Lobbyin fro State Control Curtis B. Forsgren '55 The Korean War had just ended as we entered Weber in the fall of 1953. The governor of Utah was not a strong supporter of education. There was a concern that the junior colleges might be abandoned by the State of Utah. Most of them, including Weber, would then revert to the L.D.S. Church. These were the conditions the L.D.S. Church set when it gave the schools to the state. The students actively supported the lobbying effort to keep state control. I remember one afternoon when President Miller and Student Body President John Elzey and a host of dignitaries went to Salt Lake City to lobby. We joined hands on the second floor of the Education Building and sang Mormon hymns. Sacrilegiously, I might add. Lightning did not strike, although the roof leaked, and there was frequently a large half-inch puddle on the floor. I remember Walter Buss's geology field trips to Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon in late April or early May - how much fun, how much sharing. I learned a song I sang to all six of my children until they were at least six years old. That is 19 years of singing "If I were as high as an elephant's eye." The second year of that trip we had water fall over the canyon cliff walls of Zion. The first year on that trip in that same canyon the moon was out and was so bright we could see the colors in the canyon walls. Snow at Bryce with everything closed caused some consternation. Only one outhouse could be found. Somewhere I have a picture that includes Walter Buss and over a dozen others waiting their turn. During Uncle Nick's Insti- tute Snow Christmas Party, we sang carols riding in the back of big flatbed trucks with sides and an end so we could stand. We travelled up and down streets singing loudly - occasionally on key. Ludicrously, we even went up the alley between 24th and 25th streets from Wall Avenue to Grant Avenue. We saw the red lights but no ladies of the evening. We returned to the Institute to go out to the quad and play in the snow, to make angels, to play fox and geese or run sheepie run. Dancing and food followed. Did we always have chili, or did it just seem that way? Geology trip Cats, Memories! Nelson E. Wright '55 Just when Weber and Andrew Lloyd Webber were young and going through their weaning periods, we cats were creating major memories. Andrew Lloyd hadn't even begun to dream up his feline follies when we were having "whisker" singing experiences of our own. He certainly did capture the melancholy and sentiment of our classes when he later wrote his song "Memories" for the Broadway production Cats. When Dale Gustaveson, Sharon Slater, Ray Cummings, LuWanna Harris, and I were elected student body officers, we accomplished a lot of things during the year and even captured a place in the time capsule nestled away in the monument overlooking our beautiful campus on Harrison Boulevard. Perhaps my greatest moment, although personal, was meeting Nancy Lee Frasier, who was president of LaDianaeda. I was lucky enough to date her, and it has been a great love story from then until now. The church-versus-state issue came up in 1953-54. Our student body president, John Elzey, and student officers went door to door throughout Weber County and surrounding counties regarding the referendum to retain Weber 80 College as a state institution. We recognized the historical heritage of our forefathers instituting excellent centers of learning in the United States. However, for many reasons the populace and the student body fought for and won the referendum to keep Weber College as a state institution. We are indebted to John "Pop" Elzey for great leadership in the class of 1954. Campus life existed on a dual campus. I remember the lower campus. I have fond memories, and odorous ones as well, of spending time in the basement of the Moench Building as I was a pre-med chemistry student in Dr. Ralph Gray's chemistry program. We were generating rotten egg gas all the time, and the Moench Building had its characteristic fragrance, which was the talk of the campus. Memories also in that building were of the Heninger boys doing acrobatics, gymnastics, and handstands on the parapets of the Moench Building when we had pep rallies. While engaging in the fast-paced activities of the two campuses, the students car-pooled, transporting one an- other back and forth from Harrison two or three miles to lower campus to alternating classes. It worked out beautifully with few exceptions. We had our sports stadium on the upper hill, but as yet did not have large campus buildings constructed, other than the four main buildings and the TUB. We got to see in model miniature the architect's futuristic layout of the new campus, but we couldn't even imagine living in the 1980's when a Weber State University and graduate study programs were forecast. As I passed the baton to Ray Humphreys, we went to a presidents' association meeting in San Diego. We were learning to teach the elements of presidential leadership to student presidents in national cities where conventions were held for this purpose. While we were in the hotel, Dale Gustaveson, Ray Humphreys, Ray Cummings, and I had done some ironing with a portable iron that was placed in our room for convenience. We went out to a convention meeting for a few hours and came back to discover that the sprinkling system in the hotel had drenched our room. We learned that the still hot iron, which was set high on a shelf in our clothes closet, had caused the heat to rise and set off the water sprinkler alarms for a few minutes. Were we ever the highlight of the convention, both there and back at home. I remember such things as: Boise State Wooden Indian competition in football - we didn't keep the Wooden Indian that much. Boise tended to beat us. Our hikes to the W to have our socials and gatherings Our dances in the Gym Building ballroom Our water fights, mud fights, and balloon fights The interaction of all of the social clubs on campus. I remember also the rivalries between Excelsior, Phoenix, LaDianaeda, and Sharmea, and many other social organizations. I remember Dr. Sheldon Hayes, who could print ambidextrously; he did everything in capital printing. These were the days of slide rules and erasers, the gummy pink kind on pencils. There were no calcula- tors, computers, and the stuff we now have to facilitate information gathering. We were up long hours doing homework with pen, pencil, erasers, and old-time typewriters with carbon copies. Even then, we didn't let school work stand in the way of our education. I remember in a summer quarter taking 15 hours of organic chemistry from Dr. Gray, from 7:30 in the morning to 6:00 at night, doing three chapters of chemistry and three chapters of laboratory work in that stinky, noxious Moench Building basement laboratory system. All of these credits were acceptable to all other universities and colleges around the country. The discipline was superb. To this day Weber State University still offers these concentrated, highly technical courses. What friendships and memories were cultivated, both in and out of the classroom. I'm sure that all of us Cats revel in the memories that our great relationships, learning, and love for one another have engendered. 1955 student body officers 81