Infrastructure Funding. March 8, 2018

Copyright © 2018                                                         John F. Oyler

March 8, 2018

Infrastructure Funding

The students in the Senior Design Projects program at the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Pittsburgh have just completed a workshop on infrastructure funding, a subject that is particularly relevant for all civil engineers.

The decaying condition of the infrastructure is especially obvious in our area this winter, a season that has brought a new meaning to the term “pothole”. My personal candidate for the worst pothole in Pittsburgh is the one in the middle of Forbes Avenue as you approach Craft Avenue from the west. It has been filled, at least temporarily, this week, but at its peak created monumental chaos. Evidence of its destructive potential was the continuously growing collection of hubcaps stacked against the curbs.

It is not surprising that the students concluded that a significant increase in investment in our infrastructure would be desirable. In addition to improving everyone’s quality of life, such an investment would provide a positive boost to the economy and generate meaningful new jobs in engineering and construction. A secondary effect would be the reduction in costs for all businesses, especially those related to transportation.

In support of this workshop I decided to contact the two major candidates in the local special election for U. S. Congress this month. I checked the websites for candidates and confirmed my suspicion that they both supported the concept of “fixing the infrastructure” in principle, but lacked any specifics in level of investment or source of revenue to pay for it.

I am aware that the FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation) legislation passed in 2015 establishes a level of about sixty billion dollars a year for surface transportation, including public transit. I believe that   about forty-five billion dollars a year of this total is allocated for highways and bridges.

I also am aware that the Highway Trust Fund, the designated source of income for highways and bridges, is no longer able to provide that level of funding. It depends upon the federal gas tax established in 1993 at 18.4 cents a gallon for gasoline, with no provision for indexing to account for inflation, which has amounted to forty five percent in the intervening thirty-five years.

Consequently, I emailed both campaign headquarters, reported that the current federal level of funding the highways and bridges part of infrastructure was about forty-five billion dollars a year, and asked each of them what level of funding they supported and how they would plan to generate revenue to support it.

I suppose the results were predictable. Two weeks later I have had no response from the campaign headquarters of one of the candidates. A staffer from the other candidate’s headquarters did contact me by telephone and suggest that I refer to their website for their position on infrastructure funding and became annoyed when I suggested he re-read my email, which clearly stated I had already perused their website.

In the interim, of course, the current administration and the loyal opposition have announced their proposals, one of which is far too frugal and the other absurdly high with no explanation of the source for funding it. This, of course, is the classic example of our current political climate. Neither side is interested in finding a viable compromise solution that would benefit all of us.

Whichever of these non-responsive candidates is elected, his incumbency will only last until the election next Fall. By then the gerrymander controversy may well have re-districted him into a head-to-head conflict with a current Congressman.

It will be interesting to see how this controversy is resolved. The current map is criticized for two reasons. The strange shape of some of the Congressional districts is easy to question; indeed compactness is a property that appears easy to achieve. The fact that the number of Congressmen in Pennsylvania from each party is not proportional to the number of voters in each party in the whole state is more difficult to remedy.

The two major cities in Pennsylvania are bastions of one party rule; the majority of their voters in the state are concentrated there. The only way to dilute their majority and elect more Congressmen is to disregard the compactness principle.

The situation is complicated by the possibility that the State Supreme Court, which unfortunately is a political organization rather than an objective body dedicated to justice, may end up drawing the new map. I am impressed with the one majority party Justice who elected not to support their politicizing a judicial issue.

It is ironic that a body claiming it was aiming for “compactness” chose to carve Mt. Lebanon out of the district containing its neighbors, which just happened to protect the current Congressional candidate from their party from running against a sitting Congressman from the same party.

I still hope that a group of Moderates in both parties will get together and work out a viable compromise on infrastructure funding, and that that might be a beginning of bringing our society together again. I doubt that such a group will include the successful candidate in our current election, regardless of which one is elected.

1946 and 1947 BHS Classes. March 1, 2018

Copyright © 2018                                                         John F. Oyler

March 1, 2018

The 1946 and 1947 BHS Classes

The Bridgeville Area Historical Society series of “Second Tuesday” workshops continued in February with a focus on the graduating classes of 1946 and 1947. The facilitator began with an overview of the social and cultural environment of the time. The War had finally ended and its survivors were euphorically looking forward to a future of peace and prosperity. The high school students were eagerly awaiting the return of their relatives and neighbors from Europe and the Pacific.

Newspaper clippings continued to be reminders of the difficult times that had just been completed. Marine Sergeant Dean Lesnett was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds he had suffered at Leyte and Okinawa. Radio Operator John Moutz was killed in a crash while aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress in Panama.

