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June 09, 2005
Pat on the back
I may have mentioned on here before that my hometown, Lancaster, holds a special distinction: one of its own is the designer of the current 50-star US Flag.
Bob Heft was in high school when he designed the flag for a class project, a few years before Hawaii and Alaska were admitted to the union:
According to Heft's friend and Lancaster resident Lou Varga, Heft designed the 50-star flag as a class project in the 11th grade at Lancaster High School. He got a B minus on the project and wanted a higher grade.
A B-minus? What the hell! But here's where it gets interesting:
His teacher, Stanley Pratt, said he would raise the grade if Heft persuaded the U.S. Congress to accept the flag. So Heft found his local Congressman Walter Moller and asked him to submit the 50-star flag if there was a contest for a new design.
Talk about a demanding teacher! I suppose this makes a case for people who complain about grade inflation. Back in my day, if I wanted to get a better grade on something, the professor would usually let me write a 5 page paper. But back in the 50's, the teacher literally wants you to get a better grade by spurring an Act of Congress. Holy shit!
If I was an engineering student, and I got a bad grade on my building design, I imagine my professor would tell me I could have an A if I could convince Donald Trump to build it. Or if I was a biology student, I'd have to get my experimental vaccine to prevent the shingles in monkeys. I just hope ol' Bob got that A.
But I digress. There is, I think, a lesson there about hard work paying off. If Mr. Pratt hadn't been such a dick, Bob probably never would have sent his flag to Congress and earned his special place in history. And, despite my calling Mr. Pratt a dick, that's a good thing.
However, it is also worth noting that something like 3,000 identical designs for the US Flag were submitted to Congress, but Bob's was selected because of the really great essay he had sent along with the design. As another great American, Mel Allen, would say, how 'bout that?
Posted by oz115 at June 9, 2005 07:47 AM