PLEASE NOTE:
Due to vacation schedules, the next edition/publication of this website will not appear until February 1st. January 25th.
|
ARTICLES ON THIS PAGE:
(Today through January 24th)
|
1. NEW Announcements.
2. Our Latin Calendar: January.
3. NEW article: The Bell Tower and Exedra in Hoinkes Plaza Link Christopher Newport's Past, Present, and Future.
4. The Riverside Nursing Student and the CNC Instructor with a "Cute Butt," by Beth Shepherd Mollick (a Memories Book Bit).
5. NEW Cartoons: Gary Larson's Medieval Warriors.
|
Listen, Learn, Help, Lead are the keys to excellence in leadership. You have to learn everyday and set high standards for yourself.
Newt Gingrich
50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
(Born 1943)
|
How do you take a sick pig to the hospital?
|
Answer shown at the bottom of this page
|
1. NEXT WEBSITE UPDATE will be FEBRUARY 1.
2. FIRST DECADERS TREASURY: Our treasurer, Sonny Short, reports that a check donation of $100 and a cash donation of $20 now bring our bank balance to $640.02. To avoid monthly service charges, we must keep a balance of $500 in our account at all times. Thank you for your contributions!
3. FIFTIETH REUNION: FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2019 will be the Golden Reunion of the AA degree and non-degree sophomore members of the Class of 1969 ... and possibly also of the Class of 1970. Because CNC was transitioning from 2-year to 4-year status in 1969 and 1970, many sophomores (including some AA degree recipients) would soon be, in 1971, members of the first baccalaureate class. The 50th Reunion of that class will be in May of 2021. The Powers That Rule at CNU will decide whether or not anyone will get TWO reunions. STAY TUNED!
4. NEW TAB: 1st DECADER VETERANS: Located in the left margin of HOME, near the top, this tab has the recent 3-part article honoring & listing our First Decaders who are Military Veterans. Any FD veteran not listed there, or listed but with incomplete or incorrect information, should contact Dr. Jane ASAP at cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com or 757-238-9629 (leave message) to provide the needed information. At some future point, CNU will honor our early veterans, using this information. STAY TUNED!
|
Our Latin Calendar: January
by A. Jane Chambers
January (Latin Januarius: “of” or “pertaining to” Janus) was named in honor of the mythological Roman god Janus, whose festival month was January. Janus literally means “gate” or “passageway.” Janus was the guardian of portals (gates and doorways) and the patron of all beginnings and endings, from those of time (especially new years) to those of events (voyages, marriages, plantings of crops). He had two faces, one looking forward; the other looking backward. He saw past and future, day and night, beginnings and endings. He was greatly revered by the Romans, who erected a major temple to him.
|
Janus was often depicted holding a large key (drawing left above)-- signifying his role as gate-keeper, guardian of portals. The word janitor, meaning in Latin "doorkeeper," comes from the word Janus. Traditionally, janitors were entrusted with the keys that opened and closed buildings. Images of Janus vary. The 18th century statue in Vienna by Johann Wilhelm Beyer (above right) depicts Janus with a youthful face looking forward (at the war goddess Bellona) and an older face looking backward. Sometimes, he is depicted as a beardless youth, as on the ancient coin below left; sometimes as a bearded older man, as in the Vatican Museum bust below right. I believe the one face beardless and the other bearded might have signified the human progression from youth to maturity, innocence to experience, ignorance to knowledge.
|
__________________________________________________________
from
Deities, Rulers, and Wrong Numbers: Our Latin Calendar, Part 1 of 4
by A. Jane Chambers
Published January 4, 2019
|
The Bell Tower and Exedra in Hoinkes Plaza
Link Christopher Newport's
Past, Present, and Future
by A. Jane Chambers
|
Christopher Newport's Bell Tower and Exedra, located between McMurran Hall and Forbes Hall, were both completed in 2014--just in time for that May's 50th Reunion of the Class of 1964 and Commencement for the Class of 2014. In October of 2014, the Bell Tower, Exedra, and the area holding them, named Hoinkes Plaza, were then dedicated in a ceremony honoring longtime CNU friends and supporters H. Dieter and Mary Elizabeth Hoinkes.
