MIZZOU NEWS

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@Mizzou readers share the big news stories that dominated campus conversation when they were students…

The day Kennedy was shot is a memory that I will never forget. I first heard the news when I returned from morning literature class with Dr. Hudson and went to lunch with my friends from Jones Hall. The radio announcement, which was playing in the lobby of the dorm, said that the president had been shot in Dallas. Everyone was stunned and silent. A few girls started to cry.

During the lunch hour the radio announcements were piped into the cafeteria, and everyone ate in silence. The only news was that the president was rushed to the hospital where doctors were working on him. Back at the dorm lounge more than 100 girls crowded around a single black-and-white TV to watch a grim-faced Walter Cronkite.

That afternoon I had a lab in the J-School. (I was a junior taking basic courses; I think this course was copyediting.) By this time the announcement had come that the president was dead. I recall walking across campus and seeing groups of students hugging and crying. People in the street were grief stricken. The tone in the newsroom was somber; all of us listened to the radio.

I have never seen such an outpouring of confusion and grief before or since.

— Merry Hoff Tomasello, BA ’65

— Paul Hess, BS Ed ’94

I was a freshman in the fall of 1950. The Korean War broke out around this time, creating much uncertainty among male students. Some enlisted, but most stayed in school. At that time, if you were in college, you were deferred from serving in the military. Plus, we all got ROTC training while we were at MU. Some veterans of WW II had to go back in the military because they were in the reserves. After graduation, I served 21 months in the Army.

I called my father when all of this started and asked him what to do. He said, “Stay in school.” As an aside, I believe tuition for an in-state student in 1950 was $50 to $75 per semester.

— Jack Revare, BS BA ’54

Two of the more newsworthy events during my time at Mizzou were:

1) The Cardinals vs. Royals I-70 World Series in fall 1985 was memorable. I heard and saw more arguing throughout that couple of weeks than I ever observed on campus – and professors were often engaged in the chatter! As a Cardinals fan, I’ll never acknowledge the Royals’ victory, which occurred due to a blown call at first base.

2) The creation of the “shantytown” outside of Jesse Hall was also an interesting and controversial event. People understood why, disagreed with, and occasionally showed support for the minority of students participating in the protest.

— Don Schiller, BA ’89

In fall 1985, the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals played in the World Series. Cards won in 6, oops, I mean Royals in 7.

I also remember the Challenger space shuttle explosion in winter 1986 (the first week back from Christmas break).

— Scott Pleus, BS BA ’88

The summer of 1998 was awesome. The entire campus was buzzing with excitement surrounding the Mark McGwire-Sammy Sosa home run race. All over campus the Chicago people would be talking up Sosa, while the St. Louis folks would talk up McGwire. It didn’t matter where you were from because you were in Missouri, and McGwire and Sosa were bringing baseball back to the national forefront.

Starting at No. 50, the St. Louis Post Dispatch would have a full color, full-page photo of Mac the day after hitting a home run. My four corner apartment was covered with these photos. I will never forget it. Everyone at the bars would stop what they were doing and pay attention to the TV whenever Mac or Sosa was up to bat.

— Fred Rome

I will never forget waking up on Sept. 11, 2001, in the Kappa Alpha Theta House. We were all waking each other up in disbelief, at first gathering in individual rooms and in the hallways, and eventually moving down to the TV room. We must have watched the news for 10 hours that day; rarely did anyone say a word.

I remember walking to class and looking up at the sky thinking, for the first time ever, that we weren’t as safe as I thought we were.

— Jessica Furst, BA, BJ ’03

I will never forget 9-11. I didn’t know what had happened, but noticed that every person I passed on campus was talking about it. All of my classes were canceled. My professors felt that there was no way we should be having class with all of that happening. Televisions were put everywhere so we could watch the news unfold. I sat in Memorial Union all day and watched the coverage. On my way home that evening, I passed by the Red Cross and there were hundreds of people gathered to give blood and volunteer. I was in awe of the outpouring of support. I was so proud to be an American that day. Everyone put their differences aside and came together to support our nation.

