Virginia Tech Magazine
Letters to the Editor
Fall 2009

SUPPORTING A SISTER
Virginia Tech Delta Zeta alumnae
Virginia Tech
Delta Zeta alumnae
On Saturday, June 13, I and other Virginia Tech Delta Zeta alumnae gathered with our kids at Kylie Xiu Clifford's Memorial Playground at Floris Elementary School in Herndon, Va., to raise money for and awareness of Sudden Infant Death (SID) Services of the Mid-Atlantic. We have started this tradition to reunite each year and to support SID Services of the Mid-Atlantic because my first daughter, Kylie, died of SID when she was 3 months and 19 days old. Pictured [above] are sisters who graduated from Virginia Tech from 1993 on.

Kathy Cung Clifford '96 | Herndon, Va.

Editor's note: To learn more about this cause, visit www.sidsma.org.

A REMINDER TO ALL HOKIES

All Hokies enjoy wearing burnt orange and Chicago maroon, especially to sporting events. We even adorn our vehicles with a variety of Virginia Tech and Hokies stickers and magnetic signs and even with vanity plates. I personally have a "Hokies" and "A HOKIE" Arizona license plates. I also wear a Virginia Tech or Hokies T-shirt at least 250 days a year.

I am writing to remind you that by showing our Hokie Pride, we are, in a sense, representing the university. So the next time you show your colors in public, remember the first-class university that helped to educate you. Be more courteous, going out of your way to help others, and most of all, smile and be proud that you are a Hokie!

Don Dalton '60 | Tucson, Ariz.

Virginia Tech Hokies
BUDGET KUDOS
Virginia Tech Magazine, Summer 2009

Bravo on saving the magazine from budget cuts!

Col. Doug Anderson '76
Hanscom AFB, Mass.

CLEARING UP CHEERING HISTORY

1952 Virginia Tech cheerleading squad

In the Vol. 29, No. 1 (Fall 2006) issue of Virginia Tech Magazine, there was an article about the university's first female cheerleaders. I've attached a picture of the squad in 1952 that includes my wife, Meta Ann Chestnut Oxley (general home economics '54) (front row, first on the left). It was my understanding that she was on the first squad with female cheerleaders.

My wife passed away, and I wanted to clarify this issue on her behalf.

Go, Hokies!

Glenn Myron Oxley '56
Moultrie, Ga.

Laurie Prudente Clark (marketing management '01) and her husband, Matthew Clark (mechanical engineering '03), currently live in Germany, where Matthew, an F-16 pilot in the U.S. Air Force, is stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base.

Laurie says that they travel frequently, and when they do, they take their HokieBird with them. Here it is, enjoying a wintry view of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey.

That's one dedicated bird.

HokieBird in Istanbul, Turkey
George Makrinos (left) and John Foley (right) approaching Njimegen, Netherlands
George Makrinos (left) and John Foley (right) approaching Njimegen, Netherlands. Makrinos (M.S. architecture '04)--who last summer biked across 14 states in the U.S.--was joined by Foley (architecture '04) for a journey that began in Athens and traversed Albania, Italy, Austria, Germany, and the Netherlands to end in the United Kingdom. The two kept a daily blog of their experiences: www.bike-EU.blogspot.com.

ATTENTION ALUMNI

In mid-September, the university began changing the process for alumni to access their Virginia Tech e-mail accounts.

Look for details at www.alumni.vt.edu/gateway/index.html.

How Hokie is your family?

We're looking for the Hokiest families of them all!

If you and your siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, and/or children attended Virginia Tech, we want to know.

Send the names, degrees, and class years of all eligible family members by mail to Virginia Tech Magazine, 105 Media Building (0109), Blacksburg, VA 24061, or by e-mail to vtmag@vt.edu. Look for the results in a future issue.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Sherry Bithell
It is with regret that I announce that this is my last issue as editor of Virginia Tech Magazine. I have proudly served as editor for the past eight years, during which time I have heard from many of you, and I have always enjoyed interacting with the readers of the magazine--you are a credit to your alma mater. Although I am not an alumna of Virginia Tech and I will be leaving Blacksburg, Virginia Tech will always be with me. Go, Hokies!

Sherry Bithell


Virginia Tech