Remembering a Residential Revolution

What a great reminder of the times in the late ’60s and early ’70s. The cohabitation of female and male students would not have happened had it not been for a group that convinced the administration several years earlier that men and women could visit with each other in the dorms but under strict provisions, like the door having to remain open. A matchbook became the yardstick for the door being “open.” Dean Gray was extremely resistant to this proposal, which became known as “parietal hours.” How do I remember? I was there both as the first undergraduate to become a residence hall “grad” student supervisor and with the SGA. Boy, those were the days.

V. Raymond Ferrara ’70, Belleair, Fla.

Just a quick note to thank you for the article regarding the rules we had to observe back in the day in women’s dorms at Maryland. It took me down memory lane. “Draconian” was a very apt way to describe the rules. Needless to say, we chafed under them, as we felt they were too restrictive for women who could vote and legally purchase a drink. But we had no choice but to follow them. Protesting was unheard of then and probably would have resulted in us no longer being a student! Again, thanks for the laugh remembering the restrictions!

Martha M. Boron ’60, Canton, Mich.

Homeownership Program Builds Greater College Park Community

It’s a fabulous way to strengthen and build the community in a tangible way that reduces traffic, provides strong community bonds and creates a live here, work here mentality.

Morgan Gale, Silver Spring, Md., via Facebook

Absurdity of Her Days

One thing that I find most discouraging about the gun violence is our inability as a society to even have a civil conversation about gun violence. Some people seem to be focused on what they might lose from a solution to the madness, without any thought given to what we all might gain from living in a safer nation. There must be a way to build bridges to find a solution. We cannot give up.

Timothy Dixon ’80, Ellicott City, Md.

Thank you so much for the recent article on Andrea Chamblee. I cried as I read her plight. I am group leader for Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America in Polk County, Fla. Gun violence prevention is my go-to cause. Please tell Andrea that she can contact me at any time.

Leander Aulisio M.S. ’81, Lakeland, Fla.

The Nazi Reactor That Wasn’t

A very interesting item is missing from the article about Hitler’s failed attempt to create an atomic bomb. I cannot be sure of its truth, but a detail in your item supports it, as does Wikipedia. The person in charge of the project was Werner Heisenberg (famous for the uncertainty principle). He calculated that the amount of U235 needed to create an atom bomb was roughly one ton … 10 times the amount estimated by the U.S./British teams! This would have been such a large amount that to proceed, the Germans would have had to put all other activities on the back burner. So they put the bomb on the back burner. The Terp article says that so many of the uranium cubes were made that if all the little cubes had been put together in a single site, it could have resulted in a functional reactor of the type that was built under the building on the University of Chicago. No one really knows if Heisenberg made the error deliberately; much has been written on this topic.

Bette M. Winer Ph.D. ’69, Chestnut Hill, Mass.