Then and Now

“As albums go, Arcade Fire’s “The Suburbs” was probably my favorite of the year, with Ra Ra Riot’s “The Orchard,” The New Pornographers’ “Together” and Titus Andronicus’ “The Monitor” as close runners-up.” Robert Blaszkiewicz”

I put on Robert’s favorite songs of 2010 CD to see how the selections hold up a decade later. Most seem particularly fitting in this, our plague year.  Robert led off with “A More Perfect Union,” by Titus Andronicus, the Civil War theme hopefully not a harbinger of things to come with a sociopath in the White House sowing sedition.  Spoon’s “Trouble Comes Running” follows, then “Crash Years” by New Pornographers and, two tracks later, Cee Lo Green’s “Fuck You,” served with a figurative raised middle finger. The middle verse goes:

Yeah I'm sorry, I can't afford a Ferrari,
But that don't mean I can't get you there.
I guess he's an Xbox and I'm more Atari,
About the way you play your game ain't fair.

 

Robert always broadens my musical horizons, and 2010 was no exception, with “Boyfriend” by Best Coast, “10 Mile Stereo” by Beach House, and “Glass Printer” by The Besnard Lakes. I hadn’t recalled that the 2010 Mix contained “The Weekenders” by The Hold Steady, one of my favorite bands since Alissa’s husband Josh introduced me to “South Town Girls,”; also, Arcade Fire, whose 2010 “The Suburbs” CD, which contains “Rococo,” I presently have on heavy rotation. The finale: “Talk on Indolence” by the Avett Brothers, whom Robert and I saw at Merrillville’s late, lamented Holiday Star with the Nitty Ditty Dirt Band opening for them. “Talk on Indolence” could be a lamentation for our current time

Well I've been lockin' myself up in my house for some time now

Readin' and writin' and readin' and thinkin'

And searching for reasons and missing the seasons.

The Autumn, the Spring, the Summer, the snow.

The record will stop and the record will go

John and Lorraine Shearer discovered numerous Petroskey stones during a recent expedition to Lake Michigan by Sleeping Bear Dunes. They live in Traverse City in one of the few areas where the pebble-shaped fossilized coral can be found.  According to Wikipedia, “Such stones were formed as a result of glaciation in which sheets of ice plucked stones from the bedrock, grinding off their rough edges and depositing them.” It is the state stone of Michigan.
Neil Goodman sculpture at IUN

On campus during Indiana University Northwest’s registration for Fall semester, I found my building and the library virtually deserted.  The process is apparently all automated.  In contrast, when I began my IUN teaching career, registration was a chaotic affair with heavy faculty participation; in order to successfully enroll for a particular course, a student had to maneuver in lines in order to pick up IBM computer card from department representatives situated in a huge room filled with students, faculty, and harried Admissions staff hoping to provide guidance to bewildered freshmen.  Working registration, I socialized with colleagues whom I might not otherwise have been with at any other function.

 

Numerous people identified with my description of past registration.  Janet French wrote: “That’s how it was at VU when I began in 1974.  In the gym heavy canvass was spread out on the floor.  If you didn’t get in line quick enough, for a class, you lost out. Chaos, but I miss that.”  IUN grad liked the socializing aspect of registration, adding: “It appears that part of the college experience has disappeared.”  Former IUN History professor Jerry Pierce recalled:

    Had something similar when I started at Oregon. We had to go to the basketball court in the arena, get cards, and stand in line. While waiting for a science class that was filling too fast, I struck up a conversation with a grad student at the Religious studies table and decided to register for Intro to the study of the Bible, which set me on my career trajectory. And it was a much better class than Physics of light and color.

 

First day of Fall semester at IU Northwest was unlike any I can remember. Normally the parking lots are filled to overflowing; not this year. No sign of student groups recruiting new members at tables set up near the student union. The cafeteria was almost devoid of customers.  With so many online offerings, less than 20 percent of courses are in classrooms, and the Zoom website was so overwhelmed, it crashed for a couple hours. Those students I encountered were wearing masks inside buildings but not always while outside. Only a few professors appeared to be around, but Philosopher Gianluca Di Muzio asked if I’d attend his freshman seminar next month to talk about the history of IUN, a course component. I agreed but am unsure whether I’ll need to keep a mask on during the entire 75 minutes.  I plan to give students my latest Steel Shavings beforehand, something that sparked discussion when I spoke in Jon Becker’ class last year. I’ll begin by mentioning that IU is celebrating its bicentennial, IUN its hundredth anniversary, and that I have been at the university exactly half that time - 50 years. In 1970 fully a third of the classes were in the evening, and most students were from steelworker families and first-generation college students whose parents or grandparents were immigrants.

