Dr. Fine was probably the most interesting lecturer I had when I attended Michigan (Teacher, scholar, mensch, May 2009). And as Dr. Tobin wrote, he had a keen sense of humor.
During a lecture on U.S. history from 1865 to 1920 he touched upon liquor laws as they applied to American Indians. Several students, I among them, didn’t understand what he said. We tried to buttonhole him after class. However, before we could say anything a well-known campus radical of Jewish descent barged in and raked Dr. Fine over the coals for going too easy on “Malefactors of Great Wealth.” The man spouted cliches. We could see that Dr. Fine was getting hot under the collar. Finally the man ran out of steam. As he retreated out the door Dr. Fine turned to us and said, “You know, that man is enough to make you anti-Semitic.”

Sidney Fine (Teacher, scholar, mensch, May 2009) is one of the professors I vividly remember and have thought about through life. His lectures were riveting. In these times of financial crisis, I recalled his lectures on the beginnings of the great Depression, the failure of the textile industry. I never missed one of his classes and still have the books he assigned. I know no one can live forever but can always hope.

I have very fond memories of Sidney Fine (Teacher, scholar, mensch May 2009) and am very saddened by the news. His legendary lecture on Sen. Joe McCarthy was eagerly anticipated. When he delivered it in front of a packed auditorium of hundreds for his course on US History in the 20th Century during the 1966-67 school year, he really delivered it with facts and with zest. Since he had a multiple choice final exam, I crammed the facts hard during an all-nighter and had a rare real breakfast with scrambled eggs to fortify myself. I knew the stuff for the exam; my only fear was that I would conk out in the middle of the exam!
I graduated with high honors in history.

I’m writing reminiscences of my days at Michigan from January, 1957 until December, 1960. I’m 95,000 words in and haven’t got to class yet. So far I’ve covered work, life in a dorm and cooperative house and social life, such as it was. I’m about to get to academics. Another 35,000 words or so and I should be finished. I’ll keep you posted.

I am devastated to only now learn of the passing of Professor Sidney Fine (Teacher, scholar, mensch May 2009)—he was a legend when I was at UM, and a tremendous mentor to a very lost kid. His passion for history was only matched by his passion for his students. He always had time to talk to me and lift my spirit. To call him a Mensch doesn’t even begin to cover it. I will always treasure my experience in his classroom and his office, and count myself blessed beyond belief for being taught by such a generous spirit. I’m sure he’s somewhere, giving Reagan a piece of his mind. He will be deeply deeply missed.

During my time at UM, I took a political Seminar Course held in Angell Hall that was fascinating in that the Professor was bringing in various academic experts in their fields nearly every week to cover an aspect of that semester’s theme and course work.
One of the speakers scheduled to lecture us that semester had recently lost a close presidential election: UM alum Gerald R Ford. Some things stand out about President Ford that I shall never forget. First, he was an extremely intelligent fellow. His speech to us on the Salt treaties in particular & on US/Soviet relations was very informative, and because of President Ford I learned a lot in that particular political science course.
Of course, he was different from my other professors at UM in that before entering the classroom the Secret Service held us back while a dog checked for bombs or other contraband inside the classroom!
The other thing I remember well was the question and answer period he held after his lecture was finished. President Ford gave thoughtful, wise responses and, I thought in retrospect, excellent answers to some rather tough UM student questions.
On a lighter note, one nervous student who stood up to ask a question prefaced it by first complimenting the President on a job well done while he was in the Oval Office. Many of the students clapped, as I recall. Then the nervous student sort of blew any good will he’d built up for the august professor when he blurted out, “Now that you are no longer President and so old, what do you want to do before you die?” There was, of course, nervous laughter, at first. Ford, who was only about 64 or so, laughed at that comment and let the student off the hook before gong into detail about his future plans before assuring everyone present that he had no plans to “pass on” any time soon!
The fact is our nation’s greatest overall Presidential athlete (proficient in football, swimming, basketball, skiing, golf, etc. during his robust life) was right again; very few of us could have dreamed—especially, no doubt, the embarrassed student who blurted out the poorly thought out question—that “old man” Ford would live until 2006—or almost another whopping 30 years! Indeed, President Ford lived to an older age than Adams, Reagan, Hoover and all the others before him when he passed away well into his nineties.
M Go Blue.

My first semester at U-M was a bit traumatic when I was steered by my Nursing advisor to take a mathematics class, just to increase my knowledge in this subject. So I picked one that I had all the prerequisites for, along with Political Science and English and Chemistry.
Well, I thought it was funny that the math class had almost all boys in it, and only 5 girls, who were mainly asleep during the 8 am class, and the instructor would give us homework to do, then review it, but not give any formal class presentation at all on the new (to me) material. So I struggled along, night after night trying to keep up, not realizing what was going on, and falling behind in my other work. I had completed college algebra without any problem but when we hit the analytic geometry section I was totally baffled and could not comprehend this on my own. And then there was a short calculus class to follow. So, fearing that I was definitely going to flunk out of this course, I wisely went to see the math head and switch courses before the deadline came. Surprise, surprise: he told me that I was in a “math review class for engineering students who had already taken these courses in high school”!!!!
Luckily, I was able to switch into a college algebra course, and passed with an A+, since I had already done the work in the other class during the first 3 weeks. So, with the new math class I was able to complete my other courses well, got more sleep instead of staying up until 3 am every day trying to study, and, surprisingly, ended up on the honor roll that year and won a prize for it!!! I still have that prize: a book of Art History, and I recall those
fearful days when I thought I was going to flunk out of the U of M that first semester!!
Word to the wise, just because you have the prerequisites does not mean the class is suitable for you at all.

U-M was a dream come true. However it was a shock to be among so many brighter students that I didn’t catch on until Sr yr. We were first women allowed to live off campus and 4 are friends to this day. Best part: a U-M degree still gets nods of appreciation. P-Bell birthday parties.

Having spent 37 years in Midland and watching Jim Abbott (Lucky man, Apr 2009) beat Midland High in both football and baseball, I had the honor to watch a Michigan game in the stands next to him. He was as we all know, not at any disadvantage in playing. What a great thing to do…..Go Blue