RAMology. The University Library has suffered growing pains for many of the years of its existence. On the founding of St. John's College in 1841, the second floor of the present Administration Building served as the first Student Library and eventually contained as many as 7,000 volumes. By 1885, The College had outgrown its tiny library, and the first floor of Thebaud Hall, a spacious area with "every facility for study and research," became the Student Library. By a written account, "(e)very taste (was) provided for (in the Thebaud Library) and every caste of opinion, political or literary -- to the exclusion (of course) of socialism, revolutionism and blood and thunderism." In 1890, the Faculty Library, a 30,000 volume collection, moved into Dealy Hall. According to The Ram, in 1906, when the Medical School took over Thebaud Hall, the Student Library apparently returned to the Administration Building. In 1924, the Student Library moved into the basement of Collins Auditorium, but Rev. Edward Tivnan, S.J. planned an immense palace of a library that would unite the collections of Collins Auditorium, Thebaud Hall and the Administration Building. In 1927, that palace, Duane Library opened. But, by the late 1930s, although it implemented a system of closed stacks from which the library staff retrieved needed books, even Duane Library had become inadequate. In 1949, due to space constraints, tiers were added to the Great Hall of Duane Library. In 1961, due to further space constraints, the former student cafeteria in Keating Basement became the library annex to Duane; however, conditions remained inadequate. Many volumes were inaccessible to students who sometimes were required to wait days before the library staff could obtain a book for them. In October 1994, Rev. Joseph A. O'Hare, SI., the University president, recognizing the University's urgent need for a new library and ignoring the fact that he University did not yet have the resources to complete one, broke ground.

Walsh Library. On a sunny October afternoon, ii' a celebration which included a Mass by John Cardinal O'Connor and, as recounted in The Ram, a procession of students, professors, alumni and distinguished guests who marched in an "ordered" fashion from Dealy Hall, the University dedicated The Walsh Family Library at Rose Hill, perhaps the most significant construction in the history of the University. Paul LeClerc, the President and CEO of the New York Public Library, applauded Fordham, stating that the library was "as technologically sophisticated as any library that I've seen, anywhere in the world." A tour of the library reveals shelving for 1.2 million volumes, seating for 1,500, 532 study carrels, 66,000 bookshelves, 101 reading tables, a 110-seat surround sound auditorium, 16 group study rooms and sunlight everywhere. An abundance of electronic technology (including 350 computers, 330 wired-for-power work stations, 105 CD-ROM drives and 45 electronic databases) positions the University for the beginning of the next millennium and provides Fordham students access to information from around the world. Designed by Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott in collegiate Gothic style and built on five levels, with 13,500 pieces of limestone and 1,500 tons of bluestone, the Walsh Library has transformed a century of the University's dreams into steel and stone. Fr. O'Hare praised Victor Spacarelli of the University's Physical Plant and others who supervised the careful placement of each of those stones to create the library's 240,000 square feet of space, and Charles Osgood '54, host of CBS Sunday Morning, who was the master of ceremonies at the dedication, reminded us not only of the library's imposing physical structure but also of those dreams and the faith, hope and love that it took to build the library. Bill and Jane Walsh made the largest gift in the history of the University to complete the library, and many of you contributed generously to the construction: among others, Robert E. Campbell '55 presented the gift which created the soaring atrium at the main entrance; friends and former students presented the gift for the Healy Paleography Room in memory of Rev. Timothy S. Healy, SI. and for the study room dedicated in memory of Rev. Joseph P. Fitzpatrick, SI., and the Periodicals Reading Room is a memorial to Walter J. Neylon '30. Bill Walsh '51, to whom the University community owes so much thanks, concluded the dedication by thanking the Fordham community, remarking, "This University has instilled in me qualities... that served me well all my life. It gave me a set of values (for which) I have been forever grateful (and to) which I attribute whatever good I have done and whatever good has been done to me."

Duane Library, one of Rose Hill's most beautiful buildings, now sits dark and dusty after 70 years of service as the University's academic hub. But, Fr. Tivnan's palace will soon undergo a three-year, multimillion dollar renovation. While the full program for the renovated building is still under discussion, its main function will be as a visitors' center to welcome guests, alumni and the thousands of prospective students who visit Rose Hill each year.

