Texas A&M Class of '71

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Texas A&M University's Class of Distinction

Texas A&M University

The Class of '71 looks to two main goals: to give back to our university: so it can continue its greatness, and to bond together as Aggies and friends of Texas A&M. We look forward to bond with our classmates and their families, as we join together to remember our times together at Texas A&M and celebrate the distinctive accomplishments of class members and their families.

We have provided links to many sites specializing in Aggie sports, shopping, and other areas of interest.

We'd love to hear from you, so mail us the info-getter form in the newsletter, or just crank out an e-mail.

So, from one member of the last class to wear the "fish stripe" to another,

Gig 'Em!

Condolences

We were all saddened to learn of the passing of Dick Miller's wife, Camille, on February 13, 2008 from an aneurysm. The Class of '71 send our deepest sympathies to Dick and his family.

The family suggests memorials be to San Saba County EMS, 607 E. Commerce St., San Saba, TX 76877; or the Camille Mann Miller Memorial Scholarship Fund at Clarendon College, Attn: Mark Mann, in care of West Texas National Bank, P.O. Box 7727, Seminole, TX 79036.

Bill Read '71: New National Hurricane Center Director

Meteorologist/Leader Extraordinaire Heads NOAA Tropical Prediction Center

Bill Read is the new director of its Tropical Prediction Center, which includes the National Hurricane Center and two other divisions, in Miami. Read has served as the center’s acting deputy director since August 2007.
“Bill has what it takes be the nation’s hurricane center director. He’s spent 30 years of his career as a weather professional with NOAA dedicated to protecting lives from severe weather, much of it hurricanes and tropical storms,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Ph.D., under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator. (click here for full article)
Charlie Korbell '71: Mays School of Business Outstanding Alumnus

Inducted as Outstanding Alumnus September 6, 2007, the highest honor the Mays School can bestow

Charles L. Korbell, Jr. ’71 completed a long and distinguished career at Clarke Printing and Packaging Company in San Antonio when he retired as president and CEO in 2005. He helped guide the check printing company from small family-owned business, dating back to 1874, to the No. 2 supplier of checks and check-related products and services to the financial institution market. Under Charlie’s leadership, the company was honored with the 2001 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in the manufacturing category. This is the highest honor that is given to organizations by the Department of Commerce for business excellence and awarded by the President of the United States. Today, Charlie serves on United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County executive committee and Board of Trustees; he is a Southwest Research Institute Trustee; and he is a member of the Mays Dean’s Development Council. He has also served as a board member of the Quality Texas Foundation, the past president of Check Payment Systems Association, and a board member of Junior Achievement of South Texas, Inc. (click here for full article)

Charles L. Korbell, Jr. '71 Receives The Outstanding Alumnus Award from Mays School of Business Interim Dean Ricky Griffin
Otway Denny '71: Elected to the Board of Directors of The Association of Former Students for 2007, and Re-elected for 2008

Class of '71 continues tradition of distinction and service to The Association of Former Students, as its Leadership Council elects Otway Denny '71 to the Board of Directors for both 2007 and 2008.

As Texas A&M's Class of Distinction continues to serve our university, so Otway Denny, Jr. '71 once again takes the lead. Otway has served The Association and Texas A&M since graduation, serving as class agent for our first twenty years as former students. As the years went by, he added more and more activities as a volunteer leader. He still serves on the Corps of Cadets Development Council, the College of Liberal Arts Council, and the 12th Man Foundation's Advisory Board. Otway's participation on the Board of Directors of The Association of Former Students continues his many years of outstanding service to our association and our university. His career as a lawyer is complete with numerous superior achievements, including past chair of the following boards: the Board of Directors of the State Bar of Texas, Board of the Houston Bar Foundation, and Board of Trustees of the Texas Bar Foundation. In 2001, he was named the Texas Aggie Bar Association "Lawyer of the Year." Otway and his wife, Bonnie, have three daughters, Amy Denny Stuber '97, Lisa '98, and Stacey. (click here for Board of Directors Biography)

Otway Denny, Jr. '71
Van Taylor '71: A Great Term as President of The Association of Former Students

Van Taylor '71 served as President of The Association of Former Students at Texas A&M University for 2006.

Van has served the Board of Directors for a number of years, most recently as Program Vice President and Chair of the Fundraising Committee. In this position, he led the successful effort to set a new annual record in fundraising for The Association for both 2002 and 2003. In 2002, we breached the six million dollar mark, and in 2003 The Association was able to raise over $6.3M, despite a waning economy in both years. He has previously served as Arlington A&M Club President and Muster Chair for the St Louis A&M Club. He also served on The Association on the By-Laws Implementation Committee, currently serves the College of Engineering on its Advisory Council, and serves on the OPAS Statewide Advisory Council.

The former Cadet Colonel of the Corps is the third president of The Association from the Class of '71, preceded by Andy Hanson '71 and Jerry Boles '71. Few classes have earned this distinction.

Van has recently retired from his position as President of Network Services for SBC-Southwestern Bell. He holds an MBA from SMU. Van and his wife, Carole, have four daughters, Suzannah '97, Sally, Kaycee '05, and Melissa.

Van Taylor '71 and his wife Carole
General T. Michael Moseley '71:

First Aggie Chief of Staff of any armed service

First Aggie to receive honorary knighthood

Mike Moseley continues his career of distinction with yet another great honor: first Aggie to receive an honorary knighthood.

Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. T. Michael Moseley was knighted during a ceremony at the British Embassy in Washington DC, May 30.

The honorary knighthood, at the suggestion of Queen Elizabeth II, stems from the general's contributions to United States-United Kingdom relations while he served as commander of the air war over Afghanistan and Iraq at the onset of the war on terrorism.

