President's Letter |
I entered Cal as a very wet-behind-the-ears freshman in the Fall of 1969 and lived on the third floor for 18 quarters. While Bill Ragsdale has been developing the on-going Bowles Hall alumni history from its origins, I can offer only some snapshot details from the end of the Turbulent Sixties. By Fall 1969 several changes in the Hall structure had developed. The University had shifted to the quarter system. Pre-World War Two suites had given way to the "center-room/side-room" layout, with upper-classmen occupying side-rooms and (usually) two entering freshmen living in the center-room. The house-mother system of supervision had given way to a Resident Assistant structure. And the housing office had installed wall-to-wall carpet in the rooms over the previous summer. Mike Preisler was the Head RA. He was a law student at Boalt and occupied Room 101 at the extreme bottom end of the Hall with his wide Carla. The other two RAs were Stefan Lenton and Art _______ (can't recall his last name), both of whom I think were graduate students. I was particularly impressed by having folks of such lofty status in these roles of responsibility, not to mention the fact that they were adults. But then I was just a freshman. Tom Mader was Association President. I recall this particularly because he wrote me a letter over the previous summer, welcoming me to the Hall, telling me of its great reputation, and urging me to greatness. (Ah, the days of elegance past.) There was one phrase I especially remember. Tom was talking about being instruments of change or something of the sort and encouraged us to be active, though he was not talking about "some latter-day FSM." I lived in Room 308. My side-roommates were Tim Pinkham and Jim Hartung, and I shared the center-room with Tom Cain a friend from high school. I had known Tim for a long time -- my father and his were partners in the same engineering firm in Los Angeles -- but he really became a good friend and mentor after I moved into the Hall. He was extremely intelligent, a staunch believer in the Hall's traditions, and a very subtle practical joker. I'm sorry to report that he passed away in October 2005. Chuck Johnson BS '74, MS '75 Comments:From davidtwiford - 8/30/08 10:40 AM From billpetro - 4/23/07 1:53 AM Is this THE Chuck Johnson, renowned Bowlesman, and the person who helped me on my CS 1 FORTRAN "Instant Insanity" programming project? You made us proud.
Bill Petro Comment on this Page Last Modified 4/9/07 1:58 PM | Hide Tools |
I remember the Preislers, although we did not see them that much during the course of the day. At that time, there was only one washer and dryer which was shared by the entire hall and was located above the TV room. That year ('69) we had a number of football players staying in the dorm and one of them decided to do his wash. He took the wash out of the washer and seeing that there were a pair of tiger-striped bikini underwear, he placed them on his head and began running around the courtyard with them on. After several minutes of speculation as to which Bowlesman would wear such underwear, he returned to the laundry room with the panties still on his head, to find Carla collecting her laundry! I do not recall the football players living in the Hall after that.
David Twiford, Bowlesman '68-'72