MENSIS SEPTEMBER
In 46 BC, under the direction of Julius Caesar, astronomers replaced the ancient lunar Roman calendar of 10 months with the solar calendar of 12 months, based on Earth's revolutions around the sun. Caesar's Julian calendar was the major western world calendar for 15 centuries, until refined and replaced in 1582 by the 12-month Gregorian calendar, under the direction of Pope Gregory XII.
Since neither Caesar nor Pope Gregory changed the names of the last four months of the old 10-month Roman calendar, these months have remained misnamed for over 2000 years.
September is from the Latin Septem ("seven") and -ber (a suffix equivalent to the English "-th"), and mensis is Latin for "month." Thus September (mensis September) literally means "the seventh month" of the year--although it has been the ninth month for over 2000 years.
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ARTICLES ON THIS PAGE:
(Today through October 3rd)
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1. NEW article: How the CNC Community Helped Harold Cones Await the Birth of His First Daughter (a Memories book Bit).
2. REVISED article: CNC's First Class Ring: The Associate in Arts Degree Ring (updated from 2012).
3. How Norman Beasley Became Dick Lamb and a CNC First Decade Student (a Memories book Bit).
4. My Favorite Gary Hammer Story: The Budget Committee, by Dr. F. Samuel Bauer.
5. NEW humor: Squirrel Invasion.
6. NEW cartoons: Chickens.
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To reach your goals, work hard, participate, practice and do the best you can.
Joseph P. Connors
Special Olympics athlete and Eagle Scout
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What do you call cheese that's not yours?
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Answer shown at the bottom of this page
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A Memories Book Bit:
How the CNC Community Helped
Harold Cones Await the Birth
of His First Daughter
Excerpt from page 224 *
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If one word could be used to define the CNC of those days, that word would be community. Because of our small size, all faculty, staff, and students knew each other no matter what department. We worked, studied, played, and built an institution together. An example of how close-knit we were was demonstrated at the birth of my first daughter. At Riverside Hospital, anyone in the fathers' waiting room was only allowed one guest, and that guest had to sign in.
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| Cones as biology instructor his second year at CNC. 1970 Trident, p. 28 |
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As I sat alone in the waiting room, [biology professor] Ruth Simmons waltzed in, officially dressed in her lab coat. She brought a hot dog. Shortly thereafter, [biology secretary] Ann Tiller arrived in a lab coat with a hot dog. As the day progressed, the waiting room gradually filled with lab coat-dressed students and faculty, all armed with hot dogs sent by Mr. Takis. When the doctor came to announce the birth of my daughter, near midnight, he invited me to come to the nursery to take a look. When he asked, "Who is here with Mr. Cones?" the entire waiting room, then numbering about fifteen people dressed in lab coats, stood up. The doctor smiled, as I smile now as I write this. And the nurse in charge of the nursery was a student who let me hold my daughter ahead of the normal allowed time.
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* “Biology Department: The Ties That Bind,” by Harold N. Cones, in Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade, by A. Jane Chambers, Rita C. Hubbard, & Lawrence B. Wood, Jr. (Hallmark, 2008). TO ORDER BOOK: Send check for $20 made out to Jane Chambers to: Dr. Jane Chambers, 15267 Candy Island Lane, Carrollton, VA 23314. The money (minus mailing cost) is donated to the CNC First Decaders' Treasury.
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published September 20, 2019
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CNC's First Class Ring:
The Associate in Arts Degree Ring
by A. Jane Chambers
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The photo on the right, from page 30 of the 1966 Trident, shows CNC’s class rings for students who were candidates for the two-year (Associate in Arts) degree. This picture was first posted on this website in 2012 in our website's Memorabilia Gallery, along with this question--“Who has one of these?” and this statement: “We need some more information about these earliest rings, plus close-up photos.” Much to my delight, Ted McFalls (66 FD) contacted me in mid-December of 2012 with this good news: not only did he have one of these first AA degree rings, but also he posed for this yearbook photo of it.
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| Ted McFalls and reference librarian Mrs. Anne Palmer. 1966 TRIDENT, p. 21. |
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| Here’s the photo’s history: At the time, Ted was working part time as a student assistant in the Captain John Smith Library. As usual, he had on his CNC ring. He was spotted by a Trident yearbook photographer who was scouting the library in search of students wearing their class rings. Ted agreed to lend the photographer a hand— his hand--for this yearbook picture. He cannot remember who the young woman was that also agreed to lend hers. If you know who she is, please contact me at (757) 238-9629 or cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com.
