We understand your disappointment, Coach Pettibone, when only 5,600 fans turn out to see the Huskies win an exciting football game. The lack of fan support is a combination of many factors, no doubt: too much college football on TV, lack of interest in an opponent such as Southwestern Louisiana, resentment over past policies of the NIU Athletic Department, etc.

However, you should feel fortunate that 5,600 fans showed up. I have attended some excellent concerts in our School of Music at which the attendance was less than one hundred. The NIU Philharmonic, for example, is one of the best student orchestras in the country; their record for consecutive “DB” awards is the musical equivalent of winning the Rose Bowl nine years in a row! I wonder how many members of your football squad (or even your coaching staff) have heard one of their concerts this year.

In an attempt to combat “provincialism,” we frequently schedule public lectures, not only by our own faculty, but by world-renowned scientists. We are fortunate to attract a few dozen students. Again ask your football players and coaches how many of them have ever attended a special lecture on science—or art or philosophy. The distance from Huskie Stadium to Faraday Hall is exactly the same on Thursday night as it is on Saturday afternoon.

I certainly congratulate you on your winning season, and we hope that in the future Huskie Stadium will be filled to capacity with enthusiastic fans! If you can’t accomodate them all, send the overflow along to Faraday Hall or the Music Building.

Thomas D. Rossing

Professor

Physics