Magyar News, 1994. szeptember-1995. augusztus (5. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1995-04-01 / 8. szám
HUNGARIANS LINE UP WITH NOBEL PRIZES In our February issue we gave news that Eugene Wigner, Nobel Prize laureate, nuclear physicist passed away. At the same time we could have informed our readers about two more Hungarian scientists who joined the ranks of Nobel Prize winners. They are Dr. John C. Harsányi and Dr. George A. Oláh. Interesting that scientists John Von Neumann, Eugene Wigner and John Harsányi attended the same high school in Budapest. It is the two century-old Fasori Evangélikus Gimnázium. George Oláh received his award, close to a million dollars, for his work in chemistry. I don’t dare to enter the scientific specifics of this field despite my studies of chemistry at the high school and later a year at the university. I am going to leave out details that I do not understand, so I will be very short. His research was about hydrocarbons. As a result of this, there are new fuels being developed from coal, petroleum, methane and other substances that are carbon based. As an immediate accomplishment is the higher rating of gasoline octanes. Dr. Oláh stabilized fragments of hydrocarbons called carbocations, that existed only for a millionth of a second. In this process he used ultra cold temperatures and acids that are a quintillion times stronger than sulfuric acid. I think this is where I draw the line. Dr. Harsányi’s field of research is less understandable for me, but it brings back memories. It happened when my dearlovely wife, Claudia, was studying for her Master’s Degree. With my son Justin, who at the time was a toddler, I gave her a ride to the University of Bridgeport and later picked her up. One day as we were waiting for Claudia, and having a conversation in the car, Justin said that he will be coming to the university. So I asked him what is he going to do? He immediately told me that he will be teaching there. Naturally the next question was: What? After a little hesitation he said that he will teach games. It sounded funny and cute. Now I found out that people actually teach games at universities and they receive Nobel Prizes for it too. This happened to Dr. Harsányi. The Wall Street Journal announced: “Two economists and a mathematician won the Nobel Prize in Economic Science for their work in game theory, a field that increasingly has come to influence business strategy.” Well, Justin was on the right track. The person who laid the foundation of this science was also a Hungarian, John Von Neumann. In 1927 he suggested a mathematical technique for the analysis of conflict. In 1944 he published his book with Oskar Morgenstern, the celebrated “Theory of Games and Economic Behavior.” It was purely a mathematical technique that found its way into many applications. Dr. Harsányi’s work was on how bargaining works when one player has more information than the other. It is used in designing markets, figuring the outcome between competing companies, international trading and so on. As we could imagine there are billions of dollars at stake where these game theories are used. We are proud to have such outstanding scientists among us Hungarians. Joseph F. Balogh SOMETHING PRECIOUS The Mary Katona Scholarship program of the American Hungarian Heritage Association requires an essay written by the applicants. The Magyar News publishes these works in the issues following the award ceremonies. This essay is written by one of this years applicants. I am a Hungarian from Romania. I became a United States citizen on March 4, 1994. Even though I am a citizen now, I still know that I am not only an American citizen, but also that I am a Hungarian who had to live through the hellish world of prejudice in Romania. Even though I didn’t notice it as much when I was living in it, now thinking back I see all the things that happened that would not have happened if I were Romanian. Among these things were being able to talk Hungarian. Here in the United States I can be proud of speaking another language, but back in Romania even in kindergarten, they would not let me speak Hungarian with my friends who didn ’ t speak Romanian. I would not be able to play with my friends because they would get into trouble if they spoke Hungarian. In grade school there were two divisions. The Hungarian division, where one was taught everything in Hungarian except of course Romanian and other languages, and the Romanian division where one learned everything in the Romanian language. The students in the Hungarian division had to have a mandatory class of Romanian every day, additional to the Hungarian, while the students in the Romanian division only had to learn Romanian. Besides the fact that they didn’ t have to learn our language while we had to learn theirs, they could also pick on us. The students in the Hungarian studies, and of course the teachers too, tried to stay out of trouble. But, if one was Hungarian, one had to learn very early on how to defend him or herself. I think that all these experiences had taught me what being Hungarian means. I know leaving the homeland was the hard way out, but I believe that it was worth it. I say that it was the hard way because many Hungarians just changed their names and did everything to try to mix in with the majority, giving up their heritage just so they would not be picked on. I am not saying that one should not try to adopt to different situations, but they should not leave their national heritage behind just so it can be a little easier on them. These people are not only giving up their heritage but are robbing their nation, and their future family of a gift that shouldn’t be taken away. Our ancestors fought to stay Hungarian and be proud of it. People shouldn’tgive up their heritage casually just to make their life easier. This is why I am proud to be Hungarian. I am proud of who I am. It would not be fair to anyone if I were to give up something precious that my parents, grandparents, and previous forefathers passed on from generation to generation. Tünde Miklós BYE-BYE LANDMARK In the book written by Magdalene Havadtoy we learn about a Fairfield area on the border with Bridgeport. It was called Villa Park. It had its Hungarian history and for many of us it was a good feeling to see a Hungarian flag waving in the wind practically every day of the year. At the Villa Carwash there was the American flag on one side, and on the other side the Hungarian flag. It reminded us of the ancestors who set foot in the area and raised families there to be good American Hungarians. It was part of a continuous line what started in the West End, moved through St. Stephans Church, Holy Trinity Church, First UCC, United Church of Christ, the Hungarian butchers, the Funeral Homes and many businesses, and connected to Drotos Brothers, St. Emery and Calvin UCC. I know that I didn’t include everything in the list, but I really only wanted to write about the Hungarian flag at the carwash. Somebody would say big deal, so it isn’t there any more. True, this is it I still miss it because I was used to seeing it Also the loss of it makes me think. Jim Malko had the flag flying till he retired. Now nobody carries the flag. And it is not just the flag. We see our precious heritage being chipped away little by little. It’s not the parents’ fault and it is not the community’s fault. This is how it happens here, maybe previous generations were not quite aware that heritage is a necessity. Joseph F. Balogh 3
