Musings

Musings

My name is Edward K. Eckert and for many years I was a member of the history department at St. Bonaventure University, first as a major (1961-1965) and then as a faculty member (1971-2005). Technically I still am a faculty member carrying the lifetime title of professor emeritus. The best part of being professor emeritus is that I do not have to do anything. No more classes to teach, meetings to attend, or courses to prepare; the bad side, of course, is no more salary. I am a retired member of the department, but keep in touch by maintaining a St. Bonaventure University email address (eeckert@sbu.edu), following the history department’s newsletter and blog, and, whenever possible, watching the Bonnies play basketball.

SBU History Newsletter no. 4 (Year 17)

SBU HISTORY NEWSLETTER

YEAR 17, NO. 4 16 nOVEMBER 2011

BY DR. THOMAS J. SCHAEPER

Bona Students in the Rathskeller, 1961

Calling All Alumni

Numerous History grads receive this newsletter. We in the department can use your help. We'd like to update a display case in the department. This case features pictures of some of our History majors from the past along with a paragraph or so summarizing highlights of each person's life and career since graduation. The purpose of the display case is to show current students the rich variety of fields that History majors enter. If you have contributed a picture and personal information in the past, please consider emailing to me a new picture and updated information. And if you have never contributed anything, now is the time to do so.

A room with a view (from Dr. Horowitz's apartment in Argentina)

Dr. Horowitz in front of the Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Goodbye Buenos Aires (Dr. Joel Horowitz)

I left Buenos Aires on October 31 and arrived the following day in Buffalo. What struck me immediately besides the change in weather—going from spring to fall—and a fall that is about as cold as winter in Buenos Aires, was the quiet. There is no noise on my street or, when there is, it is sporadic. Buenos Aires is like all big cities noisy, but, even more than most, there is constant noise and bustle. The only time my street seemed quiet was in the early morning hours. There is also, with the exception of the early morning, seemingly always lots of people going somewhere or doing something, even if it is drinking coffee in a café. I would guess that in a three block radius of the apartment where I stayed there were almost as many cafes as in all of western New York. It was an area with a very large number. (I could see five cafes from my balcony). Nevertheless it says something about life in Buenos Aires. People’s social life is often in public places and eating and drinking well is important. It is also a society in which, because of a history of numerous periods of high inflation, believes that money might as well be spent.

What could have been an exciting event, the presidential elections of Sunday October 23, turned out to be a non-event. Elections are always held on Sundays and voting is a requirement. The weeks before the election there was no real excitement. There were ads on television but not a lot of posters or people handing out fliers. I only received two fliers during my time there. (Not because I look any different than Argentines—I was asked countless times for directions. If I knew the answer, people always looked embarrassed to be getting directions from a foreigner but until I spoke and my accent was displayed I looked and dressed no differently than many others.) The reason for the lack of interest was that everyone was sure that Cristina Fernández de Kirchner would easily win reelection. They were correct. While she won with roughly 54 percent of the vote, she had a 36 percent margin over her closest opponent. The opposition was deeply split and there were many candidates. None of the opposition candidates articulated very clear positions.