High School Principal William Liggett had returned after four years in the Quartermaster Corps. Colonel Eddie Croft’s Junior Commandos were still going strong, with no indication of when they would receive their Honorable Discharges and return to civilian life.

The 1945 high school football season was a “mixed bag”, four wins and a tie in a nine-game schedule. Fortunately, the final win was a seven to zero victory over South Fayette with “Nimmie” Kreiger scoring the only touchdown.

The basketball team also had a lackluster season despite the presence of three of my neighbors – Bill Hopper, Bob “Slugger” Bailey, and Bob “Rum” Rothermund.

Science teacher Mrs. Roth O. Montague organized a Science Club that was affiliated with a group sponsored by one of the daily papers. It reported that she had recruited 209 students, a record for Allegheny County. Perhaps Eddie Croft was her mentor.

Historical Society Founder and President Mary Weise was a prominent member of the ’46 class, especially in things associated with music, drama, and journalism. Almo Pruner was their President; Louis “Skip” Colussy, Vice President. This class recorded its legacy in a very respectable paper-back Yearbook, the “Bridge”.

Virginia Kuten was May Queen, with Dorothy “Dot” Degrosky as Maid of Honor. The group of boys waltzing to the strains of “Blue Danube” included such Lotharios as Frank “Cutter” Cortazzo, Richard “Dit” Corey” and Carlton “Curly” McKee, among others.

Both Charles and Sheila Banks were members of the Class of 1947. They were neighbors of ours, as was their sister Kathleen, whose memory is honored by the name of the building that houses the Bridgeville Area Historical Society, the very building in which this workshop was conducted.

The 1946 football season began with a 19 to 6 loss to Carnegie, with Curtis Copeland scoring our only touchdown, and ended with the locals being shutout 6 to 0 by South Fayette. Worse was the fact that the other seven games were all losses.

In retrospect, it is hard to believe that a team containing two of the best athletes in the history of the high school – George Maioli and Leonard Villani – plus numerous underclassmen who, one year later, began a twenty five game win streak, would compile BHS’ worst record ever.

Fortunately, “help was on the way”. A newspaper clipping in January reported the hiring of Bob Hast to take over the head coaching jobs in football and basketball. An alumnus of Bethel High School, Hast had completed an outstanding football career at Duquesne University and Columbia University sandwiched around service in the Navy during World War II.

Coach Hast was signed immediately after playing in the Blue-Gray All-Star game in Montgomery, Alabama. He proudly wore his Blue-Gray jacket for most of his days in Bridgeville. I believe his service in the war included participation in the D-Day invasion.

In addition to newspaper clippings and Yearbooks, the history of Bridgeville High School in those days was recorded in their monthly periodical, “The Bridger”. Items in it report occasional serious problems as well as the positive accomplishments of the students.

Bridgeville businessmen had donated $1200 for the purchase of fifty band uniforms; sixteen of them had disappeared already! Who are these miscreants who want to emulate Philip Morris’ Johnny? In addition, a baritone horn was missing. Band Director Mr. Menham was wringing his hands in dismay.

And then, there was the “Disgrace of the Library”! The round reference tables had been defaced by “certain students’ selfish desire to have their initials in the school”.

The 1947 basketball season was a reversal of the preceding disastrous football season. In addition to Maioli and Villani, this team included Bill Hopper, the Batch twins, and Richard Deep. They ended the season tied with Snowden for the Section championship, then lost a heart-breaking playoff game 24 to 22.

The 1947 Yearbook was the first to be named “The Lincoln Log”. An excellent source of information about life at Bridgeville High seventy-one years ago, it began on a sobering note with a listing of the fifteen BHS graduates who lost their lives during World War II.

Dr. Colton and Mr. Liggett were firmly in control of things in those days, aided and abetted by a staff of faculty ranging from the sublime (Mrs. Trula Holman) to the ridiculous (name deleted to prevent litigation). In between were Gloria Lutz, Jane Patton, “Pop” Ferree, Frances Krenz, and a handful of others we remember fondly.

Ed Woodall was Class President in 1947; George Maioli, Vice President. George’s recent passing reminded all of us of his lifelong commitment to service to his community. We knew a lot of the kids in this class, including Tom Paholsky, Chuck Robertson, Bud Struth, and Bob Volle. Incidentally Bob receives this column by email, so a special “Hello” to him!

Being a connoisseur of May Queens and their courts, the facilitator suggested that this may have been BHS’ best ever. Queen Dolores DeBlander, Maid of Honor Betty Jean Miele, and attendants Jane Connor, Mary Louise Ollett, and Velma Viale, just to name a few! I doubt that another class can match them.

Our class were sophomores that year and it is quite nostalgic to skim through the old “Bridgers” and see the silly, gossipy comments about us. It is difficult to believe anyone could have been that naïve.

