Spring 2025 9 DAVID BAKER “THE ARTICLE LITERALLY BROUGHT TEARS TO MY EYES …. MY DEEPEST HEARTFELT THANKS TO THOSE WHO MADE THE KLAMATH PROJECT POSSIBLE.” lage, and they love it to keep up a bit on old OSC. —RON, ’ 57, AND MILLIE AKERS, ’ 59 Wow — what a great edition! A won- derful lesson on the Klamath River dam project. Go salmon! And thanks for the Gill Coliseum memories. I was part of the turtle races, the den- ted trophy, the win over UCLA (stood right next to Walton when we stormed the floor) and many concerts. It was made even better by the article being written by a high school chum — Kip Carlson! —MARGARET CODY, ’ 74 In the article “Truth Tellers and Builders,” President Murthy is quoted as saying “we want to tell the whole story — the economic, sociological and other consequences that flow from these decisions” in reference to the dam removal project. However, in the article “Rewilding the Klamath” I see zero reference to the damage the project has done and is doing to local agriculture, fishing or business in general. —JOSEPH BAIN, ’86 The Klamath fisheries will be at critical survival levels until Mother Nature provides a 1964-intensity or stronger flood event to scour the colloidal suspension clay soils off the banks where the dams were located. Warren Buffett [CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which owns the power company that previously managed the dams] opted to allow the accumulated clays to wash to the ocean. Everything from the Collier I-5 rest area water system to the spawning beds have been fouled. I’ve lived and worked here for nearly 70 years. I was on the leave-the-dams-in side of the debate. The fish they tout as migrating up Jenny Creek were hauled up there in a truck by Cal Wild. —MARK JOHNSON, ’81 Editor’s note: Our story focused on the science and engineering emerging from the Klamath River, rather than on the controversy surrounding the dams’ removal, but we recognize that it’s been a hot-button issue, especially in the local community. Oregon State has a long history of supporting the Klamath River basin in managing complex water issues. We can’t confirm this writer’s claims, but we look forward to seeing what the numbers show after habitat restoration concludes. Gill Memories I attended Oregon State from 1955 to 1957 and clearly remember registering for classes at Gill Coliseum — an all-day job! I just missed being the first student the year OSC (as it was known then) topped 5,000 students; my memory is that I was No. 5003. There were no computers in those days, and students sat in Gill Coliseum bleachers and spent an hour or two filling out our “train tickets” — a long line of postcard-sized cards, attached by a perforated tear-off strip, with almost identical information for every class. The basketball floor was filled with tables for every class offered, and there were long lines of hopeful students. I dropped out in 1957 to attend a broadcast engineering school and spent 35 years in radio. I always wanted to go back and finish my degree. In 2020, I did just that at OSU-Cascades in Bend, graduating with a bachelor’s in liberal studies at age 85 — their oldest graduate! I love OSU, and I have fond memories of my time there, including in Gill Coliseum … mostly filling out “train tickets.” —ROBERT “BOB” O. WEED, ’ 22 During the 1981-82 season, the men’s basketball team was rated No. 1 in the national polls, and I saw them beat UCLA (along with just about ev- ↘ The newly exposed banks of the Klamath River began to green after being planted with native seeds.
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