I wonder if, in the next few years, these cheerleaders felt shortchanged. Four years hence, the first women would join the cheer squad. But these guys wouldn't see it.

Ralph Sargent was a freshman from Birmingham, studying aeronautical engineering. Next to him is Bill McTyeire, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering. He married Katherine, served as an engineer in World War II in Germany and the PTO. He spent much of his career after that at the Birmingham Ornamental Iron Company, where he established Meadowcraft, a furniture division that would, one-day, be one of the successful casual furniture makers in the country. He was very active civically, and on the board of some of the largest business concerns in the state. He died, at 90, in 2003. He was survived by his wife of 61 years. They had five children and eight grand-children.

Third from the left is Ed Prewitt, a junior electrical engineering major from Mobile. He was the captain of the squad, but what he did after school escapes us. Next to him is Billy H. Morrison, a Memphis boy, a senior, studying civil engineering. He married a Missouri girl and went to work for the Portland Cement Association, which has poured cement we've all stood on or stared at, seems like. He died in 1980 at 68.

My favorite things about that photo are the hand-painted megaphones and those sweaters. A lot of the old looks should come back every so often, and that's definitely one of them.

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