Letters

Jim Mandelaro rightfully focuses on the college and professional affiliations of past and present Rochester sports medicine faculty (“Home Team Advantage,” July-August). But the impact of Rochester’s innovative sports medicine program extends much further.

In 1991, several orthopaedists told me that a failed repair of a severely torn Achilles tendon ended my involvement in sports. Disbelief led me to contact the Baltimore Orioles (then the parent club of our own Rochester Red Wings) and I asked their assistant general manager where they sent their ballplayers with a similar injury. Imagine my surprise when they told me the U of R, right in my own backyard.

Wayne Sebastianelli ’79, ’83M (MD), ’88M (Res) performed a then new procedure using a strip of calf muscle to create a “new” tendon. Several racquetball and squash championships later (including a trip to Harvard for the Squash Team Nationals), plus 25 years, the repair still holds up.

Neil Scheier ’88M (Res)

Clifton Springs, New York

Quiz Bowl Call Out

Review does such a nice job with recapping U of R sports teams. It would be nice to see annual inclusion of the Rochester Quiz Bowl team. In April, the team participated in the 2016 Interscholastic Championship Tournament, held in Rosemont, Illinois, and sponsored by the National Academic Quiz Tournaments, or NAQT. The team, featuring George Bastedo ’16, Henry Hawthorn ’19, Daniel Siever ’16, and Jack Zhang ’17, went 11–2 and finished ninth in a field of 31 in Division II. Hawthorn was named as a Division II all-star.

The team qualified for the championship tournament by winning the New York sectional championship tournament, held last February at the U of R. Finishing with a 12–0 record, the team posted wins over three separate squads from Cornell, as well as over teams from RPI, Hamilton, Hobart & William Smith Colleges, the University at Buffalo, and RIT. I directed the New York sectional championships, the first sectional championship held in upstate New York in several years. More information about NAQT and this year’s Interscholastic Championship Tournament can be found online at NAQT.com.

Scott Kroner ’89, ’91W (MS)

Rochester

Farewell to an Inspiring Professor

Thank you for printing the wonderful tribute to René Millon (“Pathbreaking Anthropologist,” May-June). Professor Millon captured the attention of this undergraduate engineering student so much that I talked my way into his seminar the following year. Thirty-eight years after he introduced me to Teotíhuacan, I was finally able to visit the pre-Columbian city in person.

August Schau ’81

Chicopee, Massachusetts

Men’s Dining Memories

In response to your call for anecdotes about the old Men’s Dining Center (“If These Walls Could Talk,” Class Notes, July- August), I have two.

When I was attending the U of R, I was president of Alpha Phi Omega and also the College Coordinating Council. The council provided student volunteers to local charities and transported them to the charities using Red Cross vehicles. Each year we ran a campus-wide wine and cheese party in the Men’s Dining Center to support these efforts. Since the drinking age was 18, we imported from the Finger Lakes wineries dozens of cases to serve the expected crowd of 1,500 thirsty students. We also purchased 100-pound wheels of New York state cheddar. We usually had entertainment, and the act I remember the most was Wilson Pickett.

Another anecdote was in my freshman year, when I was enlisted as a waiter for the Parents’ Weekend dinner. My parents were not attending, and I had never been a waiter before. After dropping an entire tray of tomato juice glasses on the floor, I started serving my tables their meals. The kitchen ran short of food and I had served only one side of the long tables. So I had one side of the table eating, with the other side of the table watching them until the kitchen found additional food to prepare!

Henry Fader ’68

Philadelphia

Wilson Commons Reflections

What a surprise to see my 40-years-younger self in the photo at the dedication of Wilson Commons (“Balcony View,” Class Notes, May-June). I am the one on the far right with his hands clasped and clearly happy to be finally in the building that was under construction virtually the entire time I was a student. As I was looking down from the balcony at I. M. Pei speaking at the dedication, how could I have known that just eight years later, I would be a staff architect at I. M. Pei and Partners in their New York office!

Richard Kadin ’76

New York City

The one thing I remember about the Wilson Commons dedication was the moment I. M. Pei, giving his speech, looked around the open area with what seemed to be both pride and wonder. That was a moving moment for me, and has stuck with me for 40 years.

Samuel Ofsevit ’77

Hartsdale, New York

After almost 40 years, although it seems like yesterday, I can finally spot a few people in a mystery picture (“Balcony View,” Class Notes, May-June). Second from left is Joan Perl Gray ’76, and next to her is Amy Zaiff Laek ’78N. Two down from Amy is Cindy Rizzo ’77. The brochure that Joan and Amy are holding was about all the features/layout of the new building.

This was a much-anticipated event, as this was the middle of our junior year and there had been construction on Wilson Commons since we started our freshman year. There was a covered, protected area (a “cattle chute”) next to the library and Wilson Commons that you needed to walk through. Among the many things written on its walls was someone’s graffiti, which ultimately became a poster that everyone who was there during this period will remember.

Richard Shorin ’77, ’78S (MBA)

Ambler, Pennsylvania

Brett Gold’s letter (July-August) reminded me of my own experiences with the construction of Wilson Commons.

I was the first chairman of the Wilson Commons program board, which brought programs to the new facility. In that capacity, I brought the idea of a Winter Carnival back to U of R. I was also the manager of the game room, which included the pinball machines in which so much money was spent and so much time wasted.

More germane to Brett’s letter, the graffiti he referenced—“The shortest distance between two points is the hole where Wilson Commons is”—was real. It was intended to be in the middle of student life, even if its construction got in the way. The graffiti was the basis for a poster celebrating the opening of the Commons, a copy of which was given to me by the student life office. I still have it. Thanks for the reminders.

Ira Emanuel ’77

Suffern, New York

Reconnecting with Track & Field

I’m writing to encourage members of the track and field teams from the 1960s to come to Meliora Weekend, October 6–9. It’s a chance to see each other and to celebrate the induction of our coach, Ev Phillips, into the U of R Athletic Hall of Fame on October 8. For details or just to reconnect with your old teammates, please contact me at drhandelsman@gmail.com.

Larry Handelsman ’66

Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Review welcomes letters and will print them as space permits. Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity. Unsigned letters cannot be used. Send letters to Rochester Review, 22 Wallis Hall, P.O. Box 270044, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627-0044; rochrev@rochester.edu.