My Oral History Association conference session is all set, chaired by Dr. Annette Henry of the University of British Columbia, who will also speak about two Black-Canadian women she interviewed.  Also on the panel is Izumi Niki, who will discuss Japanese-Canadian Kishizo Kimura, a west coast fisherman interned shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, similar to what happened in the United States.  Some 22,000 Japanese-Canadians, 90 percent of them Canadian citizens, were order to evacuate British Columbia and move inland into relocation camps.  The Canadian government also deported others and would not allow those relocated to return to the west coast until 1949, four years after World War II ended.  What is unique about Kimura is that he served on government bodies charged with disposing of the property holdings, including fishing vessels, of people he formerly had worked with and kept n extensive diary, which has been edited and published under the title “Witness to Loss.”  Were it not for the pandemic, I’d be looking forward to meeting Annette Henry and Izumi Niki.  As it is, we’ll be at home rather than in Baltimore.

 

David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest” (1996) takes place at a future time when years will have a corporate sponsor similar to sports stadiums.  Thus, most of the action takes place in the “Year of the Depend Adult Undergarment.”  Other years are named for the Whopper, Perdue Wonder chicken, and, my favorite, the Trial-sized Dove Bar.

The Republican convention is un-watchable.  Among the despicable things that has transpired is approving a platform branding the Southern Poverty Law Center, which catalogs the nation’s hate groups, a “radical organization.”  Co-founded by Julian Bond and dedicated to the rule of law and ideals of Martin Luther King, it is an organization that we have supported for decades.

The Republican convention is un-watchable.  Among the despicable things that has transpired is approving a platform branding the Southern Poverty Law Center, which catalogs the nation’s hate groups, a “radical organization.”  Co-founded by Julian Bond and dedicated to the rule of law and ideals of Martin Luther King, it is an organization that we have supported for decades.

Archives

    "University archives are spots of wonder filled with artifacts that are mesmerizing, quirky, priceless and surprising.” Sherri Kimmel

   When archivist/curator Steve McShane is unable to answer his phone, his taped message includes the remark that he is likely out of the office collecting more treasures for the Calumet Regional Archives (CRA). Among the “treasures” already housed on the third floor of the IU Northwest library are diaries, minute books, land records, photographs, collections of environmental groups and labor unions, dunes posters, political buttons and fliers, an extensive collection of books about Northwest Indiana, and much, much more – including artifacts that are mesmerizing, quirky, priceless, and surprising, to reinforce the statement of Sherri Kimmel.

                           George Washington Carver, 1906, by Francis Benjamin Johnston

   In Bucknell magazine Sherri Kimmel wrote about a collection of 80 letters written between 1927 and 1942 that Bucknell YMCA secretary Forrest D. Brown exchanged with African-American scientist George Washington Carver, who developed over 300 products derived from peanuts. Similar to scenes from “Green Book,” Brown sometimes chauffeured Carver to appearances at Southern white universities and arranged for Carver to speak at Bucknell in November 1930 on the subject “The Inside of a Peanut.”  Brown’s daughter Carolyn Brown Chaapel, who donated the letters at my alma mater in Lewisburg, PA, told Kimmel: “Our home was an open door; Dad had so many people of color and nationalities from all over the world come to our house.” Brown retired in 1966, so he would have been on campus during my years at Bucknell, but I have no recollection of him. I do recall Bucknell-Burma Week, which he had a hand in arranging.

   George Washington Carver’s accomplishments became widely known in part because to the white establishment he, like Booker T. Washington and Crispus Attucks (killed during the Boston Massacre), represented a non-threatening Negro role model.  Segregated schools throughout the nation were named for them while, on the other hand, the accomplishments of freedom fighters such as Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and Ida B. Wells received less publicity and acclaim.  Unfortunately, the recent backlash against this practice has sometimes resulted in Carver and Washington unfairly branded as “Uncle Toms.”

    Until the pandemic, thanks in part to the persistence of co-directors Ron Cohen and me, procedures were in place and pretty much on schedule for the hiring of a replacement for Calumet Regional Archives mainstay Steve McShane (above), our archivist since operations opened in what’s now IUN’s John Will Anderson Library, who will soon retire after four decades of service. Librarian Latrice Booker, Vice Chancellor Vickie Lagunas, and Chancellor William Lowe were all on board for a search to commence. Two distinguished archivists whom Steve knew personally had expressed interest in applying for the position.  Then the proverbial shit hit the fan. With the university closed, hiring frozen, IU President McRobbie mandating five percent budget cuts for regional campuses, and Lowe retiring in two months, it appears clear that nobody will be hired before Steve leaves and uncertainty looms on how soon we can get the process moving again.

