Monthly Archives: October 2017

Carving Pumpkins, circa 1998

At Brown College. I looked but could not find any “after” pictures: Bonus: A sharp eyed reader who arrives on campus earlier than I do spotted some holiday hijinks this morning. Poor Willy!

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“Atom Splitters at Rice,” 1948

Only a half an hour before I came across this astonishing article from the Houston Chronicle Magazine I was standing nearly on top of the spot where the “unimpressive, austere, green frame building behind the Rice Physics Building” once sat. … Continue reading

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Vacation Follies: Not U of H’s Finest Hour

I’m actually a big fan of the University of Houston but I just couldn’t let this pass. From the Houston Chronicle, May 14, 1964: They do other things differently over there too: Bonus: A colleague sent me this mysterious picture … Continue reading

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Vacation Week 2017: What we have here is failure to communicate.

Letter from the Committee on Outdoor Sports to Freshman Week Coordinator, September 24, 1963:   From Minutes of the Committee on Outdoor Sports, October 24, 163, after request for reconsideration: From Minutes of the Committee on Outdoor Sports, October 29, … Continue reading

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Vacation Week 2017: How do you make Norman Hackerman smile?

You stand in front of the fireplace and give him a check. Oh heck, you can even leave out the fireplace.

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Vacation Week 2017: Joel Cyprus

I never met Joel Cyprus ’59, ’61, ’63 but I’ve heard enough to know that he was a legendary teacher as well as a key participant in the Rice Computer project. I can’t recall where I found these undated pictures–they … Continue reading

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Vacation Week 2017: “Will Do Tricks for Tips”

Technically I’m off work this week, finally getting my summer break. The first time I tried to go on vacation this summer I wound up in the Laramie Urgent Care Center with strep throat. We rescheduled for what turned out … Continue reading

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Friday Follies: “Nothing fishy at Rice University!”

This week we got a glorious bunch of artwork–posters for concerts at Rockefeller’s in the 1980s–drawn by Robert (Little Bobby) Duncan ’71, donated by Duncan and by Jim ’69 and Katie DePitts ’71. Also included was this delightful poster for … Continue reading

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Rice Athletic Association Mystery: Solved

Kind of. Until yesterday I had been completely unable to understand what the Rice Athletic Association was or what it did. How in the world was this different from the Athletic Department? The name was ubiquitous in the files, on … Continue reading

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O. Jack Mitchell: “a persistent and uncompromising optimist”

The collection of images related to traffic and parking on campus in the very early 1990s is remarkably thorough. It even includes a series of photographs that document where the F&E carts parked: By the time I got to those … Continue reading

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