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I have found no information about the history of CNC's AA degree ring. Apparently the first ring was that for the 1964 class--identical to Ted's 1965 ring except for the year on it. I discovered a 1964 ring existed when an alumnus of the 1964 class showed me his during the class's 50th Reunion (May, 2014). The photos here of Ted's 1965 ring are mine. The lettering on the top of the ring (photo right) is typical--the school's name: Christopher Newport College. Although the ring's designer remains a mystery, the ring clearly reflects young CNC's status as a two-year branch of The College of William and Mary, as shown in the pictures below.
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The design on one side (left above) features William and Mary's famous Wren Building. Above that is a monarch's crown with, on the left, the number 16 and on the right, the number 93—forming 1693, the year W&M was founded, while Virginia was still a British colony. The dominant design on the other side (above right) is that of CNC’s first seal—the shield with the outline of the Commonwealth of Virginia within it and, on the front of that, the lamp of knowledge. Above the seal, on the left, is the number 19 and on the right, the number 65, forming 1965. Below the seal is 1960, the date CNC was formally established, although classes did not begin until September 18, 1961.
A large photo of that first seal and details about its history are in our website article The Story of CNC’s First four-Year Class Ring and the Seal That Preceded It, located in our Archives tab, sub tab First Decade History.
Ted has graciously donated his ring to our First Decade Memorabilia Collection—which means, we hope, that the ring will soon be permanently housed at CNU in a rotating display at Klich Alumni House.
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EDWIN J. (TED) McFALLS Jr. was a member of CNC’s First Men’s Track Team and the All-Star Flag Football Team of 1965-66, both of which are immortalized in Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade. Ted served in the U.S. Air Force before attending CNC. After 1966 he transferred to Old Dominion College, where he earned a BS degree in Psychology in 1969. Following a successful business career during which he owned and operated four restaurants and an air conditioning and refrigeration business, Ted retired at age 57. He is single and resides in Upper Darby, PA.
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published September 20, 2019
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A Memories Book Bit:
How Norman Beasley Became Dick Lamb
and a CNC First Decade Student
Excerpts from an interview of Dick Lamb
by A. Jane Chambers, pages 98 - 101*
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Born Norman Beasley in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1938, he explored radio work while in high school, then after graduation in 1956, moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where he began his radio career at eighteen--"Mainly working as a gofer," he recalled. "But sometimes I got a little on-air time." In 1958, a friend told Norm that a radio station in Newport News, WGH, was looking for a full-time DJ. He applied for the position, got it, and began his very successful career as...Dick Lamb. How did that happen?
A man named Dick Lamb had been WGH's first DJ choice. The station had invested time and money in having jingles written to promote him. Then he changed his mind about taking the job! Norm was asked during his interview if he'd mind using the on-air name "Dick Lamb" so WGH could use its jingles. He didn't mind at all. By then a young husband and father, he really wanted that DJ position.
He and WGH ("World's Greatest Harbor") were a perfect match.
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| 1966 Trident Page 11, Dick Lamb |
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In 1959, wanting to further his education, Dick enrolled at William and Mary. But commuting there from Newport News, while also managing a full-time radio career and a growing family, became impractical. He gave up going to college after one year.
Then CNC was created and, in fall 1964, moved to Shoe Lane and opened its first new building, Newport Hall, quickly followed in 1965 by Gosnold Hall, with plans for more buildings very soon. And Dick Lamb, living on Whits Court, in the Deep Creek area, suddenly had a college "almost close enough to walk to!"
When he enrolled at CNC for the 1965 - 66 session, he had to register under his legal name, Norman Beasley, but he was quickly recognized on campus as Dick Lamb, and it is under this name that he was identified in CNC's yearbook pictures. In the mid-1970s, Norman Beasley legally changed his name to Dick Lamb.
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* "Dick Lamb Remembers His Years at CNC,” by Jane Chambers, in Memories of Christopher Newport College: The First Decade, by A. Jane Chambers, Rita C. Hubbard, & Lawrence B. Wood, Jr. (Hallmark, 2008). To order book: Send check for $20 made out to Jane Chambers to: Dr. Jane Chambers, 15267 Candy Island Lane, Carrollton, VA 23314. Money (minus mailing cost) is donated to the First Decaders' Treasury.
