LAUGHTER REIGNS: Stunt & Talent Nights

When students performed during the fabled Talent and Stunt Nights of the 60’s, the capacity-filled auditorium of Harvey Hall rocked with laughter and applause. Hidden talents and a lot of creativity were showcased by both events, which also awarded trophies and prizes, plus provided scholarship funds from the proceeds. Both performances played to enthusiastic crowds of fellow students and faculty members, most of whom were not only entertained, but surprised by the unsuspected talents and ingenuity of their friends and classmates.

Talent Night, sponsored by Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity (Phi Sigs), featured individuals and small groups in a variety of skits, musical performances, dance ensembles, and comedy routines. Frat members served as emcees and provided rousing between-the-acts entertainment with humorous antics of their own.

Stunt Night, however, featured representative groups from the campus’ organizations, sororities, and fraternities performing in various skits. Sponsored by the F.O.B.’s (Phi Omega Beta fraternity), prizes were awarded to the top 3 skits in the most beautiful and humorous categories…but the F.O.B.’s gave the latter entries a run for their money with their spectacular between-acts entertainment. Entries ran the gamut from the “Polish Symphony Orchestra,” to “The Powerful Prancing Powderpuffs…,” “Poccahontus,” Mother Goose Lets Loose,” “Rinse the Blood off my Toga,” etc. Groups planned for months ahead for their entries…while audiences chuckled for weeks afterwards.

Express your reflections on Talent and Stunt Nights by clicking on "Comments" below.

Stout Trivia - POP QUIZ

Are your college days among your best memories? How much do you remember?

Try your hand at the following Trivia "POP QUIZ." It will count as 100% of your final grade! There'll be NO FINALS in this course.


Here's a sample question to get you thinking.
In the 60's, test scores were posted by your social security number? True/False


The correct answers will be posted next week - (or feel free to submit your answers under "Comments" below) - and the quiz will be self-scored. Honesty is the best policy.

1. What was Stout’s official name during the 1966-70 period?
1. Stout Manual Training School
2. Stout Institute
3. Stout State College
4. Stout State University
5. University of Wisconsin-Stout

2. Who was the President of Stout during the 1966 to 1970 period?
1. Merle Price
2. John Jarvis
3. Freda Wright
4. John Furlong
5. William J. Micheels
6. Ralph Iverson

3. Stout celebrated it’s 75th Diamond Jubilee year in
1. 1966
2. 1967
3. 1968
4. 1969
5. 1970

4. The sports teams are the…
1. BluGolds
2. Bluedevils
3. Blue Angels
4. Blues Brothers
5. Blue Hawaiians

5. The SSA stands for
1. Super Sonic Applications
2. Stout Sports Authority
3. Stout Student Association
4. Society for Social Awareness
5. Save Society from Atrocities

6. The 1967 Winter Carnival Queen was
1. Marie Halama
2. Kris Hansen
3. Joan Severson
4. Cindy Olson
5. Judy Starck

7. Which fraternity did the “Big Blast” with their cannon at football games
1. Phi Omega Beta
2. Sigma Pi
3. Sigma Tau Gamma
4. Chi Lambda
5. Phi Sigma Epsilon

8. The 1968 student government president was
1. Dwight Davis
2. Barbara Gardner
3. Larry Haisting
4. Dale Granchalek
5. Robert McCord

9. In 1968, the student government allocated what amount of money?
1. $27,500
2. $1,245,500
3. $756,000
4. $195,000
5. $98,000

10. From 1966 to 1970 the Football Coach was
1. Dwain Mintz
2. Sten Pierce
3. John Zuerlein
4. Max Sparger

11. Who was the Soprano soloist for the Symphonic Singers in the late 60’s?
a. Winnie Clark
b. Carol Price
c. Jo Sinkular

12. The Director of the Stout Concert Band was
a. Harold Cooke
b. Lynn Pritchard
c. Robert Phelps

13. True or False: The Stoutonia was printed on campus by a student production staff until 1967.

14. University Theater was produced by which dramatics fraternity:
a. Alpha Psi Omega
b. Pi Kappa Delta
c. Epsilon Pi Tau

15. Food science labs required the following dress:
a. White shirt, black slacks
b. White uniform and hair net
c. T-shirt and jeans

16. The Deans of Women included
a. Agnes Ronaldson
b. Stella Pederson
c. Freda Wright
d. Keturah Antrim
e. Judy Spain

17. Popular hobbies among students included
a. Knitting
b. Bull sessions
c. Cards
d. Music
e. Parties
f. All of the above

