Today we have an absolutely delicious little mystery. I got an email this morning from Tina Hicks, the FE&P Senior Project Manager who’s working on the Mech Lab’s much needed renovation:
I have been working to clean Mech Lab out in preparation for the renovation. In the basement, east end, I found this tiny plaque on the wall. It was so small I had to get a photo so I could zoom in enough to read it. Sharing for your thoughts….
Here’s the little plaque, she guesses about an inch and a half tall by four inches wide:
So far the only potential “G Hardin” I’ve found is an Chem E named Gregory, ’70 ’71 but there may well be others so I’ll keep looking. I admit I’m stymied about the vampire bat.
If you have any ideas I’d really love to hear them.
Bonus: We seem to be down a tree.
My late husband, Patrick Campbell (Baker, 69), told a great story about the bat. You have the correct Greg Hardin, and the bat was part of a summer baseball team’s equipment.
Here is what I can remember about it:
In 1971, Patrick was back from Vietnam and working a summer job on campus, on one of the artificial heart projects. He was playing, with Greg, in a “league” of teams from various departments. The teams were limited to those working on campus and strict limits were on the make-up of each team. Each must have 2 foreign student members and only so many grad students.
Greg was donating blood for the lab to use for testing and being paid for it. He was convinced to use the money for buying the team a bat. Unfortunately, the first time it was used, the bat broke.
At that time, the guys mounted the broken bat on the lab / work room wall and asked buildings and grounds for the plaque you found.
Greg can probably tell you more, if he’s still around or other members of the team.
I am very sorry to hear that Patrick is deceased. I worked with him very briefly at Hudson Engineering Corporation (a McDermott company) in the early 1970s. When did he die? I have been unable to find an obituary. Condolences from his HEC colleagues, a great many of whom were Rice alums.
Did you and Patrick live in Cherryhurst in the late 70s? If so, we were your next door neighbors. Sorry to learn of his passing.
Another person to talk to would be Hafez Agili. (Sorry, I no longer remember the correct spelling.)
If I remember correctly, he was one of the foreign students. For a time he and Patrick both worked for McDermott Engineering.
Also, it was probably a softball team, not baseball.
I have no idea why I remember things from that long ago.
I know memory fades with time, but I – Greg Hardin, BA ’70, MChE ’71 – have no memory of this. I did work at the Biomed Lab for a couple of summers and a couple of times after graduation as an assistant to a grad student doing research into the properties of blood, but I remember only donating my own blood once or twice and wan’t paid for it. There was a regular donor (don’t remember details, some type of radioisotope tracer?) who was getting paid for his trouble, but I don’t remember his name. And I have no memory of playing on a summer baseball/softball league.
I do remember Pat Campbell and I believe he and I played in the alumni band for a few homecomings, 10+ years ago.
It would be quite interesting to find out how that plaque got commissioned – I hope others chime in.
Stay safe and well everyone.
This is so puzzling I did a little research. The PhD thesis of the grad student I worked for at the Biomed Lab (Robert MacCallum) is online at Fondren, and it mentions the grad student who was the regular blood donor – Ed Cassidy. I only met Ed a few times and didn’t really know him, so I have no idea if he fits any of the other parameters of the story, other than getting paid for donating his blood.
Cheers.