— Michelle Meywes, BGS ’03

I can distinctly remember where I was on Sept. 11, 2001. I was a junior, working my first shift at KBIA radio. I remember hearing a very quiet voice on the radio intercom say, “It appears that a plane has struck one of the World Trade Center towers.” We thought nothing of it until we went into the booth at 8:55 a.m. and then, minutes later, watched the second plane hit the other tower. We were transfixed. The whole campus seemed to be in a daze; I’ll always remember it. What a day.

— Laura Stumpf, BJ ’03

I just graduated in May 2004, and the most talked about event during my career at Mizzou was the unforgettable events on Sept. 11. I remember with such clarity the morning of the tragedy, awakening to the telephone and the television. My roommate and I sat on the bed with wide-open eyes and mouths. It was difficult to make sense of what had actually happened, but as I watched the second plane hit the towers it was clear. I had just witnessed an attack on the World Trade Center on live television. I suddenly felt nauseated as I watched people jumping from the windows, determined not to burn alive. Tears fell down my face as I realized how many millions of people this would affect and that I could do nothing about it. Fear, helplessness, anger and confusion were among the intense feelings racing through my body.

After what felt like hours, the towers crumbled to the ground, and a symbol of America was destroyed. The phone started to ring again. My parents were calling just to say, “I love you.” I watched the TV for the rest of the day, forgetting about classes and wanting only to know what was going on. It was so painful to watch, but no matter how uncomfortable it was, I had to keep doing it. I had assumed that classes would be cancelled, but it seemed that many people on campus still didn’t realize what had happened. The next day there was a dark cloud over the school. People walking to and from classes had looks of sadness on their faces, and it was so clear that our country would never be the same again.

After a while, conversations started happening and rumors started flying, making it difficult to feel safe – even in Columbia, Mo. It was a confusing time. Were we supposed to feel scared or sad? Or would that mean we were letting the terrorists win? I don’t think anyone knew exactly what to feel. Now that time has passed, it still remains the most memorable moment of my college career.

— Laura Lister, BS HES ’04

During my time at the University of Missouri, the news item was the Vietnam War. Our teachers were for the war because they fought during World War II. Many of the students were against it. By the time I graduated, we started having demonstrations against the war on campus.

At the end of my senior year, I requested a recommendation from the head of my department so that I could join the Air Force Reserve near Kansas City. He sent in the recommendation, but it was not a recommendation for me to get into the reserves. He had not informed me about what he was doing. After this incident, my parents came to the University to talk to the dean of engineering to find out why this had happened.

When the dean called in the department head, he informed my parents and the dean that I was an outstanding student and that nothing was wrong. The dean said that this would not happen again at the College of Engineering. So on that day, I found out that there are people in the world who will get back at you for disagreeing with them about an idea or belief. Even in our educational system where people are expected to express themselves, what you say can and will be held against you by some people.

We noticed this when President Clinton decided not to join the ROTC unit during college. The commander of ROTC detachment kept a copy of Clinton’s letter, which he did not have a legal right to do. This shows that right is not always right in our society.

— Kenyon Donohew, BS IE ’67

My graduation year was 1968, the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy was gunned down the night of our graduation ceremony, and I didn’t learn of it until the following day — the day I moved out and left Mizzou. So there were few fellow students around with whom to discuss the tragedy.

But I do vividly recall the King assassination and the rioting around the country that happened afterward. The King assassination coincided with spring break. As an out-of-state senior journalism student, I had elected to remain on campus and help with the publication of the Missourian. I had the plum assignment of being the layout editor for the Sunday, April 7, edition. Early in the week, I looked forward to the job, but when King was killed and violence broke out in several cities, I knew that Saturday would be stressful.

