(2 of 3)
The Hot Rock is almost completely de pendent upon a lunar condition known as the "honey moon," and its assent is along a precalculated bridal path.
The Roaring Richard, while by far the most adequate, shows a definite tendency to follow the glide path already established by the General. So far, through extensive testing, it has shown a disinclination or a complete inability to establish an orbit of its own. MARGARET JOHNSON
Florence, Ariz.
Up & Around
Sir:
I wish to call your attention to the fact that the original Great Wallendas are not retired as your Oct. 5 article suggests. Not only are the original Waliendas performing today (Karl and Herman), but they are still doing their seven-people, three-high pyramid. BILLY BARTON (Mr. Sensation) Greencastle, Pa.
Award for Effort
Sir:
About that $1,000 "bonus" the University of Pennsylvania "bestowed" on 20 of its outstanding faculty members recently, "reportedly the first such ... by a U.S. college or university" [Oct. 5]: it may well have been the most, but it wasn't the first. In 1957 the Pennsylvania State University presented special checks ranging from $300 to $500 to seven members of its faculty.
LAWRENCE E. DENNIS Vice President for Academic Affairs The Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pa.
Sir:
Thanks to the generosity of Mr. Ernest E Quantrell, this college has made awards of $1,000 for the past 20 years, and judging from the enquiries, I should be disappointed if others have not followed our example.
ALAN SIMPSON Dean of the College University of Chicago Chicago
Moo U
Sir:
How dare you! On the official seal, it's "Iowa State University of Science and Technology." Some prefer "Not-the-Football-One, ' others "Moo U." But "Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanical Ar s [Oct. 5]?" Man, that's gone.
ALEX HERSHAFT Ames, Iowa
¶So it is. The name was changed last July.—ED.
Architect at Work
Sir:
In your Oct. 5 article on Finnish Architect Alvar Aalto, you report: "Once while designing Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Baker House in 1947, he turned out the whole staff at midnight, for three hours paced the office floor without a word, thinking furiously, finally dashed off the drawings."
This is not accurate. My memory tells me clearly that one person did stay all night with him. Aalto came in about 11:30 p.m. and sat down to study the drawings his helpers had been working on all week. One by one, they all straggled home by about 2 a.m., leaving only the skinny neophyte [myself] with his boss, who was'stiil sitting at the front desk, chin on hands, looking at the drawings. Aalto remained in tha, position without moving until about 6 a.m.; whether he was asleep or not is not known, since the assistant was afraid to go look. Then Aalto stirred and began to draw with soft colored pencils until about 8 a.m. It was a magnificent rendering of the main floor plan and foretold a great building. He is a great architect.
FRED BASSETTI Seattle
Showing the Light
Sir: