58 years ago today

[olelion]

Olelion checked in at Shunk Hall as a Penn State freshman to begin one week of orientation. He opted not to wear the beanie at any time. Classes began on Oct. 3. My first home football game attended was against Boston College on Oct. 8. Paterno was in his first year as head coach leading the team to 5-5 record. That record was not as bad as it seems. The five losses were:
Michigan St. (9-0-1)
Army (8-2)
UCLA (9-1)
Syracuse (8-3)
Georgia Tech (9-2)

The only close loss was against Syracuse, 10-12. Best player after Mike Reid went down was probably sophomore Bob Campbell.

Can any of you youngsters imagine beginning classes in October? We were on quarters back then. A couple of key lines in the Alma Mater read, "as we stood at boyhood's gate" and "thou diidst mold us dear old state, into men, into men". Attire at football games was typically coat and tie and smart outfits for the young ladies

 

[Ceasar]

Olelion checked in at Shunk Hall as a Penn State freshman to begin one week of orientation. He opted not to wear the beanie at any time. Classes began on Octo. 3. My first home football game attended was against Boston College on Oct. 8. Paterno was in his first year as head coach leading the team to 5-5 record. That record was not as bad as it seems. The five losses were:
Michigan St. (9-0-1)
Army (8-2)
UCLA (9-1)
Syracuse (8-3)
Georgia Tech (9-2)

The only close loss was against Syracuse, 10-12. Best player after Mike Reid went down was probably sophomore Bob Campbell.

Can any of you youngsters imagine beginning classes in October? We were on quarters back then. A couple of key lines in the Alma Mater read, "as we stood at boyhood's gate" and "thou diidst mold us dear old state, into men, into men". Attire at football games was typically coat and tie and smart outfits for the young ladies

Great post olelion! I love the history lesson, both with respect to the 1966 season (what a great inter-sectional schedule!) and the academic structure.

 

[EricStratton-RushChairman]

What a crazy 4 years to be in college... between growing unrest over Vietnam, the insanity of the violence in 1968, civil rights movement/riots, moon landing, and the start of the Paterno era.

The wearing of coat and tie at football game is so foreign to GenXers and beyond.

 

[LionJim]

I started in ‘74, Stuart Hall.

 

[razpsu]

What a great year. I was born in 1966 and I’m old.🫣🫢

 

[psuro]

My freshman year 1982 was the last year of the quarter system. But we started in Sept

 

[Metal Mike]

Like Olelion I started at PSU in Oct. 1966. That was the first year we had to pay for student football tickets. I think it was a $1 a game. Many of the guys took a date to the game yes dressed in coat and tie. All the games started at 1 PM so we had time to eat lunch in the dining hall and still get to the game. Freshmen were seated in the end zone. Upper classes could get better seats. There was a track around the football field and one end zone had bleachers. The first term ended with Christmas Break. A major problem with terms was we did not get out until mid-June and by then a lot of the summer jobs were taken. Classes with a hour and 15 min. to get more info.

 

[Bkmtnittany1]

Olelion checked in at Shunk Hall as a Penn State freshman to begin one week of orientation. He opted not to wear the beanie at any time. Classes began on Oct. 3. My first home football game attended was against Boston College on Oct. 8. Paterno was in his first year as head coach leading the team to 5-5 record. That record was not as bad as it seems. The five losses were:
Michigan St. (9-0-1)
Army (8-2)
UCLA (9-1)
Syracuse (8-3)
Georgia Tech (9-2)

The only close loss was against Syracuse, 10-12. Best player after Mike Reid went down was probably sophomore Bob Campbell.

Can any of you youngsters imagine beginning classes in October? We were on quarters back then. A couple of key lines in the Alma Mater read, "as we stood at boyhood's gate" and "thou diidst mold us dear old state, into men, into men". Attire at football games was typically coat and tie and smart outfits for the young ladies

Clifford cost us at least 3 wins that year!

 

[BeerLion]

My freshman year 1982 was the last year of the quarter system. But we started in Sept

I started fall of 1981 and we started in september as well

Loved it when it changed so I was not in the middle of the second quarter over Christmas break and did not have to worry about having school work

 

[LionJim]

Like Olelion I started at PSU in Oct. 1966. That was the first year we had to pay for student football tickets. I think it was a $1 a game. Many of the guys took a date to the game yes dressed in coat and tie. All the games started at 1 PM so we had time to eat lunch in the dining hall and still get to the game. Freshmen were seated in the end zone. Upper classes could get better seats. There was a track around the football field and one end zone had bleachers. The first term ended with Christmas Break. A major problem with terms was we did not get out until mid-June and by then a lot of the summer jobs were taken. Classes with a hour and 15 min. to get more info.

Yeah, you could walk around the track at halftime.