18. First semester ended in
a. Late December, before Christmas
b. First week of January
c. Third week of January

19. A “Gut Bomb” cost
a. 10 cents
b. 15 cents
c. 25 cents

20. The “stacks” in the library were for
a. Studying
b. Research
c. Making-out
d. All of the above

21. True or False: The cheerleaders included both men and women.

22. The Basketball coach was
a. Chuck Krueger
b. Jack Lorenz
c. Max Sparger
d. Dwain Mintz

23. In 1967 the following sport was added to the roster:
a. Soccer
b. Gymnastics
c. Golf
d. Hockey

24. Stunt Nite featured performances by:
a. The theater group
b. Athletes and cheerleaders
c. Any interested individual
d. Fraternities and sororities and other organizations

25. The Dietetics Club (the only college level dietetics organization in the nation at that time) celebrated which anniversary in 1969:
a. 20 years
b. 50 years
c. 5 years
d. 10 years

26. The Dean of Men/Students was
a. Dr. John Jarvis
b. Dr. John Furlong
c. Merle Price
d. Dr. Ray Wigen

27. The Science and Technology Building opened in:
a. 1970
b. 1969
c. 1965

28. True or False: Students in the Home management course spent part of the semester in the Michael’s Home Management House.

29. In 1966, Eichelberger Hall was used for:
a. Student Housing
b. Administrative Offices
c. Department offices

30. The oldest building on campus was:
a. Ray Hall
b. Bowman Hall
c. Harvey Hall

31. Winter Carnival Races were held on:
a. Main St
b. The Football field
c. Lake Menomin
d. Fair Grounds

32. True or False: In spring of ’65, the Symphonic Singers performed at the New York World’s Fair and the White House.

33. Match the following nick-names to the teams:
Keglers ----------Track
Tankers ---------Basketball
Matmen ---------Swimming
Cagers -----------Cross Country
Harriers ---------Golf
Cindermen -------Wrestlers
Linksmen --------Bowling

34. The Freshman class of 1969 was how large:
a. 1000
b. 900
c. 1200
d. 1500

35. Stout celebrated its Diamond Jubilee in
a. 66
b. 67
c. 68
d. 69

36. What national social sorority was organized on campus in 1966-67?
a. Alpha Omicron Pi
b. Alpha Sigma Alpha
c. Gamma Sigma Sigma

37. Hotel and Restaurant Management, a Packaging program, and Applied Mathematics were inaugurated as majors in which school year:
a. 65-66
b. 66-67
c. 67-68
d. 68-69

38. 1967-68 saw the introduction of many innovations on campus. Which improvement did NOT happen that year?
a. A new television studio
b. Approval for a 10 watt radio station
c. Closed Circuit television was used for instruction in several classes
d. An electrostatic copier and new presses in graphics
e. A new course in numerical control of machines through digital tapes was introduced

39. True or False: Students and faculty members participated in Martin Luther King memorial services on campus.

Times have changed: Technology on campus

Polytechnic designation, e-Scholar Program, nanotechnology, computers everywhere...

Since its founding 115 years ago, Stout has always been geared to the technological fields. Great efforts have been made to keep up with current technology and respond to changes both on campus and within business and industry. As the demands of the work-force have changed, the school has evolved and created new technology-based majors to reflect ever-changing needs and the school’s career-focused mission.

UW-Stout is now designated Wisconsin’s first polytechnic university within the UW system and is a notebook campus, providing digital laptops to all students. "UW-Stout has always been an innovator in applying technology to education. Digital technology is essential to 21st century life and learning. That’s why we decided to revolutionize learning with a wireless laptop environment - the first public university in Wisconsin to do so."

CLICK HERE to learn more about the Polytechnic designation


CLICK HERE to learn more about Stout's e-Scholar Program


However, the technology of the 60’s differed vastly from today’s standards. Things our children take for granted (and probably can’t imagine living without) were barely a glimmer or dream when we were attending college.

- No cable TV, no satellite, just rabbit ears and antennas for television reception. The only TVs were in the dorm lounges...and they were black and white. No portable TVs lurked in the rooms. Some areas of the state had 4 networks to choose from, but often reception was limited or snowy. MTV, CNN, etc. were only dreams—the plethora of stations offered by cable in later years simply wasn’t out there in the 60’s. You could wait for years to see a great movie on TV if you missed it the week it was in the local, one-screen theater, as videos weren’t available.