Our next workshop is scheduled for 7:00 pm, Tuesday, March 13, at the History Center. We are tempted to skip over the Class of 1948 and spend most of our time on the ‘49ers, but I doubt that we are that courageous. Let’s assume the evening will be equally divided between both.  

   

The Grammy Winners. February 22, 2018

Copyright © 2018                                                         John F. Oyler

February 22, 2018

The Grammy Winners

I don’t really pay much attention to the various award shows, probably because, being several generations out of date, I don’t know any of the contestants. This year, however, for some reason I did skim over the hoopla associated with the Grammies and was surprised to see that the Pittsburgh Symphony was one of the winners.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get the publicity locally that this achievement warrants. A performer known as Bruno Mars was the big star, winning six awards in “popular” categories. According to Wikipedia Mars is either an “R and B” or rap artist. There was a time when I was interested in rhythm and blues, but it was certainly far removed from the “music” Mars performs. For me his only redeeming feature is that he was nicknamed in honor of Bruno Sammartino.

Reading down the list of nominees I did see a handful of familiar (to me) names. Michael Buble and Tony Bennett were nominated as “Traditional Pop Vocalists”. Scattered through the other categories I recognized  few others – Reba McEntire, Alison Krause, Bill Charlap, and Joey DeFrancesco – but most of the performers in the very long list of categories were completely unknown to me.

I did finally locate the category entitled “Best Orchestral Performance, Classical Field”, and sure enough the PSO was there. Their competition was significant – the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra.

Equally impressive was the list of their conductors – Louis Langree, Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Slatkin, and Osma Vanska – all well known to me. Incidentally, Vanska was the PSO’s guest conductor this weekend, for the Beethoven Fifth Symphony, and did indeed live up to his press clippings. Nonetheless I prefer our Maestro Honeck to all of them. He, too, is a recent awardee – the Artist of the Year, by International Classical Music Awards.

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The PSO entry was a recent recording of Shostakovich’s “Fifth Symphony” and Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings”. It was recorded at Heinz Hall, possibly at a concert we attended. We do recall a very special performance of the controversial Shostakovich last year, one that could well have been the basis for this recording.

We think the fact that our local orchestra has been honored for producing the best orchestral record in the world should be widely publicized and loudly applauded. It is a sad commentary on our society that this year’s fad “music” (Bruno Mars) is the source of huge excitement while so few people seem to know what our symphony orchestra has accomplished.

Fortunately, we were with those fortunate few who do appreciate music on a recent evening in Sewickley. Our grand-daughter is heavily involved in the Quaker Valley Middle School Strings Program; the event was their annual fund raiser, “For the Love of Music”. About three dozen middle-schoolers performed in a variety of combinations.

Perhaps the neatest thing they did was a semi-flash mob version of a tune called “Flop Eared Mule”. The program listed two bass players as performers. They set up on the stage and began the piece. Suddenly four cellos joined them and picked up the beat, shortly followed by violins, violas, guitars, and ukuleles parading all around the auditorium. A very infectious event.

Another impressive presentation was that of a string quartet playing “Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Viola”, by Charlie Crane, with the composer performing as the violist. Not bad at all for a group of middle school students.

The highlight of the evening was the arrival of four members of the Pittsburgh Symphony – first violinists Chris Wu and Kelsey Blumenthal, violist Paul Silver, and principal cellist Anne Martindale. After they were introduced and received the proper acknowledgment of their being Grammy stars, they took their place on the stage.

They were then joined by the student quartet that had played Charlie’s Concerto, to form a double quartet which then played Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” and a medley of John Williams’ “Star Wars” themes. What a thrill for a group of teenagers to perform with peers of their hero Bruno Mars!

The PSO quartet then played four other pieces, much to the delight of the audience, then broke up so they could mingle with the student musicians and their parents. It was a real treat to hear the professional musicians close up and observe their obvious joy in their craft. Talking to them afterwards it was equally obvious that these are very special people, with a real commitment to music and to sharing it with young people.

For me the biggest thrill was hearing Mrs. Williams and her cello “close up”. I have heard her numerous times at Heinz Hall, where the acoustics are excellent, and am well aware of her world-class stature. Nonetheless I was overwhelmed at the tone she got from her cello when I heard it from just a few feet away.

The cello was made in Rome in 1701 and, in the hands of an artist like Mrs. Williams, produces remarkably gorgeous sounds. How fortunate we are that this particular instrument has ended up in the hands of someone who can exploit its potential.

The director of the Strings Program and producer of this specific event is Mrs. Corrie Nye. I suppose there are many other equally capable musical educators in middle schools throughout the country. Nonetheless I am grateful that my very special grand-daughter has had the opportunity to be part of this specific program.