 

[Ron1970]

Olelion checked in at Shunk Hall as a Penn State freshman to begin one week of orientation. He opted not to wear the beanie at any time. Classes began on Oct. 3. My first home football game attended was against Boston College on Oct. 8. Paterno was in his first year as head coach leading the team to 5-5 record. That record was not as bad as it seems. The five losses were:
Michigan St. (9-0-1)
Army (8-2)
UCLA (9-1)
Syracuse (8-3)
Georgia Tech (9-2)

The only close loss was against Syracuse, 10-12. Best player after Mike Reid went down was probably sophomore Bob Campbell.

Can any of you youngsters imagine beginning classes in October? We were on quarters back then. A couple of key lines in the Alma Mater read, "as we stood at boyhood's gate" and "thou diidst mold us dear old state, into men, into men". Attire at football games was typically coat and tie and smart outfits for the young ladies

Penn State lost two of its first three games (by a total of three points) after I checked in a year later and then never lost a game until after I graduated three years later. While unfairly denied a national championship those years rank among the best in PSU football history.

 

[PSU87]

My freshman year 1982 was the last year of the quarter system. But we started in Sept

Yes, I remember them telling me when I started in Fall of 83 that they had just switched to semesters

 

[Bosco2]

Yeah, you could walk around the track at halftime.

Don't remember that. There was a fence to climb over if you wanted to walk around the track.

 

[LionJim]

Yes, I remember them telling me when I started in Fall of 83 that they had just switched to semesters

Yeah, we had quarters when I started. Which makes the reading list for my American Lit course all that much more amazing: The Sun Also Rises, Native Son, The Sound and the Fury, The 42nd Parallel (Dos Passos, incredible), Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Plus a boatload of poets. Lol, I took some speed the night before my final exam and power-read all night, got a B.

 

[LionJim]

Don't remember that. There was a fence to climb over if you wanted to walk around the track.

Are you post ‘76 or ‘78? I won’t swear to it, the walking on the track thing.

Actually, it was the walk around the field at halftime with a friend that convinced me I needed to leave PSU. “What’s your plan? What are you going to do?” I had nothing. Good walk, good talk.

 

[bbrown]

Olelion checked in at Shunk Hall as a Penn State freshman to begin one week of orientation. He opted not to wear the beanie at any time. Classes began on Oct. 3. My first home football game attended was against Boston College on Oct. 8. Paterno was in his first year as head coach leading the team to 5-5 record. That record was not as bad as it seems. The five losses were:
Michigan St. (9-0-1)
Army (8-2)
UCLA (9-1)
Syracuse (8-3)
Georgia Tech (9-2)

The only close loss was against Syracuse, 10-12. Best player after Mike Reid went down was probably sophomore Bob Campbell.

Can any of you youngsters imagine beginning classes in October? We were on quarters back then. A couple of key lines in the Alma Mater read, "as we stood at boyhood's gate" and "thou diidst mold us dear old state, into men, into men". Attire at football games was typically coat and tie and smart outfits for the young ladies

My older sister was there around that time, '68 or so, and she thought they had to dress up for the dinning hall as well.

 

[bbrown]

My freshman year 1982 was the last year of the quarter system. But we started in Sept

Same for me.

 

[bbrown]

Yes, I remember them telling me when I started in Fall of 83 that they had just switched to semesters

+1. Now lets talk about the cattle call the was Registration. OOf.

 

[Bkmtnittany1]

Like Olelion I started at PSU in Oct. 1966. That was the first year we had to pay for student football tickets. I think it was a $1 a game. Many of the guys took a date to the game yes dressed in coat and tie. All the games started at 1 PM so we had time to eat lunch in the dining hall and still get to the game. Freshmen were seated in the end zone. Upper classes could get better seats. There was a track around the football field and one end zone had bleachers. The first term ended with Christmas Break. A major problem with terms was we did not get out until mid-June and by then a lot of the summer jobs were taken. Classes with a hour and 15 min. to get more info.

That was also the last year The Skeller cleaned the toilets!

 

[EricStratton-RushChairman]

Yes, I remember them telling me when I started in Fall of 83 that they had just switched to semesters

Remember those first two years (83/84 & 84/85) when it was just an A/B/C/D/F scale? I earned so many 79% B's those two years

 

[kgilbert78]

Attire at football games was typically coat and tie and smart outfits for the young ladies

Still is at some schools, especially those in the South.