"Woe to the country, woe to the class," Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour, wrote in the nineteenth century, "that should confide to (the Society of Jesus) the exclusive education of youth! But for fortunate circumstances, which destroy in a man the lessons of his childhood, they would make in a century a bastard and brutalized race

A Different Perspective. Charles Osgood advises that Fordham had to wait 135 years before it could welcome Selma Schwartz '80 as a student But, Selma was a lady worth waiting for. Not long after her 80th birthday, Mrs. Schwartz, a self-taught milliner of ladies' hats, who was born poor on Manhattan's Lower East Side and left school early to work, finally realized a lifelong dream. She decided to go to college and Fordham University at Lincoln Center was exactly where she wanted to go. Perhaps no one ever liked school better than Selma Schwartz. In 1979, donning a new dress and a beautiful new hat, Selma attended the tenth anniversary celebration of the Lincoln Center Campus where a reporter from The New York Times asked her how she enjoyed going to college. Selma beamed at the reporter and said' "At the age of 84 I have discovered Plato. I sit in class and hear his ideas coming at me, and I get so excited that I start to tremble. That is when I have to fold my hands in my lap and say to myself, 'Selma, you've got to settle down."'

In the last academic year, Fordham College students received five Fulbright Fellowships, two Truman Scholarships, two National Science Foundation Fellowships, one Clark Scholarship, one Goldwater scholarship for the Sciences, one Societe desProfeseurs Francais et Francophones en Amerique Fellowship, one U.S. Information Agency Fellowship, and one White House Fellow award. In the same period, Fordham faculty honors included Guggenheim, Peabody, Marshall, Fulbright, Cottrell, Ford Foundation, Cavaliere Ufficiale Della Republia Italiana, Oscar Hammerstein and Presidential Faculty Fellowships.

U.S. News and World Report ranks Fordham among the top 35 national universities that "offer a high quality education at a reasonable cost," the top value overall among Catholic universities and among the top 25 whose students carry the least amount of college debt

"(A) loyal and distinguished Fordham alumnus," William E. Howley, M.D. 1888 explained the reason why he elected to study under the banner of the Maroon. "(My) father [a blacksmith in Greenwich, Connecticut] returned from a Brooklyn visit with tales of the Jesuit College of St. John's in Fordham, one of the best in the country.. . . That little journey across the bridge settled the choice, . . . and when the summer had gone, I came to . . . Fordham . . . . The college and lower grade classes were still comparatively small then. We had less than two hundred boarders, and some fifty day students in the whole community. But it was a fine place to live and with its beautiful pastoral setting recalling the days of my boyhood, I was not often stricken with homesickness." As reported by Harold J. McAuley '29 in The Maroon, Bill, a "man who. . . sweeps aside the years with much happiness and enthusiasm,... hastened to tell us of the biggest event of all. 'It was at the time we reached the two hundred mark for boarders,' he said. 'Fordham had been anxious for a long time to reach that growth, and when our two hundredth resident arrived, we had a great time. Whistles blew, sirens sounded; in fact, anything that would add to the noise and merry making was rushed into use. We besieged the Rector for a holiday and got it. It was a great celebration, let me tell you."'

The number of applications to the University has increased 60 percent in the past seven years, and this fall the University admitted 1A98 undergraduate students, the largest class in its history. The average SAT score for those members of the class enrolled at The College is 1155. The class includes residents of 35 states and 10 foreign countries. Lured by the bright lights of New York City and attracted by the University's fine academic reputation, eighty-two percent of the student population now resides on campus. Most plan to remain in the City after graduation.

The Faculty. Rev. Daniel J. Berrigan, SI., will teach the course "Poems by Poets in Torment." The course will "examine the poetry of religious or political (or simply pro-human) resistance, written by poets from a variety of cultures who have been exiled, jailed, ....... sent to gulags or killed."... Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, professor of theology, lectured on eco-feminist theology at the University of Sydney in Australia... Robert W. Carrubba, vice president of academic affairs, delivered a paper, "Latin Epitaph for Dr. Engelbert Kaempfer's Three Children," at the l0th conference of the International Society for Neo-Latin Studies in Avila, Spain. . . . Jose Pereira, professor of theology, read a paper on "The Beginnings of Konkani Literature" at the VII International Conference on Early Literature in New IndoAryan Languages, at the University of Venice, Italy.... Emily Rosenbaum, associate professor of sociology, presented a paper "The Burden and Demands of Family Caregivers of the Elderly in China" at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America in Washington, D.C. . . . Dominick Salvatore, professor of economics and department chairperson, was the main speaker at the Annual Meeting of the Italian Banker's Association on "Financial Investment in the Major Emerging Markets" in Milan.