- Portable 33 and 45 RPM record players were hot—no DVDs, no Ipods, etc.

- There WAS a computer on campus. It filled an entire room and we punched cards to program it—no PCs, no Macs, no software disks. We all learned Fortran as our computer language.

- Three gears was as good as it got on a bicycle—no high-tech, lightweight mountain bikes or 10-speeds…although motorcycles sped past occasionally.

- Most student’s cars sported fins and guzzled 19-29 cent gas (and a tank fill-up included a free glass or dish as an incentive).

- Glamor was achieved through sleeping in brush or sponge rollers overnight—no curling irons, hot rollers, etc. If you had a hair-dryer, it was large and featured a shell or hood to go over your hair—no blow dryers. It took about 40 minutes to dry wet hair in rollers with the hoods, vs. just a couple minutes with a blow dryer.

- Students wrote letters home or called long-distance on the floor’s pay-phone to keep in touch—no email, cell phones, or text-messaging.

- The School of Home Economics owned a big clunky microwave—a Litton that cost over $2000 (in 1960’s money)...and was famed for tuning brownies to charcoal if you programmed in too many seconds. By the end of the decade, the appliance’s price had dropped to around $600 and homeowners were buying them, too. One alum believes he bought this unit at a surplus purchase and recalls it being VERY heavy.

- A manual Smith-Corona typewriter was a great high school graduation gift for college-bound students, so you heard the rattle of typewriter keys a lot in the dorms. The staff on the Stoutonia and Tower publications used clunky old typewriters, although electric ones could be found on campus. No one had word-processors or computers available to them.

- While portable cassette players were becoming available, most audio tape recorders on campus were reel to reel (versus CD’s).

- Advanced math classes on campus featured slide rules versus calculators. Some recall a credit course on using the slide rule.

- Printing classes set type with linotype machines…and set headlines by hand when the Stoutonia was still printed on campus.

- Students could use self-instructional programs in several classes…vs. distance education programs over the Internet or live video to multiple locations.

- Food science classes used a balance scale vs. a digital.

- Faculty used overhead, slide, movie and opaque projectors, but for image magnification of various objects, they could bring in a full-scale black and white TV camera, producing images on a 27" black & white television screen…vs. LCD projectors.

- Digital cameras and video cameras were a long ways in the future. 35mm and 2 1/4x2 ¼” styles were popular, and some professional photographers still used 4x5” plates. Students in photography classes took black and white photos and developed the film and prints in the photo lab.

- One of the frats sponsored a computer dating night, using punch cards for making matches for the adventurous participants. The technology for computer-matched dating has advanced considerably.

- No blackberries or palm pilots—calendars ruled!

There is so much more, but a tour of the campus will provide many examples of how Stout has continued to be a technology leader. There is also an excellent exhibit - worthy of a visit - on Stout at the Dunn County, Russell J. Rassbach Historical Museum in Wakanda Park.

CLICK HERE to learn more about The Russell J. Rassbach Heritage Museum

Add your recollections by clicking on "Comments" below.

It All "Ads" Up!

Back in the 60s it was a lot different...

Check out the "ads" from the Stoutonias of that era. The stuff they wanted us to buy and the prices we had to pay - oh my!

...and starting with those gas prices. With a slogan like "When you fill up your gas tank at HI-LO you vote for low gas prices", why wouldn't you buy there? Who remembers where the HI-LO gas station was located?

Our very own ad models - Dale Granchalek '69 and Erica Gustafson Granchalek '69. 1967 Tower

Add your thoughts and memories by clicking on "Comment" below.

Stout Campus -- THEN & NOW

Images from the Tower yearbooks including the aerial photos below take you back to 1962 when the 1966 graduating class arrived on campus. Note not only the campus but also the various Menomonie landmarks - as seen from a student's vantage point. The c. 1969 aerial shows the campus as it was for the 1970 graduates. The current aerial shows the significant changes, and the links below the aerials will take you on a tour of Stout today. Thanks to UW-Stout Learning Technology Services for the current campus photos.

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

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Today's Campus

Check out the campus today with an "on-line" tour.

CLICK HERE Tour Stout in Photos

The campus guide will be helpful as you plan your tour of the campus at the Fall reunion.

Print a copy for future reference

CLICK HERE Current Campus Guide/Map

Add your recollections by clicking on "Comments" below.