My compliments to you and your staff on the content in the fall 2008 issue of Mines. I refer specifically to the two articles on algae and geobiology, and the focus on Ms. Major-Sosias and the work of Areva. I am very pleased that Mines will be focusing on these sources of energy. I live in the Boothbay Harbor region of Maine, and we are the home of The Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science, which is a leader in the field of microbiological research. I am sure the Mines faculty are familiar with their work. However, I would like to give them a copy of Mines magazine as there may be a connection that could be made. Also, I would like to send copies of the magazine to our two U.S. senators and local politicians to encourage them to pursue the nuclear power discussion with their colleagues.
Richard E. Palmer ’61

Curriculum

The article “The Mines Curriculum” makes little mention of the professional degree as a standard degree through the 1970s, which is unfortunate. The change from the professional degree to the bachelor’s degree was done primarily to compete with other schools. Perhaps the author needs to be a little less biased toward the current degree and more accurately describe the school’s history. After all, older graduates take great pride in their professional degrees, which included considerably more coursework than the bachelor’s degrees that came later, and were recognized by industry as a superior degree to a bachelor’s granted by most other engineering schools at the time. Ironically, the illustration on page 32 shows a skinny Bill Wilson in 1964 outweighing two current students. The article on Marv Kay was great. He truly is Mr. Silver and Blue.
Bill Wilson ’65

Editor’s Note: The article to which Bill Wilson refers does mention the professional degree in the third paragraph, calling it the modern equivalent of a bachelor’s degree plus a professional master’s degree. However, this point is not raised again, making it easy for readers to think the story equates the professional degree curriculum with a modern bachelor’s program. We regret this confusion. The story aims to discuss the evolution of bachelor’s degree programs since they were introduced in the late 1960s; there was no intention to put professional degrees on a par with bachelor’s degrees.

I want to congratulate you on Larry Borrowsky’s “The Mines Curriculum” article. That’s the first time in 50 years that it’s been outlined how they have changed the curriculum.
Tom McLaren ’52

Marv Kay

What a thrill when I clicked on my email this evening and was greeted with a picture of Marvin Kay on the cover of Mines magazine. It was a real memory trigger for me.

I first met Marvin when my family moved to Ouray, CO, in the late ’40s. My father, William Klein ’31, had accepted a position to work with Marvin’s father at the American Lead and Zinc processing mill just north of town. The ore for the mill came from the Silverton area, and I recall some great trips in the back of an old four-wheel drive Dodge Powerwagon into the San Juan Mountains around Silverton. Marvin Sr. would drive and cut the corners really close scaring all of us in the back.

Marvin and his family lived on the northeast corner of Ouray at the top of a steep hill and adjacent to Cascade Creek. I still have memories of a major rainstorm and flood from Cascade falls. My mother drove up the hill to check on the Kays, and she recalled seeing Marvin’s mother wading out of the house in a mudflow up to her knees, carrying Mary, the youngest. We later moved into their house when the Kays moved to Grand Junction. We would often spend weekends in Grand Junction with the Kays and Marvin was always the oldest kid, so it was cool to hang around with him.

In 1961, when I graduated from Cripple Creek-Victor High School, I was fortunate enough to attend Mines. Marvin was there, and he was a welcome sight. His calm voice and hand amidst the stress and turmoil of trying to adapt to a very new, rigorous way of life was a welcome assurance that things were going to be okay.

And so thanks to Mines magazine. I’ve followed his life from a distance as I moved along in a variety of incredibly interesting assignments with the USGS. As I clicked on the computer tonight, there his picture was. It was great to see this longtime friend. Marvin, we hope you are doing well. Thanks for being there when a lonely and scared freshman needed some help.

Keep up the great publication. My dad, my youngest brother and I all graduated from Mines.
John Klein ’69, MS ’71

Pinpointing Summer Cover

The photo was taken looking downstream at Horseshoe Bend in Marble Canyon [in the Grand Canyon].The overlook is only a short walk west from Highway 89A, about four miles southwest of Page, AZ.
Tim MacIntyre ’06