While on too many occasions he has ignored the advice of this publication, with the enhancement of the University's academic reputation, the completion of the Walsh Library, the dramatic increase in enrollment, the creation of two residential campuses including the construction of four new dormitories, the successful completion of the capital campaign and the tripling of the University's endowment, Fr. O'Hare, who has demonstrated determination, intelligence and resilience, has begun to contend as one of the great leaders in the history of the University. TRADITION congratulates Fr. O'Hare, thanks him for his efforts on behalf of our university and urges him to continue his tenure of excellence by creating an athletic complex and opportunities for our athletic teams to proclaim the name of our great university.

The Winter Homecoming. Director of Athletics Frank McLaughlin advises that the annual Hall of Fame breakfast will be heldat Winter Homecoming on Saturday, February 7, 1998, before the men's basketball game against LaSalle. The breakfast will honorBob DiVincenzo '77 (baseball), Tony McIntosh '85 (')basketball), Nicole Williams Jones '92 (basketball), Joe Boyle '68 (football),Greg Boles '78 (5occer), Ned Kelly '74 (swimming/water polo), Tim Marshall '86 (track) and Yvonne Torrente '83 (volleyball/track).Alumni may make nominations to the Hall of Fame by contacting Julio Diaz of the Department of Athletics.

The Sports Page. The women's four of Christini Sereni '00, Amanda Vogel '99, Samantha Smith '99, Erica Schratzmeier '99 and Jason Williams '00 captured the Dad Vail Regatta Championship in May, but race organizers offered the NCAA bid to the second-place boat because the Rams are a club team.... Striker John Wolyniec '99 of the men's soccer team led the nation in scoring this year. Coach Frank Schnur, who once cut Wolyniec from a junior team, is apologetic for his action and says, "I think (Wolyniec has) establish(ed) himself as one of the top strikers in the nation. Right now nobody can stop him. He seems to be able to get through everything, and he doesn't need too many chances."... Ram footballer Barry Cantrell '98 led the nation in punting average with 45.8 yards per kick

In 75 years of competition the football Rams had never beaten Lehigh. In the nine games over that time period, Lehigh had outscored the Rams 233 to 64. By the midway point of the most recent contest this past Fall, the decades-long struggle had taken a familiar tone. Lehigh, the pre-season conference favorite, scored with seconds left in the second quarter and then again to start the third quarter. The team formerly known as The Engineers, and now named The Mountain Hawks, led 35 - 14. But, somehow the Rams hung on and, with second half adjustments and good offensive play calling, began to move the ball. The Rams scored two unanswered touchdowns to begin the fourth quarter and with three minutes and eleven seconds left in the game recovered a Lehigh fumble at their own 20-yard line. Keeping almost strictly to the air, Dan Madine '99, the Fordham quarterback, led the team down the field, converting twice on fourth down with big-gain completions. The second such completion, to Gerry McDermott '00, a Fordham tight end, covered 26 yards and brought the Rams to within striking distance of the Lehigh goal. But, with one tick left on the clock, the Rams were still seven long yards from the tying score. Then, in the most dramatic play in recent Fordham football memory, Madine took the snap from center and, as time expired on the clock, lofted the ball on a timing pattern into the end zone where, despite visible contact from a defensive back, McDermott caught the touchdown pass. Kicker Barry Cantrell's extra point attempt was good, and, with no time on the clock, the Rams had tied the score. In overtime, the rejuvenated Rams, who for the first time in several years have a strength coach, scored another touchdown in just four plays. They held the tired Lehigh team on downs, and ended seventy-five years of frustration. "They deserved to win," said the Lehigh quarterback. "They never gave up."