General Moseley learned he would receive the award in January. He said he was both honored and surprised that the United Kingdom has chosen him for the recognition.

"It is, of course, a great honor to be recognized in this way," he said. "It's really a tribute to the outstanding cooperation between our two great countries and, of course, a tribute to the historic and continuing relationship between the Royal Air Force and the United States Air Force. I am humbled to represent our wonderful Airmen and I am honored to be considered for this recognition."

The general will be given the honorary title "Knight Commander of the British Empire," and will be a member of the Order of the British Empire. Other Americans with honorary knighthoods include: retired Army Gen. and President Dwight D. Eisenhower; President Ronald Reagan; retired Gen. Jimmy Doolittle; retired Gen. Carl Spaatz; retired Gen. Brent Scowcroft; retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks and retired Army Gen. and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

King George V created the Order of the British Empire in 1917, during World War I. The only criterion for being included in the order is valuable service to the British Empire. There are more than 100,000 living members of the order throughout the world. Every four years, members may attend a service at the order's chapel in the Crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. (story by Staff Sgt C. Todd Lopez, Air Force Print News)

Major (Dr.) Alan Hopewell '71

 Distinguished Psychologist Joins the War on Terror

Senate Confirms Doctor for Active Duty Service. Next Stop: Iraq

Dr. Alan Hopewell '71, Ph.D., MP, ABPP, former President of the Texas Psychological Association (2004), has been confirmed by the Senate and has returned to active duty as an Army psychologist in his previous rank of major.

Alan was driven to participate personally in the Nation's War on Global Terrorism, and initially pursued pulling combat tours as a reservist. But, the opportunity presented itself for him to return to active service, and Alan aggressively pursued this option.

He is now assigned as a psychologist with the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood For the latest situation report on his progress, see SITREP (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader).

His is truly an inspirational story of commitment and willingness to sacrifice. In addition, he holds unique qualifications in regard to diagnosing and treating combat-related stress disorders. For a full rundown on the circumstances of his service and his special qualifications, go to: Dr Hopewell Goes to War

The question now is, "Are there any other Class of '71 members serving on active duty beside Alan Hopewell and Mike Moseley?"

Scholarship Funded!

Our Class of '71 Sul Ross Scholarship is now fully funded. Thanks to some additional contributions in memory of our classmate Mike Hensley (see Silver Taps), we have fully funded our first Sul Ross Endowed ($25,000) Corps Scholarship. We are in queue for a matching Bum Bright scholarship because all automatic matching full scholarships have been awarded. At the rate of awards from the foundation, our scholarship should be matched in 2012. Thanks for making this dream come true! We will retain any additional contributions and pledges in the gift fund and the class will decide their distribution (a second Sul Ross Scholarship?) at our 2006 reunion.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE CLASS OF '71 FOR FUNDING THIS PRESTIGIOUS SCHOLARSHIP!

And, Congratulations to Our Current Recipient:

Cadet Chris Jordan '09, Squadron 12, Aerospace Engineering Major

Chris Jordan '09 and Jim Harrison '71, March 2006

Read Chris Jordan's letter to your class agents
 

Aggieland Weather            
Just Click on the Link Above for the Current and Forecasted Weather for College Station.
Class Agents--Just Click on the names to send an e-mail.
Residing In Class Agent Class
Niceville, Florida Randy Durham '71
College Station, Texas Jim Harrison '71
Fort Worth, Texas Dennis Lang '71

Come Join your Class Agents for Fightin' Texas Aggie Football!

We'll be hanging around the Fun Zone three hours or so before each home game.

Randy will always be in the quad between Dorms 9 & 10 for the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band step off 1.5 hours before kickoff. (This is what happens when you and your spouse become BQ parents, even years after your offspring's graduation from the band)

As you can see, we've changed little from 1967, so come by and say, "Howdy!"

 

The Story of the fish Stripe

The Original fish Stripe. During the 1930s, a white stripe was added to the the left sleeve, just above the cuff, of freshman uniforms. The stripe was intented so upperclassmen could recognize a fish easily from a distance. This tradition was continued at Texas A&M until 1942, when the Class of '45 was the last class to wear the original "fish Stripe".

Freshman Class Officers, Class of '45, Last Class to Sport the first "fish Stripe" Above Their Left Cuffs

The Second fish Stripe. During the 1950s, with the popularity of the crew cut, the US military adopted shorter haircuts and imposed closely cropped haircuts on their basic recruits, giving them a nearly shaved appearance. The rationale of such a policy was to make the recruits think of themselves more in terms of being members of the military unit instead of individuals, promote personal hygiene, promote a "clean cut" look for the military, and make the recruits easily identifiable whether in or out of uniform. The same held true at Texas A&M, where each class had maximum hair length standards, and especially until 1968, when male popular hair lengths became longer. Seniors were held to the same standard as Army officers, juniors had "gray" sidewalls and hair long enough to part, sophomores had short hair on top with "white" sidewalls, and fish wore a crew cut with white sidewalls, the cut slightly leveled on top. This slight leveling produced a bald spot on the crown of the head, affectionately called the "fish Stripe". With the introduction of the class of '72 in the fall of 1968, the leveling on top was dismissed for the freshman crew cut, producing an even color of hair on top. Thus, the Class of '71 was the last class to wear the "fish Stripe". Later, grooming standards returned to fairly much the same as the 50s and 60s, as hairstyles became shorter. However, the memory of the white tape on the cuff is long gone, and the bald spot on the crown of fish haircuts is now commonly referred to as the "Skunk Stripe".

The Spirit of Aggieland

The Aggie War Hymn

The Twelfth Man