October 5, 2001: Volume 53, Number 5

Across Campus

Prof. Longhair

Frank Calabria, professor emeritus of psychology, has written an autobiography, "Let It Be a Dance" (Writers Club Press, 2001) in which he describes a life that included growing up a first-generation Italian-American in Brooklyn, becoming (with his wife, Angela) an accomplished ballroom dancer and teacher.

But it is his self-deprecating description of teaching at Union during the tumultuous 60's that may strike a chord with the Union community.

In a chapter where he refers to himself as "Professor Longhair" and "Crazy Frank," Calabria writes of his first year at Union in 1966: "I trusted my intuition as to what felt right in teaching my courses … within the first month of classes, on a beautiful autumn day, I perched myself in front of my students on a wide branch of the gingko tree in Jackson's Garden.

"In the midst of my lecturing, waving my arms for effect … I was aghast to see Prof. (Bill) Huntley, chairman of the department, peering at me through the garden railing. When I saw his look of amazement, I felt as shaky as a fiddler on the roof. That evening, when I returned home, my instruction to my wife was brief: "Pack!"

Alas, Calabria did not have to pack, and stayed on until his retirement in 1989.

Bad sign

Those of us who are prone to typographic errors can't help noticing those of others once in a while.

A recently-installed sign at the former Office of Computer Services read, for a day or two until it was fixed: "Informational Technology Sevices."

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