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We welcome your FEEDBACK. Send to
cncmemories61_71@yahoo.com
or cnc6171@cox.net.
Published September 6, 2019
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My Favorite Gary Hammer Story:
The Budget Committee
by Dr. F. Samuel Bauer
Professor Emeritus of Psychology
In my second academic year at CNC (1972-73) I was elected Chairman of the Psychology Department. Along with that “honor” came a promotion to Associate Professor and a few more dollars in my contract, but being chairman turned out to be more a curse than a blessing.
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There were only a handful of departments then, so the College Budget Committee was made up of the chairpersons of each department. From an administrative standpoint this arrangement was probably logical, since funding of any sort was sparse, and departments such as the sciences were desperately competing for even tiny slices of the pie. Although never said, it seems clear in retrospect that the administration was happy to let the chairpersons settle the distribution of those pitifully inadequate funds.
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| 1972 Trident photo of Dr. Bauer, p. 121. |
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In late September I attended my first Budget Committee meeting. A major purpose of it was to reorganize at the pleasure of the current chairman, Dr. Gary Hammer of the Chemistry Department. As I recall the meeting was held in a classroom on the second floor of Wingfield Hall, which was at the time the newest building on campus.
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| Photo by Thomas L. Williams in Christopher Newport University, by Sean M. Heuvel, p. 32. |
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The first order of business was the election of officers. I was nominated for Vice Chairman. In my experience, being a vice chairman of anything was usually pretty safe in terms of workload and time commitment. So I accepted the nomination and--surprise, surprise--was duly elected by voice vote.
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| 1970 Trident Photo of Dr. Hammer, Page 29 |
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| Then came the election for chairman of the committee. Gary Hammer was nominated to continue as chairman and seemingly accepted the affirmative vote in his favor. Officers elected, we were then ready to review the committee's major task that year--a year in which the College’s request for the next biennial budget had to be compiled. But Chairman Hammer’s first item of business was to resign from the chairmanship! Stunned, and without direction or forethought, I took the chair, being the duly elected Vice Chairman.
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Gary had evidently been briefed by the Business Manager, Calvin “Cal” Hones (not to be confused with my close friend who chaired the Biology Department for many years, Harold “Hal” Cones). Hones wanted the Budget Committee to compile a detailed list of all of the equipment requests from the various departments as part of the overall request. The various departmental requests were so voluminous that I spent most of the next summer with them spread on tables in my laboratory, compiling them on a manual typewriter.
Alas, all that activity yielded scant improvement in funding, so the battle to divvy up the meager proceeds the next year was intense. But by then I was no longer the Budget Committee Chairman.
And somehow Gary and I were always friends and mutually respectful colleagues. Rest in peace old friend.
Note: Dr. Gary G. Hammer died peacefully on February 8, 2016, after a short illness. He was 82.
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Published September 6, 2019
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Squirrel Invasion
by A. Non
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One summer all of the four houses of worship in a small town in the Midwest were invaded by squirrels to the point that something had to be done to rid the buildings of these rodents.
At the Baptist church the squirrels had taken an interest in the area near the baptistery. The deacons met to decide what to do about them. Knowing squirrels are naturally curious, the deacons decided to put a water-slide on the baptistery overnight, hoping the squirrels would drown themselves. The squirrels liked the slide and instinctively knew how to swim, however, so twice as many squirrels showed up the following week.
Meanwhile, the members of the Methodist church decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God's creatures. Having heard that the Baptists had a squirrel removal plan that was expected to work, the Methodists humanely trapped their unwanted squirrels and set them free near the Baptist Church. Two weeks later the squirrels were back, however, when the Baptists took down their water-slide.
The Catholic church came up with a very creative strategy! They baptized all the squirrels and made them members of the church. Afterwards they only saw them at Christmas and Easter.
The Jewish synagogue had the best solution though. The worshipers trapped the first male squirrel they saw and circumcised him. They saw no more squirrels in their building after that.
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Published September 20, 2019
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Dr. Jane Chambers, Editor and Head Writer
Ron Lowder Sr., Webmaster
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