 

[PSU87]

Remember those first two years (83/84 & 84/85) when it was just an A/B/C/D/F scale? I earned so many 79% B's those two years

Ahh, memories. I remember the rationale behind not doing A+: "to preserve the integrity of the 4.0"

Not that I had to be concerned with getting many A+ grades

 

[EricStratton-RushChairman]

Ahh, memories. I remember the rationale behind not doing A+: "to preserve the integrity of the 4.0"

Not that I had to be concerned with getting many A+ grades

I earned an 88% in Thermodynamics (ME80 I think), and was thrilled with my B. When I found out I was getting an A I knew that for the rest of my life I would have this great brag "I got an A in thermo... ". Still brag on that to this day.

 

[Roar More]

I started in 67. I had to turn the football program around after the poor job Olelion did. The good old days when you could have a female visitor in your room only on Sunday afternoons and only if the door was open enough that a book could fit between the door and a jamb. A lot of match books got used in that way. I spent fall and winter terms in Nittany Halls - the "temporary" WWII barracks. I used a spoon to tunnel into an adjoining room. The upside to Nittany was an RA in every other barracks, er - dorm, and my girlfriend could gain entry through the window as they were all only one story construction.

 

[Bring Back Bar Bleu]

OP would've been there when Betsy Aardsma was murdered in the Pattee Stacks. Just listened to a podcast on that. Late November of '69 during Thanksgiving Break.

Paterno was in the midst of his second consecutive undefeated season.

 

[psuro]

I earned an 88% in Thermodynamics (ME80 I think), and was thrilled with my B. When I found out I was getting an A I knew that for the rest of my life I would have this great brag "I got an A in thermo... ". Still brag on that to this day.

My thermo "God Damn" nics was Chem 451 and 452 I believe.

 

[PSUBOB]

I earned an 88% in Thermodynamics (ME80 I think), and was thrilled with my B. When I found out I was getting an A I knew that for the rest of my life I would have this great brag "I got an A in thermo... ". Still brag on that to this day.

Same here. It was the fail out course for engineers. We did everything to get the "good" profs. I had Faith , who was great.

 

[olelion]

Don't remember that. There was a fence to climb over if you wanted to walk around the track.

I started in 67. I had to turn the football program around after the poor job Olelion did. The good old days when you could have a female visitor in your room only on Sunday afternoons and only if the door was open enough that a book could fit between the door and a jamb. A lot of match books got used in that way. I spent fall and winter terms in Nittany Halls - the "temporary" WWII barracks. I used a spoon to tunnel into an adjoining room. The upside to Nittany was an RA in every other barracks, er - dorm, and my girlfriend could gain entry through the window as they were all only one story construction.

I was in Nittany my sophomore year (67-68)after I showed up at a fraternity and realized that if i stayed there, I'd flunk out

 

[TiogaLion]

My freshman year 1982 was the last year of the quarter system. But we started in Sept

For the youngins, they weren't quarters, but instead they were trimesters, or "terms", which were semester class hours in 10 weeks. Full-time was 9 credits and tuition paid for up to 13 credits. Taking 12 or more credits a term was considered a lot. They had 4 terms a year but a typical full-time student attended Fall, Winter, and Spring and took summer off. The best thing about trimesters was that we were in Happy Valley during May with graduation the first week of June. The campus and the weather are beautiful during May and I believe that's a big part of the older generation falling in love with the University. With graduation now the first week of May very few get to experience Spring in State College.

 

[OptionBob]

Olelion checked in at Shunk Hall as a Penn State freshman to begin one week of orientation. He opted not to wear the beanie at any time. Classes began on Oct. 3. My first home football game attended was against Boston College on Oct. 8. Paterno was in his first year as head coach leading the team to 5-5 record. That record was not as bad as it seems. The five losses were:
Michigan St. (9-0-1)
Army (8-2)
UCLA (9-1)
Syracuse (8-3)
Georgia Tech (9-2)

The only close loss was against Syracuse, 10-12. Best player after Mike Reid went down was probably sophomore Bob Campbell.

Can any of you youngsters imagine beginning classes in October? We were on quarters back then. A couple of key lines in the Alma Mater read, "as we stood at boyhood's gate" and "thou diidst mold us dear old state, into men, into men". Attire at football games was typically coat and tie and smart outfits for the young ladies

Great post, Olelion. Here are a few additional thoughts about that 1966 season:

1. Michigan State was a powerhouse those 1965-66 seasons, playing that "infamous" 10-10 tie with Notre Dame. Big Ten rules prevented a return trip to Rose Bowl and ND got the final #1 vote.

2. UCLA, led by QB Gary Beban, beat MSU in the Rose Bowl the previous year and was ranked in the top 5 when PSU played them in '66.

3. The 3rd opponent to be ranked in the top 5 was Ga Tech, who was undefeated when the Lions played them in November.

4. Mike Reid opened the season with 3 safeties against Martyland that year. He started at MG and was expected to move to LB for 67 but a knee injury as a wrestler ended that idea.