Bring the kids to the games. In its continuing quest for a national championship, Coach Nick Macarchuk's men's basketball team will play in the Rose Hill Gymnasium against Manhattan College (12/2), Florida Atlantic (12/11), Jacksonville (12/18), Dayton (1/3), Massachusetts (1/6), George Washington (1/22) Temple (1/24),rhode Island (2/1), LaSalle (2P), St. Bonaventure (2/21) and St. Joseph's (2/25). Coach Kevin Morris' women's basketball team will play in the gymnasium against Oregon State (12/17), St.Peter's (12/20), Holy Cross (1/6), LaSalle (1/8), SL Bonaventure (1/13), Rhode Island (1/15), Massachusetts (1/18), Temple (1/27),St. Joseph's (2/3), Duquesne (2/8) and Virginia Tech (2/21).

RAMemberences. As a point of clarification to the RAMemberence of Cathy McGuinness '83, which appeared in the September 1997 issue of TRADITION, Steve DiSalvo '84, who accompanied Carol Kozeracki that night, writes "Cathy McGuinness is absolutely correct in stating that Carol . . . (climbed to the top of) Keating Hall during the spring semi-formal dance in 1981. However, (Carol) did not shimmy to the ,top but rather climbed a ladder affixed to the ante...... That evening marked one of several dozen trips through the clock tower which were terminated in 1984 when the window outside... Keating Little Theater was repaired."

Although WFUV, the country's first college FM radio station, actually began broadcasting on a six hour daily schedule on July 1, 1947, the actual dedication of the Voice of Fordham University took place on Sunday, October26, 1947. According to The Ram, the dedication was quite an event, "His Eminence, Francis Cardinal Spellman, presided at the Formal Dedication ... [and] the ceremonies, which lasted an hour and a half, were highlighted by a cablegram from His Holiness, Pope Pius XII, complimenting the University.... Arthur Godfrey, the radio star and emerging television star, came to do the inaugural broadcast." According to Ralph Jennings, the current director of the station, "(Godfrey) brought Archie Bleyer's Band to supply the music" for the dedication. The Ram reported that some criticized the dedication ceremony and wondered, "Is the fair name of Fordham to be smirched by singing commercials?" But, federal law prohibited a public radio station, such as WFUV, from commercial broadcasts, singing commercials, soap operas and "syrupy-voiced announcer(s) giving setting up exercises in the early morning." As reported in The New York Daily News, in its first year of programming WFUV aired programs on subjects such as mathematics and physics to a modest audience.

While the bureaucrat responsible for the radio tower has still not identified himself and the tower is still unnamed, the Federal Communications Commission has ruled that "the presence of the tower will substantially alter visitors' experience of the (New York Botanical) Garden by the introduction of an unavoidable... visual element out of character" with the area. At the insistence of the Commission, the University and the Garden are engaged in ongoing mediations regarding the completion of the radio tower. However, to date, the parties' representatives have failed to reach an agreement about how to minimize the negative aesthetic effects of the completed tower.

Minister of Religious Matters Nick O'Neill '55 reminds us that the fourteenth annual retreat weekend will be held at Mount Manresa and St. Ignatius Retreat Houses on March 13, 14 and 15, 1998. Contact the Office of Alumni Relations (212-636-6520) for details.

Fordham students can help you as business interns during the school year and summer vacation or as they begin their careers upon graduation from Rose Hill. Contact Greg Pappas of the Career Planningandplacement Center (718-8174360) to learn how you can hire one of Fordham's best.

TRADITION thanks the many members of The Fordham Alumni Student Team, who assist the Admissions Office in identifying and recruiting qualified high school students to attend the University. The F.A.S.T. alumni volunteers donate twelve hours of their time each year and work at college fairs, meet prospective applicants at regional receptions and interview prospective students. Please contact Beth Roper of the Admissions Office at (212) 63~734 to volunteer for FAST.

