Alcalá View 1980 2.1

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Hello Myra • • • by Sandy Edelman That warm voi ce whi ch gree ts most ca llers when they reac h th e USO switc hboard belongs to Myra Amerson, chic! ope ra tor fo r near ly 13 years, a peri od reaching back to the days before the merger of the Co ll ege fo r Men and the Coll ege fo r Women . My ra misses some of the fe eling of that early time. The ITT system, she sa ys, has removed mu ch of the need fo r t he personal touch, as well as some of the chall enge. " Back then, " sh e recall s, " we were ju st one big, happy fa mi ly, lovin g and workin g together. " Her initi al contact with the University was through her first hu sband, Willi e Mame. (Wil lie was a long-time member of the Athl etic Department who has since moved on to Tennessee State- a move whi ch ruptured their 28-year marriage.) " I was on vacation from my job at the Mar ine Corps Recruiting Depot, out doi ng some garde ning, when Willie call ed and told me they ne eded some emergency help on the switch– board here. So I washed the dirt off my ha nds and came on in, and I've been here ever si nee. " Myra still knows a great deal about happy fam ili es. Her two-year-old marriage to Thelton Amerson brought her three grown ste psons, who along with T ina and Wil liell en- daughters fr om her firs t marriage- comb ine to give her a la rge fa mi ly which continues to loo k to her fo r motherly suppo_rt. " I'm a grandmoth er, too- I have two grandsons and I'm the proud new grandmothe r of a month-old gi rl. " Asked her new granddaughter's name,

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Always time for a smile- Myra Amerson is USD's unofficial greeter.

met and marri ed Willi e. Willi e's entrance into the Marin e Corps brought with it a li fe of constant trave l, and it was not until they moved to San Diego and Willi e left th e serv ice that Myra developed a sense of hometown. Aftef all the hurl y-burl y, she li ves such a ~ qu iet li fe - even in g phone ca ll s to her children to see if they need her help on anythin g, fo ll owed by a bit of television; on Sundays, ch urch and a drive, usually to vis it fam il y- that now " I thin k I must be doing something wrong 1 " What she enj oys most about her job at USO is meeting peop le. "Many people stop by just to find out who th at voice was on the telephone, and I've made a lot of fri ends that way." One suspects that Myra Amerson has made many friends for the Uni ve rsity as well.

Myra laughed and admitted she couldn 't remember, but promised to find out befor e press time. (It's Sakeenah .) Devotion of time and energy to her fami ly cur tails th e time Myra can spend at her favo rite leisure activities – sewing and gardening. A new Singer has stood untouched for two years. But her houseplants flourish; she has a champion eight-foot rubber tree which t hreatens to li ft the roof off her house and brings admiring glances fr om passersby. Does she specia li ze in certain kinds of plants? "No- I'll try anythin g. And people are always ask ing my advic e." Born in a small New Jersey town bearin g the unprepossess ing but

probably hi storica l name of Freehold ("it may not even be there an ymore"), Myra grew'up in Virgini a, where she Hail and Farewell: Bill Ritter by Sandy Edelman Bil l Ri tte r, San Di ego's answer to James Res ton, Ar t Buchwald, and oth er lum in ari es of hi gh journ ali sm, has departed USO and hi s post as news and publications wr iter, a posi ti on he fill ed for two years. An energeti c, professional, and much-liked fi gure on campu s, Bi ll made many contributi ons to USO , not the leas t of th em hi s impact on thi s newslette r. SDSU alumnu s, fo rmer corr·espondent fo r Newsweek magaz ine, editor of Ca lPirg Reports, contribu to r to Sa n Di ego Magazine, and recip ient of the 1978 Community Servic e Awar d fr om the Mental Hea lth Assoc iati on, Bil l is now a staff re porter· fo r th e newly laun ched San Di ego Bu siness journal. During hi s tenure as Alc ala Vi ew Assistant editor, Bill refused to all ow a Ritter profil e to appea r, poss ib ly because publica ti on of hi s ph otograph would make it to easy fo r the general public to spot him on the st ree ts. At the first opp ortunity the edit ori al board reversed thi s decision in an effort to sa y "Th ank s, Bill. And you are ve ry much mi ssed."

On his way - Publi cation s writer Bill R itt er packs his gear befo re a final farew ell t o USO .