5. Reid missed all of the 1967 season, though he did play the entire '66 season.

6. QB Tom Sherman actually opened the season at DB and intercepted a couple of passes before replacing Jack White at QB mid-year. Sherman was also the PK that season.

7. Frank "I'm not playing because he's Italian; I'm playing him because I'm Italian" Spaziani played some QB that year before moving to DE i

 

[PSU87]

Same here. It was the fail out course for engineers. We did everything to get the "good" profs. I had Faith , who was great.

Interesting. Maybe switching to semesters altered the cadence a bit. While a few of us took thermo as sophomores, most MEs in my class took it 1st semester jr. year.

Weed out semester for us was 2nd semester sophomore year. Engineering dynamics, differential equations and Physics 3...I still remember leaving my last final that year: half of us walked to our cars, half to admin to change majors.

 

[Achowalogan]

Interesting. Maybe switching to semesters altered the cadence a bit. While a few of us took thermo as sophomores, most MEs in my class took it 1st semester jr. year.

Weed out semester for us was 2nd semester sophomore year. Engineering dynamics, differential equations and Physics 3...I still remember leaving my last final that year: half of us walked to our cars, half to admin to change majors.

I changed majors, did not have sufficient math skills after getting a 2.0 *** for that semester. Went to the college of human development, dean’s list student with a few 4.0’s…my career in the non-profit sector was personally, but not financially, rewarding.

Went to PSU to escape dysfunctional family, best years of my life…wish I had had more awareness of majors/careers available to me when I first started out at PSU- this was perhaps common for many.

 

[TiogaLion]

Interesting. Maybe switching to semesters altered the cadence a bit. While a few of us took thermo as sophomores, most MEs in my class took it 1st semester jr. year.

Weed out semester for us was 2nd semester sophomore year. Engineering dynamics, differential equations and Physics 3...I still remember leaving my last final that year: half of us walked to our cars, half to admin to change majors.

Physics II, Electricity and Magnetism, usually took out most on the fringe Freshman year. Sophomore year the two killers were EMch 12 Dynamics (as you stated), and what was originally Engr 100, Dynamic Systems Analysis, which had it's course number changed to IE 330 around 1980. Those two classes alone took out over 40% of the class as Sophomores. Freshmen engineering students were jokingly called Pre-Business back then. During Freshman engineering orientation, the speaker told everyone to look left, right, forward, and behind and then simply stated "only one of you will graduate as an engineer".

 

[FHSPSU67]

I started in 1963 and got to see three of Rip's teams.

 

[Bosco2]

My older sister was there around that time, '68 or so, and she thought they had to dress up for the dinning hall as well.

Just on Sunday.

 

[Bosco2]

Are you post ‘76 or ‘78? I won’t swear to it, the walking on the track thing.

Actually, it was the walk around the field at halftime with a friend that convinced me I needed to leave PSU. “What’s your plan? What are you going to do?” I had nothing. Good walk, good talk.

Class of '70. I'm old as hell, man, but I remember a lot of useless information.

 

[Nitt1300]

Olelion checked in at Shunk Hall as a Penn State freshman to begin one week of orientation. He opted not to wear the beanie at any time. Classes began on Oct. 3. My first home football game attended was against Boston College on Oct. 8. Paterno was in his first year as head coach leading the team to 5-5 record. That record was not as bad as it seems. The five losses were:
Michigan St. (9-0-1)
Army (8-2)
UCLA (9-1)
Syracuse (8-3)
Georgia Tech (9-2)

The only close loss was against Syracuse, 10-12. Best player after Mike Reid went down was probably sophomore Bob Campbell.

Can any of you youngsters imagine beginning classes in October? We were on quarters back then. A couple of key lines in the Alma Mater read, "as we stood at boyhood's gate" and "thou diidst mold us dear old state, into men, into men". Attire at football games was typically coat and tie and smart outfits for the young ladies

wow- thank you for this

I started in Fall of 1968, and many things had already changed- we were on trimesters, only the Greeks still dressed up for games- and by 1972 almost no one did- so many memories

 

[psuro]

what i would give to go back and do it all over again.

 

[AvgUser]

I earned an 88% in Thermodynamics (ME80 I think), and was thrilled with my B. When I found out I was getting an A I knew that for the rest of my life I would have this great brag "I got an A in thermo... ". Still brag on that to this day.

ME 30 was Thermo

 

[BriantheLion]

Are you post ‘76 or ‘78? I won’t swear to it, the walking on the track thing.

Actually, it was the walk around the field at halftime with a friend that convinced me I needed to leave PSU. “What’s your plan? What are you going to do?” I had nothing. Good walk, good talk.

The track was removed, seats added, and pressbox raised between the ‘77 and’78 seasons… ‘78 Blue White Game was at Hershey Park Stadium.