With the assistance of a faculty adviser and the help of other volunteer students, I managed to lay out a decent front page. A story about the rioting in Chicago, Baltimore and elsewhere ran across most of the top of the page. Other stories were about the national mourning for King, local observances, the labor union strike that had brought King to Memphis, Tenn., and an unrelated explosion in Indiana that killed 15 people. J-school student Bob Kappstatter, who, I believe, is now the Bronx bureau chief for the New York Daily News, flew to Memphis and filed an eyewitness account of what was happening there that we prominently featured on the left side of the page. Incongruously, the page also contained a then standard listing of Columbia residents who were celebrating birthdays on Monday.

As a student senator, I co-sponsored a resolution the following week to send condolences from the student body to Coretta Scott King and her family. The measure was opposed by a few seniors as inappropriate (I suspect one or two of them could have been considered racist), but it did pass.

— Bill Spaniel, BJ ’68

I was gasping toward graduation from J-School in May or June of 1952, broke, hanging by a thread, when the streets filled with what the St. Louis Post Dispatch later called “Sex Mad Simpletons.” Panty raids hit sorority houses.

I looked, but steered clear, being so close to my goal. But for the first time I witnessed the overwhelming power of what could only be called mob frenzy. A friend, curious as he said later, walked into a sorority house, took a look at the spectacle, and walked out.

Black Jack Matthews, dean of students, was on the corner with spotters and a clipboard taking down names, including that of my unfortunate friend.

He was also on the eve of graduation from the J-School, but was promptly suspended and expelled! It took lawyers, and I don’t know type of pleading, to extricate himself. At least, I think he finally got his diploma.

I don’t know what sort of a “sign of the times” that represented, but it’s a far cry from today’s co-ed housing.

I escaped and eventually had a long career on New York newspapers, including the Herald Tribune and The New York Daily News, published some novels, and did some TV and plays. My friend, by the way, also worked for New York newspapers.

My son later graduated from Mizzou and is now deputy chief copy editor at The News.

Such was the campus news of May-June 1952.

— Don Flynn, BJ ’52

During my time at MU, there were four big news stories that got everyone talking: the World Series earthquake, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first Gulf War and the LA riots after the Rodney King verdict.

On the day the earthquake hit, I was watching Wheel of Fortune after supper and fell asleep before the World Series coverage started. When I woke up, every station was covering the earthquake, showing the fires in the city, the A’s and Giants gathering with their families on the field and the busted Bay Bridge.

I was walking down the hall inside the Baptist Student Union when someone came in and said, “The Berlin Wall is coming down.” I went back to Mark Twain and called my brother because it was his birthday and told him that this would be quite a birthday to remember.

The First Gulf War started (or at least we found out about it) when we went back upstairs after supper. Nobody got any homework or studying done that night because everybody was glued to CNN and its three correspondents who were in a hotel on the phone from Baghdad. The war dominated conversation for several days in the hall. People talked about everything from the possibility of the draft starting up to whether or not it was the right thing to be doing. The chalk artists around campus had a field day drawing Mercedes logos that were supposed to be peace signs!

The Rodney King verdict and the subsequent riots got everyone glued to their TVs again. This time it was different though. I felt pretty bad about the decision and the response to it – both were wrong – as did most everybody else. KOMU’s top story that night was the opening of the Grand Palace Theater in Branson, Mo. The main anchors were there covering the event (and obviously had been scheduled to be there for some time) and made no mention of the riots. Someone at the news desk back in the studio mentioned the unrest very briefly, saying “There were some riots today in LA after the Rodney King verdict. Now let’s go back to Branson for the opening of the Grand Palace Theater!!”

— Mark Avery, BS ’93

In 1946 the dominant discussions were about how happy we were to finally see the end of World War II. The flood of veterans to MU was gratifying. The low pay for active service was somewhat rewarded by the GI Bill. Most of us would never have been able to attend except for that divine program. Thank you UNCLE SAM!

Of course, the temporary barracks buildings we had for classes brought back visions of the military life we had just left.

