Alumni Magazine - Spring 2008 - (Page 8) >>>FEEDBACK but during one high-tension scene in which the plane is facing certain doom, Robert Stack, who plays the pilot to John Wayne’s co-pilot, says, “Whistle me up a tune, Dan. I like music while I work.” John Wayne puckers up and starts whistling “Ramblin’ Wreck.” Needless to say, the plane lands safely. Bill Naivar Video Manager Office of Information Technology Georgia Tech recounted in the book. I was one of the founding group some 61 years ago. I came to Tech in the fall of 1941. During my freshman year, I was recruited for a play in downtown Atlanta — a commercial production of Cole Porter’s “Anything Goes.” I was an extra. When the war came along, I volunteered so I could choose my field of service. After the war, I returned to Tech, and in the spring of 1947, I was living in Tech’s YMCA over the stage. I lived there two years. I was one of a few people who got together to form a dramatic club. We saw the club become DramaTech. I graduated from Tech in 1949 — although I didn’t get my degree until 1954, but that’s another story — and married Margaret Willingham, who graduated from Agnes Scott. I went into the packaging business and we moved to Charlotte, N.C. We became affiliated with the community theater and I became its president. I never took to acting. After my freshman experience, I never acted on stage again. I was always involved behind the scenes. Harlow Lichtwardt, IE 54 Palmetto, Ga. Movie Melody In the Winter 2008 issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE, the article “The Engineering of a Song” mentions that Gregory Peck sang the Ramblin’ Wreck fight song in the movie “The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit.” I was floored recently when I was watching the movie “The High and the Mighty” starring John Wayne. He plays a washed-up airline pilot called Whistlin’ Dan because he whistles wherever he goes. Most of the time Whistlin’ Dan whistles the theme song of the movie, Behind the Scenes Among the various endeavors you have accomplished, one of the most impressive to me is the “Centennial History of the Georgia Tech Alumni Association.” I made an early purchase of it and have enjoyed reading and rereading many of the passages. A particular item of history with which I was personally involved had to do with the origin of DramaTech in 1947, We Welcome Mail The ALUMNI MAGAZINE welcomes letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, space and content. Mail/e-mail to: Georgia Tech Alumni Publications 190 North Ave. NW Atlanta, GA 30313 Fax: (404) 385-4637 editor@alumni.gatech.edu Why Not Go to Mars? Why go to Mars? The question was posed in a letter in the Winter 2008 issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE. During my 25 years with NASA I was asked that question a number of times by people who wanted the same dollars and cents type of an answer. For a while I gave the “benefit for all mankind, only 1.5 cents of your tax dollar, spin-offs, technology transfer, more jobs, new frontiers, national pride” to many an unim- pressed ear. I finally realized that there is only one answer I can give to the question of why go to Mars (or to the moon or the planets or into space): If you have to ask that question, there is no answer I can give that will satisfy you. Sorry, but there are no concrete answers to exploration, only challenges, and why humans go where they haven’t been cannot be laid out on a spreadsheet. Why go to Mars? Why the hell not? Ed Rainey, CerE 60 Kingwood, Texas 8 Photo: NASA Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine • Spring 2008
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