so they could be administered to his classes. It was unhappily provident; he died a short while before the semester ended.
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| Photo in the 1970 Trident, p. 26. |
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He endowed a small scholarship in the name of his sister, Bo-Peep Usry, and left his home to the College, which sold it and used the proceeds. Room 214 in the now-demolished old student center was named "The Usry Room." A portrait of him was commissioned and hung there. The twinkling image of his eyes was faithful enough, though I thought it failed to display the touch of vinegar that helped make his personality so delightful. He was a founding stone of flesh and blood that helped to make Christopher Newport College what it was and is. It is a lasting tribute to his dedication, to his efforts, to his love. He should not be forgotten.
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* "Remembering Robert Madison 'Pat' Usry: Professor Extraordinaire," in Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade, by A. Jane Chambers, Rita C. Hubbard, & Lawrence B. Wood, Jr. (Hallmark, 2008). To order book: Send check for $20 made out to Jane Chambers to: Dr. Jane Chambers, 15267 Candy Island Lane, Carrollton, VA 23314. Money (minus mailing cost) is donated to the First Decaders' Treasury.
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
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Published March 6, 2020
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The Historical Importance of Chris's Crier :
Issue 5
(Vol. 1, No. 5, dated May 4, 1962)
by A. Jane Chambers
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Issue 4 of Chris's Crier (April 19, 1962) announced the date (May 7), time, and place of CNC's first Student Government Association election, the four SGA officers to be elected, and the number of Honor Council members to be elected (4 male and 4 female). Announced also were the eligibility rules and the fact that there would be a special campaign edition of Chris's Crier before the election.
Issue 5 (May 4, 1962), the campaign edition ("Extra!"), was also the final issue of Chris's Crier for the academic year 1961-62. It was very short, with only one page of text and two pages of hand-drawn campaign ads. Column 1 of page 1 listed the candidates for the SGA offices and gender-separated Honor Councils, then gave a reasoned argument for Howard Clark for both SGA Vice President and Honor Council member. Column 2 argued for a slate of candidates running on Jim Cornette's ticket.
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The May 7 election required a second voting, as explained in the caption to the above Times-Herald photograph in the May 16,1962 edition. Jim Cornette, who had run unchallenged for SGA President, easily won that post, and Howard Clark, whose supporters had campaigned well for him in Chris's Crier, defeated Cornette's VP running mate, Tommy Sellers. However, a run-off election had to be held the following week to decide who would be the SGA Secretary (Charlotte Anderson won) and Treasurer (Pat Baldwin won).
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Page 1
Chris's Crier -5th Edition
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Page 2
Chris's Crier - 5th Edition
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Page 3
Chris's Crier - 5th Edition
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published March 6, 2020.
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Dr. Jane Chambers, Editor and Head Writer
Ron Lowder Sr., Webmaster
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