A photo in the Winter 2022 WPI Journal of three chilly WPI students from years past evoked a number of inquisitive emails from readers who were transported back in time. A query to archivist Arthur Carlson, who pulls vintage photos from his files for use in the magazine, revealed something of a mystery.
“We found the original but there isn’t any additional information on the back,” writes Carlson. “According to our metadata spreadsheet, the title is ‘Three Students in the Snow’ and circa 1960s. They are obviously seniors as they are wearing Skull caps. If our alumni readers figure it out, please let us know and we’ll update the historical record!”
David Speirs ’68 offered the first clue, since he suspected he was, in fact, one of the students pictured: “I am sure the person on the right is Jim Raslavsky ’68 and the center is Bob Woog ’68. I think the person on the left is myself but I am not positive about that (odd, I know).”
Ted Heidt ’68 was more confident in his identification, confirming Speirs’s suspicions: “Dave Spiers was my roommate freshman year in Morgan Hall. We were on the corner, third floor I think. When I went in there a few years ago, I couldn’t find the room. I think I crossed paths with Bob Woog, but I don’t recall. I do recognize him though, maybe from freshman year. I rowed, if you can call it that, on the crew team for a bit, so I knew Jim Raslavsky from the crew club/team. It is a great photo and I was surprised to see faces I remember from 50+ years ago.”
So, mystery solved, and the information will be passed along to Arthur for posterity. Keep those questions coming!
—Kristen O’Reilly, Editor
To the Editor,
Many thanks for the fine article about WPIWA and the radio club station W1YK (Winter 2022). As a ham (then W1ZBL from CT) and an incoming frosh in 1955, I enjoyed operating W1YK, then located in a tiny “shack” in the attic of the Atwater Kent EE building. Using a 250-watt home-brewed transmitter, a BC348 WW2 surplus receiver, and a long wire antenna stretching across to Salisbury Labs, many overseas contacts were made using CW (Morse code telegraphy). Congrats on your great publication and its many informative articles.
—George Rizzi ’59, now W8GOC, and still on the air in Cincinnati, Ohio
To the Editor,
Responding to the article “WPI’s Maestro Takes a Final Bow” in the Fall 2021 edition of WPI Journal, I am especially pleased by the music program Professor Douglas Weeks established at WPI during the past 40 years. Were I a student at WPI today, I probably could be a happy student due to the music program; I was a very unhappy student at WPI in the 1950s because WPI was a musical nothing then. If the WPI music program of today did not exist, I would not have been motivated to establish an endowed scholarship at WPI and donate to it my large library of sheet chamber music. Indeed, I probably would not have supported WPI in our estate plan, as I have not supported WPI over the past 60 years. The WPI music program has greatly changed my sentiment toward WPI.
—Glen Smerage ’59, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Mailing Label Update
Thank you to several alumnae who alerted us to inaccurate WPI Journal mailing labels. This was an unintentional result of a database issue specifically having to do with mailing label names, and we apologize for the error. The problem should be rectified; please let us know of any further issues. As always, if you need to update your mailing or contact information, please email alumni-office@wpi.edu .
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