   After posting the above paragraph, I received a dozen comments on Facebook from friends of Steve, students who took his Indiana History course, researchers, and former colleagues.  Sculptor Neil Goodman wrote: “Steve has always been a treasure to the campus.  I hope that his position will be replaced, as history is long and memory short.”  Feminist author Anne Balay added: “Steve was such a vital resource when I wrote ‘Steel Closets’ and a good friend.  The Archives is his legacy and should be continued and supported.”  Connie Mack-Ward said it would be a disgrace not to staff the Archives, and community activist Lois Reiner mentioned that Steve helped rescue “troves of history including the minutes from our little Valparaiso Builders Association.”

Region Proud

“The Calumet Region represents the best in America.” Judge Gonzalo Curiel

 Judge Gonzalo Curiel addresses Bishop Noll graduates; Post-Trib photo by Meredith Colias

Muriel with Rev Kevin Scali and Noll Pres.Paul Mullaney; NWI Times photo by Jonathan Miano

U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel, who became famous when then-candidate Donald Trump questioned whether Curiel could rule fairly on cases about Trump University and matters of immigration because he was Mexican- American, gave the commencement speech at Bishop Noll High School.  Born in East Chicago and a 1971 Noll Graduate, Curiel told students:

              [The Calumet Region] is a melting pot made up of people from all over the world. It was a community where I had Greek friends, I had Polish friends, I had Puerto Rican friends, and I had African-American friends.  We were all the same.  None of us was any better than the other.  And that’s the aim of the American dream, to bring all of us together.  To give equal opportunity so that we can stand together.  We can raise our families and become better.

              You are primed and ready to make a difference in this world of ours.  Carry on and focus at the job at hand.  There will be people that taunt you or disrespect you for how you look or where you are from, or where your parents are from.  Pray for them.  Don’t let them get in your head.

              I’m grateful for the chance to have attended this school, most notably to have grown up in this community, which is so rich and diverse.  There are not a lot of places in the world where you can look around and see such diversity as we have here, and I count this as a blessing. I’ve learned so much, and it’s helped me to be able to respect everyone I come across and realize that at the end of the day, we are all just human beings and that ultimately, our goals are to serve each other.

Last year, the Northwest Indiana Times solicited guest columnists to enunciate what they admired about the Calumet Region.  I wrote about Gary being a tough environment, especially for those struggling to find work and raise families, but that in the past the city has afforded opportunities for a host of athletes (i.e., George Taliaferro, Alex Karras), actors (Karl Malden, Avery Brooks), musicians (Pookie Hudson, Michael Jackson), entrepreneurs (Vivian Carter, Andrew Means), and other notables (including astronaut Frank Borman, operatic tenor James McCracken, and Nobel laureates Paul Samuelson and Joseph Stiglitz) who have achieved success elsewhere.  Even more impressive were those who stayed and became community pillars, such as the recently deceased historian Dharathula “Dolly” Millender and Coach Claude Taliaferro.  

Jee Su (Susie) Choi (above), a Math teacher at Lighthouse College Prep Academy in East Chicago, wrote this moving essay:

        When I was 21, I moved to Chicago and had my first real job interview.  I was interviewing for a high school math teacher position in East Chicago. I was very confused, “East Chicago? There’s a city in the middle of Lake Michigan?”

      After I got the job, I had to buy a car to make the hour trek to the Region. I also had to learn how to drive. My first solo drive was my first day of work. I still remember that drive. I was so scared. My clammy hands were clenched onto the steering wheel at 10 and 2. However, it was during that drive that I saw the factory smoke stacks against the amber sunrise for the first time. The beauty almost made me forget that I was driving for the first time.

     It has now been four years of waking up and making the drive to Northwest Indiana.  Home is where the heart is, and my heart is with the students I have had the honor of working with. I know that Ernesto will one day live out his dream to change the world for the better. Isabel will become someone who helps others. Davion will use his intelligence and quick wit to woo future clients, instead of annoying his teachers (in the most charming way possible).

    These are just a few of the kids I have had the privilege of getting to know. They have helped me realize my desire to become a lifelong educator, and molded me into who I am today. They have shown me what love really is.

In Steve McShane’s class to share more hints on making interviews a shared experience, I told the students to introduce themselves, clearly explain their purpose, strive for anecdotes (such as memorable duplicate bridge hands and partners), and create an atmosphere of trust and empathy.  I read this passage about interviewing LGBT steelworkers from Anne Balay’s “Steel Closets”:

Often, I get people talking by sharing experiences I had as a mechanic, and I encouraged them to continue by flirting, and caring.  I liked most of these people immediately, and I let them see that.  And their stories moved me, shook me up, and redefined heroism for me.