The Bell Tower and Bell
|
The Bell Tower initiated a new tradition. The top CNU photo, made after the closing of the 2014 Commencement, shows the roped off area at the tower and the CNU photographer (dark figure kneeling at left) waiting for the members of the Class of 1964 and then the Class of 2014 to arrive to ring the bell, one by one. Each of the over a thousand honorees were individually photographed. The photo on the right shows CNC Class of 1964 members Ray Bunn (left) and Jay Dunn holding the bell’s rope.
| |
The Tower’s bell is from the famous 990-foot luxury ocean liner the SS United States, built with pride by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in the early 1950s, completed in 1952, and recognized worldwide as the fastest ocean liner in the world. The bell was a gift to CNU from the late Dr. Sarah Elizabeth Forbes, a great CNU friend and benefactor, who purchased the bell at a 1984 SS United States auction in Norfolk for $30,000. It was housed first in Windmill Point Restaurant in Nags Head, NC, owned by Dr. Forbes. When given to CNU, the bell was then housed in Trible Library before the tower was built for it. Forbes Hall, next to the Bell Tower, is named in memory of Mary Brock Forbes, the mother of Dr. Forbes.
|
The above photo of the famous bell when housed in Trible Library is from History Scout, a blog by CNU alumnus A. J. Jelonek. The photo left below, showing the bell inside the Bell Tower, is from CNU's Captain's Log (9.18.14 issue) and was taken by Tyrus Wood. Right below is the obituary photo of Dr. Forbes, who died in an automobile accident in 2011.
|
The presence of a ship’s bell is very appropriate on a campus named for the famous ship’s captain who led the small fleet to Jamestown in 1607. The bell honors those early mariners as well as those who built and those who sailed the SS United States. Many Christopher Newport alumni have been and/or are now, along with their families and friends, closely connected to the Shipyard, a pillar of our community for generations. In varying ways, the Bell Tower honors the past while celebrating the present and ringing in traditions that will continue in the future at Christopher Newport.
The Exedra
|
The word exedra (ex.e. dra) comes from the Greek ex (out) and hedra (a seat), meaning an outdoor seat. Created by the Greeks and popular in ancient Greece and Rome, exedrae (plural) were stone or marble benches, usually semicircular, with high backs. They provided outdoor places for people to sit, rest, and converse. They were also popular gathering places for philosophers and their students. The photo above, by Kay Rinfrette, shows the left side of CNU's Exedra, with the first three panels filled with dates and names under the word CHRISTOPHER in gold letters. Panels to be filled in the future are under the gold words NEWPORT (middle of the exedra) and UNIVERSITY (right side). The three photos below are also by Kay.
Located just behind the Bell Tower, CNU’s Exedra is a place to sit, rest, talk, and enjoy classes outside in pleasant weather, but it was built primarily to honor retired faculty and staff who played significant roles in the history of Christopher Newport, including serving the institution ten years or more. Engraved on the panels are their names, listed in order of the years in which they retired or in which they died while in service.
|
The first panel, above, under the gold letters C. H. R. I., begins (top left) with retirement year 1970 and ends with retirement year 1993. Those who died in service (e.g., Mr. Usry and Dean Nancy Ramseur) are listed by year of death. First decade students and faculty will probably recognize many names in this panel. The second panel (below left), under the gold letters S. T. O., covers retirement years 1995–2006. Some people listed here served from the first or early second decade (e.g., Booker, Bostic, MacLeod, Winter, Wood). The third panel (below right), under P. H. E. R., lists retirees of 2007–2013. Few readers will find familiar names here, although Dr. Wayne Schell (also a CNC alumnus) and Dr. Mario Mazzarella are listed. Soon more names will begin to appear in the fourth panel as this historical record continues.
|
Hoinkes Plaza was dedicated on October 18, 2014. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend. Class of 1964 members Jay Dunn and Sonny Short agreed to take pictures and send me their reports of the event, so there was an article posted on the website, which included their photos, a few of which are posted here.