Paddle lines on white campus for the trespassers on the grass lasted only a short time as the veterans didn’t think too much of this childish activity.

— Leo Cronin, BS ’50

Princess Diana’s death was a big deal when I was in college. I remember being at a party at my boyfriend’s house and everyone there was glued to the television news. Granted, some of us were journalism majors. But how often can you recall that sort of experience at a party?

— Marnie Ingle, BJ ’00

The three major stories I remember most were about the space shuttle Challenger disaster; the Korean passenger jet that the Soviet Union thought was a spy plane and shot down; and Michael Jackson’s Thriller video, which broke new ground.

— Mark DeYoung, BS CoE, BS EE ‘87

One big issue on campus in the mid to late 1980s was the student protest regarding Mizzou’s involvement/investment in South Africa. The shantytown was built in front of Jesse Hall and student protesters lived there for quite a while! I can’t remember the exact year or exactly how long the shantytown existed, but I am proud of students who believed in that cause strongly enough to give up their own comforts and insist that their university not support or promote the apartheid system in any way!

— Kelly Zabilka, BS Ed ’89

One major news story I recall hearing over the radio in the cafeteria in 1953 was Paul Harvey’s sonorous reporting on the execution of Carl Hall and Bonnie Heady for kidnapping and murdering six-year-old Bobby Greenlease.

A not-so-major news story, which I personally “broke” that year off the Associated Press newswire and delivered in a newscast on local radio station KBIA, was Roger Banister’s achievement in breaking the four-minute mile barrier.

I was a broadcast journalism major living in Cramer Hall and was KBIA’s first news editor.

— Glenn H. Parsons, BJ ’55

During my years at MU (1946-49), the stories that I recall generating considerable discussion were:

1. Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Mo.
2. The Berlin Airlift
3. The 1948 Presidential Election in which Harry Truman won out over Thomas Dewey.

— Everett H. Jarchow, BS BA ’49

For 36 days, from April to June 1954, the overwhelming topic of conversation was the Army-McCarthy hearings. The “show” was telecast over KOMU-TV, which captured the original feed from the now defunct Dumont Network.

It was a milestone, news-making event nationally and the first such program ever to be telecast by channel 8 in Columbia.

Ostensibly, the issue had to do with charges by Sen. Joe McCarthy that the U.S. Army was “holding hostage” a young recruit named David G. Shine who was said to be entitled to special privileges. McCarthy claimed that the Army was trying to deter his subcommittee from exposing Communists in government.

Prominent individuals who became familiar to TV viewers were Robert Kennedy, Roy M. Cohn, both of whom served on McCarthy’s staff; and Joseph Welch, who was the special counsel for the Army.

The entire episode developed into a historic happening in Washington D.C. and set the precedent for congressional hearings thereafter.

— C.M. (Bud) Schauerte, BA ’51, BJ ’52, MA ’54

I remember the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, the Columbine High School murders in 1999 and Monica and Bill’s affair in between – my personal favorite. I had a roommate who was 17, and she asked me if I could see what interest a young woman in her twenties (I was about the same age as Lewinski) might have in a man the president’s age. Also Professor Joel Hartman used the Lewinski/Linda Tripp relationship to demonstrate how some people classify information. Lewinski thought she was sharing with a friend; Tripp didn’t see it that way.

— Andrea Wilkin, BA ’99

It was Dec. 8, 1980. I was a graduate student in human environmental sciences/communications and house mother at Campbell Harrison, then a cooperative house for female students. I was 27 years old.

I was in my room on the first floor of the house and was shocked by the death of John Lennon. I was, and remain, a dedicated Beatles fan. I closed the door, lit candles and turned on my Beatles songs. The music of the Beatles had been a part of my life for such a long time. But more than that, I had grown up with the Beatles, and so much of what John stood for – peace and harmony in the world – is what I believed, and still believe.

— Joyce Lofstrom, BS HE ’74, MS ’83

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Last Update: November 15, 2007