I ended by reciting the Post-Tribune SALT column Jeff Manes wrote about me eight years ago, with Steve reading Jeff’s lines, adding a word about the importance of editing the material gleaned from the interview.  When a student started a round of applause, I quipped, “Give that man an ‘A.’”

That led me to confess an embarrassing moment 40 years ago when a former student asked me to speak to her senior history class at Lew Wallace during Diversity Week.  When I arrived, I learned to my dismay that the principal had got wind of my visit and scheduled me to address the entire student body at a Friday afternoon assembly.  What wasn’t made clear to me was that, following my speech, there’d be fun entertainment, including ethnic music and dancing.  I had planned on talking about individuals from Gary of Slovak, Mexican, and Polish ancestry, and end with an African American. When I paused briefly after the third person, some wise guy began slowly clapping, egging on others amidst general merriment.  Thinking back to my rowdy behavior at Friday assemblies, I quickly concluded my talk. At the end of the festivities, the principal praised the students’ behavior except, he added, toward Dr. Lane.  Only then did I feel embarrassment.

Dee van Bebber and I finished first in bridge Tuesday despite my misplaying the final hand on defense against Dottie Hart and Terry Bauer, costing us a trick.  When I explained why I did what I did, I admitted that it was a lame excuse.  That led me to mention a line I used at Bucknell while working at Women’s Cafeteria.  Everyone hated being assigned Sunday mornings, and the manager was unforgiving if you failed to show.  One time, after a fraternity party, I overslept and prepared to face the music. When asked what happened, I said, “I couldn’t find my shoes.”  It was such an idiotic excuse, the manager started laughing and didn’t fire me.

 William Allegrezza

William Allegrezza’s “Step Below: Selected Poems, 2000-2015,” contains these lines from “Between the Story and the Shore”:

i have said that to live we must

be ravenous with doing, not be stuck

with eyes locked on the burn, but now

overwhelmed the silence has me in dream.

Allegrezza’s “Flight Pattern” would be a good intro for VU’s “Flight Paths” project.  The poem goes:

migration

                      moments in flow

          borders           turning

          among multidirectional rays

in creation

          of space

                      with words modeled continuously on

fragments

          that piece together

                      in patterns

with currents

          that are not in and out

but passage through

Allegrezza’s “Upon Reflection” goes:

poet,

you told

me that flowers

a

pick-up

line, and love

would

lead

to happiness, but you

were

wrong.

In Rome Miranda posed in front of Trevi Fountain, built in 1762, which appeared in the Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” (1960) as well as “Three Coins in the Fountain” (1954).  Alissa and Josh, back from the Dominican Republic, closed on their first house, on the west side of Grand Rapids.  Top priorities include a backyard fence for the dog (Lil Jerry) and central air.

 Margaret Skurka

Honored at IUN’s Retirement reception were Margaret Skurka, Neil Goodman, Arlene Adler, Melvin Wells, and Anna Rominger.  Longtime director of the Health Information Technology program, Skurka fought hard and successfully when a previous chancellor wanted to move the two-year programs to Ivy Tech.  When Goodman, in California and unable to attend, was hired in 1979, four years after Skurka became an adjunct, there were two division chairs named Feldman, Sidney in Business and Herman in Arts and Sciences.  They were nor related and, in fact, were rivals for funds and faculty positions.  Both, however, sought to hire those likely to make Northwest Indiana their home rather than regard their tenure as a career steppingstone.  That Goodman grew up in the Region appealed to Hi Feldman, and his Region roots ae evident in his sculptures that grace the campus. 

I knew Business professor Anna Rominger, hired in 1992, when she was an attorney whose forte was conflict resolution and mediation.  That skill perhaps accounts for her advancement in the ranks of administration, culminating in having being asked to delay her retirement and serve as interim Vice-Chancellor of Academic Affairs.  Over the years, outside vice chancellors have come and gone – some excellent, others not so good – but the ones I most admire were IUN faculty such as Bill Neil, Lloyd Rowe, and Mary Russell, who took the position, like Anna, out of duty as a service to the university. Anna’s husband Joe nodded when I mentioned that Anna delayed her retirement out of duty and thanked me for emphasizing her skill as a conciliator.  Ken Schoon credited Anna with putting together the IUN choir and said he’d extracted a promise from her to return in December for the holiday party. After Pat Bankston’s third trip to the podium, I almost told him that one more would tie Jean Poulard’s record but kept quiet fearing he’d misinterpret the remark as sarcasm. 

posted by former teacher Jim Spicer