MIT Class of 1963 Class Notes
March 2005
MIT Class of 1963, Class Notes for March 2005 issue of Technology Review
*Dick Males is our Class Hero this month. His newsy E-mail arrived on deadline day for this column, just as I was bemoaning my dearth of material, and thinking hard of what I would have to make up to write in this bi-monthly letter to my classmates. Dick said that he had a dream in which *Bruce Eisenstein and I appeared. He was chasing us up the steps to an elevated subway train in order to tell us his news. Since this seemed like an omen, perhaps guilt for not writing more often, Dick obeyed his inner forces and dropped us a line. Now, I like it when my friends think about me, but as for appearing in dreams … what would Dr. Freud say? Didn't we read "On Dreams" in 21.04? Dick and Barbara's extended family celebrated Thanksgiving with 9 at their table in Cincinnati, including their sons Matthew and Nathaniel and Nathaniel's friend Celi. Dick and Barbara have been getting around this year, with a visit to California for a wedding on Catalina Island and surfing lessons with Nathaniel, and a conference in Rio de Janeiro. Dick strongly recommends Rio as a travel destination - beautiful setting, good food, nice people. He learned enough Portuguese to make his way around and read signs. Professionally Dick has settled in for an anticipated minimum of another 5 years of work for the Army Corps of Engineers, as the contract he works under was recently renewed. "That should take me to age 66," he writes, "when, if I am lucky, Medicare will still be available, and I won't have to spend 20% of my work year to support my medical insurance. But I enjoy the work quite a bit, it continues to be interesting and educational." In his off time Dick continues to fence, do race walking, and snowboarding (currently his preferred amusement.)
The week before Halloween we had dinner in Oceanside, CA with Dee & *Tony Geisler. The Geislers were in Southern California (from their Diablo, home in the Bay area) to visit their daughter Rebecca, MIT '93, and were being good tourists on that Thursday evening. Their younger daughter, Wendy, is married to a class of '93 alum, and she has made Dee and Tony grandparents twice. Earlier this year the Geislers were at a mini-reunion in the Bay Area that included Bob Spivak, '61, Sandy Auerback & *Victor Scheinman, Ellie & *John Graham and Violette & *Ira Blumenthal. All live in Northern California except Ira. Ira was visiting his daughter Robin and her family, who live in Palo Alto. At dinner we heard the story of how this Texas girl and New Jersey boy met. By the late 60's their travels/careers had led them both to California & one evening they both came to a rec center at a public school in the Palo Alto area to play volleyball. Before the game Dee was shooting baskets. Tony sidled over to the court. Now depending on who's telling the story he said "Where did you learn to shoot baskets?" or "You have good form … and you can shoot baskets too." (We MIT men are smooth.) And the rest is history.
In early October I attended the annual MIT Alumni
Conference. 1963 was represented by four members of our 40th reunion gift
committee, *Steve Kaufman, *Bob Johnson, *John Wasserlein,
and *Kenan Sahin. Our class was honored with an MIT Presidential
Citation, both for the size of our gift (thanks in particular to Kenan's
generosity) and for a record setting rate of participation. 72% contributed, so
kudos to all of us. Here are some scary facts I learned about the class of
2008. 10,466 applied, 1664 were admitted, and 1081 enrolled. This enroll/admit
ratio is called the "yield" in admissions office lingo, and we are
right at the top of the heap of US universities along with Harvard, Yale,
Stanford and Princeton. In this amazing class all 50 states and 45 foreign
countries are represented. There were 37 valedictorians. 88% of the students
were in the top 5% of their high school classes, and the mean SAT I scores were
713 verbal, 756 math. 71% came from public high schools, 21% came from private
high schools, 8% came from foreign high schools. 55% of the students were
varsity athletes in high school. How many of us would have made the cut for the
class of 2008?
Regards to all. You can reach me at: Mike Bertin, 22 Gillman St, Irvine, CA 92612. E-mail: MCB1@aol.com. If you want to schmooze, call me at (949) 786-9450
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From the left are John Wasserlein, Mike Bertin, Bob Johnson, Steve Kaufman, and Kenan Sahin. |
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