TRADITION appreciates that its readers responded to the issue of its continued existence. By unanimous vote, the readers beat back the bureaucrats and ensured the continuation of TRADITION in its present form. Among the comments are those of reader MIME:tedtom@concentric.net who writes, "I do read it. I do not particularly like it. You are concise. You are, by Fordham standards, independent. And you are different... I would be glad to contribute a little. And deduct the amount from annual giving to the university."... Wellington T. Mara '37 writes, "Down with the cost cutters and up with TRADITION -- preferably back to four copies a year. The bureaucrats should keep in constant touch with the alumni -- not just at fund raising time!" . . . Jeanne M. Falabella '81 writes, "I LOVE TRADITiON It's informative, historical, witty"... J. Morgan Sweeney '66 writes, "administrators NEVER like to run the risk of having independent voices heard by the alumni.... One suspects, therefore, that the Fordham administrators feel threatened by the slightly irreverent tone of TRADITION (will it alienate alumni and decrease donations?) and would like it to go away. . . If it is any consolation to you, there is also a similar conflict going on between the administrators at Oxford and the long-standing alumni organization and magazine (non-glossy) for control of information. I expect that they are following similar training manuals.... I imagine that many alumni actually look forward to reading it, anticipating the odd smile." ... Robert M. Johnson '49 writes, "I very much look forward to receiving it... TRADITION is terse, witty, interesting, and even sometimes moving, as in the brief memoir of Leo McLaughlin, who(m) I knew and admired highly... TRADITiON is always interesting and readable. I remember well what a pleasant surprise it was to receive something so lively from Fordham."... Lisa M. Madden '88 writes, "(TRADITION) is short, fun and interesting,... So tell the bureaucrats to bugger off and keep TRADITION coming."... Daniel FitzGerald '52 writes, "TRADITION's allowable impertinence.... brings us news of people we knew when we attended (items of genuine interest) rather than news of what management thinks we should be told... TRADITION gets the job done while generating good will, a rare accomplishment. . . . The feature on Leo McLaughlin (was) extraordinary and fascinating

TRADITION, the most interesting and EFFECTlVE communication emanating from Fordham University."... Nicholas P. O'Neill '57 writes, "TRADITION has, over the thirteen years of its existence, accomplished with maximum effectiveness the purpose of its existence -- to act as a communications medium between the College Alumni Board and its Alumni and to nourish the love of Fordham College among its graduates. It has achieved these goals while maintaining a high standard of product and commitment.".. Charles E. McCabe '37 writes, "I normally read (TRADITION) in its entirety and enjoy the human interest stories. I was surprised to learn that my nephew Duncan W. Clark '32 is now the self-proclaimed president of his class. Incidentally, we were the only uncle-nephew combo present at the '97 Jubilee. Not only that, I was (with my niece Ida O'Grady-Clark '57) part of the only uncle-niece combo at the jubilee." ... Marco St. John (aka Figueroa) '60 writes, "I like... TRADITION. It reminds me where I came from and what kind of stuff I'm made of." With support such as this, TRADITION will return to three issues a year.

We recommend that you do not do this at home. In the summer after his freshman year, Dan Madine, a quarterback on the football team, chose to display his school spirit by obtaining a tattoo of a ram's head with a maroon "F'. "I chose that tattoo because I figured I would be a Fordham alumnus the rest of my life," says Madine, who obviously is optimistic about his academic performance.

Ubinam ludent rugbeiani? The University's decision to place artificial turf on Murphy Field so that the football, soccer, softball and intramural teams will have an adequate field on which to play or practice and its refusal to allow the men's and women's rugby teams to play or practice on any other on-campus field unfortunately leaves the rugby teams, which cannot play on hard turf, with no field on campus on which to play or practice. While the decision to place artificial turf on Murphy Field is understandable, certainly the rugby teams deserve a field on which to play their games.

The Replanting of Rose Hill. Rose Hill has lost many beautiful American elm trees, some of which predated the University's founding in 1841, to Dutch elm disease, a disease caused by a fungus that clogs the veins of the trees' leaves and so deprives them of water. The fungus is highly contagious and may physically be passed when the trees' branches or roots touch or by beetles that carry spores from one tree to another. But, through the yearly injection of antibiotics, the University has managed to save 73 of the American elm trees. In addition, the University has begun to plant a disease resistant species of the tree cultivated by a private nursery in Princeton, New Jersey. In addition to the American elms, the University also recently planted 30 maple, plum, cherry and horubeam trees as part of its initiative to replant the campus.

TRADITION: Minister of Propaganda: George P. McKeegan '69; Co-conspirators: William J. Healy '30, Williarn H. Power, Jr.'33, Barrett McGurn '35, Francis X. Holbrook, PhD. '49, Jack Walton '72, Elizabeth B. Kane '90, Catherine McKeegan '99 and Brendan Snodgrass '99.