2008 Woodie Awards
Remember When
Jon Guthrie
Issue date: 2/10/06 Section: Opinion
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Odyssey In The Fifties
Even in the fifties there were opportunities to have experiential learning outside the classroom at Hendrix. One such experience took place on the Hendrix campus during my sophomore year, 1953, for a group of guys in Martin hall. At the time, there were no phones in dorm rooms and no cell phones, but most students had an AM radio. The only way we could be in touch by phone with women on campus was to wait in a long line to use the only phone that was in the hall of Martin. Phone privacy was impossible.
At the time, one of our floor mates who was a physics major had the brilliant idea that we could build a radio station that could broadcast across campus, and, at the same time, tap into the phone line thus having a private phone on the fourth floor where the station would be located. Women would be able to call in requests and, in turn, we could send sweet words and music to our girlfriends via the radio. Access to the phone and to the 'request time' was limited to those of us on the fourth floor of Martin at night.
We had a few technical difficulties, which resulted in our leader consulting the head of the physics department about a frequency problem. Little did Dr. Robins know that he was helping us with our own Odyssey project. We mastered most difficulties with his help, but failed to solve one problem: we were not able to limit the width of the frequency. This meant that rather than being only on one frequency, we splattered over several.
Everything breezed right along in spite of our small problem. We were on the air and ready to handle phone calls. It was a tremendous success we thought. Requests came rolling in, and we were sure that we were envied by the every other man and appreciated by the women.
One day some of us were returning to Martin after lunch, and in a parking space nearby, we observed a white panel truck with the sign on the door that read Federal Communication Commission. Our Odyssey experience was about to be completed. We looked at one another knowing that they were here to pay us a visit.
Even in the fifties there were opportunities to have experiential learning outside the classroom at Hendrix. One such experience took place on the Hendrix campus during my sophomore year, 1953, for a group of guys in Martin hall. At the time, there were no phones in dorm rooms and no cell phones, but most students had an AM radio. The only way we could be in touch by phone with women on campus was to wait in a long line to use the only phone that was in the hall of Martin. Phone privacy was impossible.
At the time, one of our floor mates who was a physics major had the brilliant idea that we could build a radio station that could broadcast across campus, and, at the same time, tap into the phone line thus having a private phone on the fourth floor where the station would be located. Women would be able to call in requests and, in turn, we could send sweet words and music to our girlfriends via the radio. Access to the phone and to the 'request time' was limited to those of us on the fourth floor of Martin at night.
We had a few technical difficulties, which resulted in our leader consulting the head of the physics department about a frequency problem. Little did Dr. Robins know that he was helping us with our own Odyssey project. We mastered most difficulties with his help, but failed to solve one problem: we were not able to limit the width of the frequency. This meant that rather than being only on one frequency, we splattered over several.
Everything breezed right along in spite of our small problem. We were on the air and ready to handle phone calls. It was a tremendous success we thought. Requests came rolling in, and we were sure that we were envied by the every other man and appreciated by the women.
One day some of us were returning to Martin after lunch, and in a parking space nearby, we observed a white panel truck with the sign on the door that read Federal Communication Commission. Our Odyssey experience was about to be completed. We looked at one another knowing that they were here to pay us a visit.