YOUR LETTERS

Praise for Dr. Panda It was sheer serendipity that your magazine crossed my desk. I was immediately taken by the cover story about Dr. Nikhil Panda ’02. What an excellent piece! The interviewer’s questions to Dr. Panda answered all MY questions about his life and his trajectory as a pioneering heart surgeon. Well done!

Suzon O. Kister, Durham, NC

Class Notes Confusion

I love your new look for Utica magazine. Very nice and modern! Just wondering, what does the particular numbers mean after a person’s name? When someone is described as ’15, G’17, does this signify he or she was a member of the class of ’15 but she graduated in ’17? Or has additional degrees?

Harry Fisher ’78, Albany, NY

Editor’s Note: Great question! A year with no letter indicates the person’s graduating class for a bachelors degree from Utica College. The “G” denotes a graduate degree from UC. So a person who earned a bachelor’s degree in 2015 and a graduate degree in 2017 would be listed as John Doe ’15, G’17. Degrees conferred from other institutions are not noted.

Expert Opinion

The new Utica magazine, in the view of this former alumni editor, is a winner.

Jim Leach ’67, Hamilton, NY

(For 25 years, Leach served as Director of Communications and alumni magazine editor at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY.)

Honoring Dr. Richard Costa

I would like to eulogize Richard Hauer Costa, a former UC professor who passed away in New Hartford, aged 97, on May 21, 2019.

I transferred to Utica College from Cornell as a biology major more than 50 years ago. I was enjoying my science and math classes, but I was putting off the literature course required for my degree because my English teachers from high school and Cornell ranged from boring to sadistic. I had come to think it was impossible to teach English well.

I approached Mr. Richard Costa’s classroom determined to stick it out. He passed out a short story, “Theft,” by Katherine Anne Porter, told us to read it, and called the roll. I noticed that there was a pre-med student, I’ll call him Mr. X, who had been very obnoxious in two of my science classes. Mr. Costa then led a discussion of the story that was useful and enjoyable, had Mr. X not contributed some of his annoying disquisitions. When the class ended, Mr. Costa assigned more reading and said, “Mr. X, please see me after class.” I eavesdropped on their conversation. Costa said, “Mr. X, you are not taking this class.” “You can’t do that, I’m a straight A pre-med.” “I don’t care who you are or who your family might be. If you come back you will get an F.” I went to the second class with some trepidation because I expected Mr. X to win. I was not going to stay if he was there. He was not, and I learned that it was indeed possible to teach English well.

We read a lot, discussed a lot, and wrote about lots of literature. Costa’s comments were designed to help us read, write, and think better. He even allowed us to disagree with him. We had a major disagreement about two of the poems on the final exam, but I still got an A.

I finished my degree and went back to Cornell where I got a job working for the Veterinary College. Seven years later I got a chance to switch fields and became an English professor; I was going to teach like Mr. Costa. My wife, Molly, and I packed up a small U-Haul and our two small sons and drove to Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. Without a home yet secured, we first arrived at the home of Bob and Cindy Bernstein, where we were to spend our first night. Bob came out and said, “There’s someone here who says he knows you.” And there was Dick Costa, now Dr. Costa, with a Ph.D. from Purdue, and Director Emeritus of Public Relations at Utica College. Pure serendipity. He became my advisor, I took seven courses with him, we collected several more areas of contention, and we got through my dissertation. Other grad students tended to avoid his classes because he gave them actually useful criticism and, sometimes, gave grades less than an A.

Dr. Costa wrote seven books, all of which are re-readable and make you want to read the literature he writes about. He won two distinguished teacher awards at A&M, both of which I was honored to write letters of support for.

We communicated regularly over the years, and I could always count on him for interesting responses. I got to enjoy 43 years of teaching English because of Dick Costa.

Carlson Yost ’66, Portsmouth, OH

Dr. Richard Costa circa 1970.

CORRECTION:

In the Fall 2017 issue of Utica, we incorrectly listed the date of death for late theatre professor, Marijean Levering, as June 27, 2017. She passed away on July 27, 2017. We regret the error.

Tell us what you think!

Send your thoughts on this issue to uticamag@utica.edu

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