The photo above, taken by Jay Dunn, shows H. Dieter Hoinkes and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Hoinkes, holding a framed picture of the Plaza given to them by CNU's President Paul Trible (left). Mr. and Mrs. Hoinkes are longtime CNU friends and generous benefactors who have donated both financially and personally to the University. In 2014 they contributed generously to the Defining Significance campaign. They also gave CNU several gifts-in-kind and established an endowed scholarship for the President’s Leadership Program students. In addition, Mary previously served on CNU’s Board of Visitors (Voyages, Summer 2014, p. 13).
|
Presentation of the picture followed speeches by President Trible and Mary Hoinkes, delivered in front of the exedra, which Jay called "an excellent backdrop." Before and after the formal ceremony, guests visited the two refreshment tents providing beverages, fruits, hors d'oeuvres and desserts Sonny described as "First Class" (photo left above, by Sonny) and studied the exedra to find their names and/or the names of people they know or knew engraved on the panels (photo right, by Jay). After the program, many also rang the bell. More details about and pictures of the Dedication are in the article Dedication of CNU’s Hoinkes Plaza: Photos and Comments, located in our website's Archives (tab in left margin of Home), under sub tab Your News, a little over halfway down.
__________________________________________________________
We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published January 4, 2019
|
A Memories Book Bit:
The Riverside Nursing Student
and the
CNC Instructor with a "Cute Butt"
Account by Beth Shepherd Mollick
on pages 206 - 207*
My social life [took] a dramatic turn the following year when that cute biology professor, Mr. Mollick, as we knew him, called my dorm and asked me to go out on a date. Flattered and floored, I agreed once I determined that he was indeed single, and that was the start of the personal phase of our relationship. We went to dinner at the (long gone now) Sea Ranch Restaurant on Warwick Boulevard and to the movies at the old Riverdale Theater, where we saw Hello, Dolly! with Barbra Streisand. We learned we both were football fans, so our next date was a William and Mary football game. Then there was a walk in the VARC (Virginia Associated Research Campus) woods to visit his sampling traps, during which we got caught in a sudden rainstorm.
|
Not long after that we found we were pretty much hooked on each other and continued in a dating relationship until the week after my graduation from nursing school in June of 1972, when we were married. I was suddenly converted from nursing student to faculty wife.
| |
Upon hearing our story, many people even today raise their eyebrows at the idea of a professor marrying a student, but our courtship was not inappropriate, because I was not his student at the time we began dating. The reason he telephoned me in the first place was that he remembered me because I had made the highest grade in his class--and also (he told me later) because he thought I was attractive with my waist-long hair and revealing mini skirts (once the nursing school-mandated raincoat was removed). Curiously, I remember that when I attended his class, I always sat down near the front of the lecture hall. I remember thinking at the time that he had a really cute butt! When he would turn to write on the blackboard, my [nursing school] classmates and I would exchange glances, grin, and roll our eyes. There must have been some latent spark there even then.
* "From Student Nurse to Faculty Wife and Nursing Faculty," by Beth S. Mollick, in Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade, 1961 - 1971, by A. Jane Chambers, Rita C. Hubbard, and Lawrence Barron 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.
____________________________________________
We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send it to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
Published July 22, 2016
Republished January 4, 2019
|
GARY LARSON'S
MEDIEVAL WARRIORS
|
Published January 4, 2019
|
Dr. Jane Chambers, Editor and Head Writer
Ron Lowder Sr., Webmaster
|
Donations to our Treasury are gratefully accepted. Make out checks to CNC First Decaders. Mail them to Sonny Short, FD Treasurer, 12738 Daybreak Circle, Newport News, VA 23602.
|
Your DECADER committee ALWAYS enjoys feedback on items that appear on this website. The feedback can be positive or negative...doesn't matter. It is just super for us to know that you are actually visiting YOUR website and have something to share.
Please don't hesitate to send us an email with a comment...we LOVE to hear from you!
(There is an underscore between 61 & 71 in the web address above)
|
|
