Letters, posts and emails

Capturing the flag for Case

After reading our story on Professor Frank Merat’s collection of Case memorabilia, “Keeper of the Keepsakes,” Larry Pool ’62 wrote to say he had a Case flag that flew over the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The 4 x 6 banner will soon join Frank’s collection, but we had to know how Larry came by such a keepsake. Here’s the story:

I graduated from CIT in 1962 and went to work for a company in Perrysburg, Ohio. The founder of that company happened to be a Case alum from around 1917. They had a couple of guys in the Engineering Department who had attended Case on the G.I. Bill after World War II. When the one guy heard that I’d graduated from Case, he couldn’t wait to share the flag story and give me the flag.

It seems like a couple of the vets decided to skip classes and go see the Indians play at the old Municipal Stadium, as they were in a pennant race (1946?). Well, it was a hot afternoon, and they had had a few beers when they noticed the Case flag flying from the upper deck roof. After deciding that they had faced bigger challenges in Germany, they started plotting. They hid in the stadium until dark, then climbed up on the roof and dehoisted (heisted) the flag.

Here the plan faced a minor obstacle, as all of the gates were now chained shut. So, they found a hiding spot, spent the night, sobered up, and left when people were coming in the next day.

The guy who gave the flag to me is deceased, so I am relying on my memory of his tale. But it certainly does ring true to some of the antics Case guys were fond of doing. If his partner in crime is still around, I would surely like to hear the story from him.

I’ve been moving that Case flag around for 50 years. I hung it out a couple of times when we lived in Painesville, but I stopped displaying it when we moved to Chicago, and people asked if I worked for Case Tractor Co. I was kind of worried my kids would just toss it if I croaked. They were never impressed with the S-C-I…E-N-C-E! cheer. So I’m glad the flag is finding a home.

Larry Pool ’62 Alpharetta, Georgia

First biomedical engineer

Our story on the Department of Biomedical Engineering celebrating its 50th anniversary in the summer Case Alumnus prompted an enthusiastic letter from an early student, excerpted here:

I may have been the first biomedical engineering graduate in June 1968. I started with the department in 1967, joining 15 or so guys who were working on doctoral projects.

For my master’s project, A Study of an Elastic Muscle Endoprosthesis, I tried to find a way to help children with drop foot issues. I used sheep to test a spring device incorporated into a plastic implant. Bringing sheep to the basement of the VA hospital was probably a unique way to test ankle dynamics.

At that time, I was the only student not interested in a doctoral degree. I started looking for work with medical device companies, but no one was interested in a “bio-medical engineer.” I had interviews, but they just could not figure out how to hire an engineer with a degree in biomedical engineering. Note: Case Institute of Technology decreed that I had a master’s of science in engineering.

So we returned to Seattle and I was able to get hired at Boeing as a mechanical engineer. I got bored with mechanical engineering. In the company paper, I read an article about a team called “human engineering” working with airplane and spacecraft engineering projects. I jumped in right away.

I led the coordination and development of the Man Systems Integration Standards, used by every manned system at NASA. I spent four years with NASA working on the space station as a Level 2 Manager of Human Engineering.

When you see a picture of an astronaut looking out of the Cupola window of the International Space Station, you are looking at the results of my first set of requirements.

Keith Miller ’68 Puyallup, Washington

From Case Quad to the Ponderosa

Two readers wrote to inform us that Albert Michelson, the Case professor who laid the foundation for Einstein’s Theory of Relativity, also inspired an episode of the television western Bonanza.

While clearing out a pile of magazines in anticipation of moving, I came across a letter to the editor in the May 2017 issue of Air & Space Smithsonian.

“A Light at the End of the Tunnel” (Oldies & Oddities, Feb/Mar 2017) reminded me that Albert Michelson was portrayed in an episode of the television show Bonanza, first broadcast on March 18, 1962. In the episode, Michelson recruits Ben Cartwright and his son Adam to help with the initial mirror rotations and timing equations. There was some manufactured drama, but the episode did have Ben helping the young physicist get into the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, which Michelson did in fact attend. The episode also included narration recounting that Michelson won the Nobel Prize in physics based on his precise measurements of the speed of light.

Stephen Hashioka, DDS

Chicago, Illinois

Editor’s note: The episode, “Look to the Stars,” can be found by searching YouTube for the terms Michelson and Bonanza.

In all the Michelson stuff I’ve read, in Case Alumnus, Dr. Cramer’s history of the university, and random other sources, I’ve never seen a reference to Dr. Michelson’s appearance on Bonanza. I would have been two months short of my 5th birthday at the time this episode originally aired. I haven’t watched the episode, but a quick online search reveals that William Schallert, who played the father on The Patty Duke Show, played Michelson’s teacher. Michelson’s parents are also portrayed.

He did spend part of his youth in Virginia City, Nevada, where the Bonanza ranch, the Ponderosa, was located.

Just a little something different on one of Case’s favorites.

Paul R. Fishel Jr. ’79 Columbus, Ohio paulfisheljr@frontier.com