Albany College of Pharmacy - Alembic Yearbook (Albany, NY)

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Each year our personalities are moulded by the experiences which we encounter. Future classes are influenced by our example and enlarged by whatever contributions we have made. Over a period of four years, the class of ’51 has been benefiting from the efforts of previous classes. In its turn, it has endeavored to make valuable ad- ditions—that those who follow might meet a great- er heritage. It was back on September 22. 1947 that we first saw the light of day at Albany College of Phar- macy. Our hearts were skeptical of those around us. and the halls and classrooms were a far cry from our high school days. On that day, exactly 122 bewildered heads appeared for their first chemistry lecture from Prof. Reed. Some of us were fresh out of high school, while others had seen several years of military service. It was a “mixture” of people who before graduation day arrived had been “shaken well”. We were all total strangers—but it did not take long for us to form many friendships with fellow classmates, and head- aches for our Profs. We found out early in the pur- suit of our profession that we could always turn to Dean O'Brien for helpful advice and guidance. Some of us may not have wanted to enter his office for encouragement, but at times special invitations were issued. Along in October of our freshman year, we were called together to elect class officers. We all started looking around trying to decide just who to select to carry out the duties of our class. After due parliamentary procedure. Ken Gray (the man with the camera and gray coat sweater) was chosen president. His assistant and student council buddy was Bob Newhard (“Irish”—wonder where he got that name). Anne Keeler (the gal with the voice) was elected secretary and Nancy Palmer (now Mrs. Silvernale) was our historian. That year saw quite a few of our embryo pharmacists on the basketball court. Bob Boscoe, Bob Newhard, Dick Peplinski, and George Gaf- farelli saw service with the maroon and white that year. Vi e found out early that basketball was the favorite sport at the Pharmacy Institute, and we were all proud to be represented on the team. Me soon discovered the meaning of the ex- pression “burning the midnight oil.” I’m sure all night cramming was something new to the majority of us. Many sat up with a cup of black coffee in one hand and an algebra book in the other hand before a quarterly examination that year. Can we ever forget the course in physiology we had that freshman year. What we didn’t know about the heart—and still don’t! And so the majority of us became sopho- mores—“the wise fools”. TIIE SOPHOMORE YEAR As sophomores, we began to learn just wrhat a stiff course it was to become a pharmacist or tech- nician. We surely got our fill of science in this year. Oh yes, how can we ever forget that year spent with Prof. Lapctina and the physics book. Velocity, acceleration, resistance, torque, definitions, prob- lems- we had our head and hands full with all these things. It would be interesting to know just how many of us could hook up an electric circuit now, even if we did have a diagram staring us in the face. We did come away with a lot of useful information, Prof. We received our first taste of manufacturing pharmacy this year by making tinctures, fluid- extracts, lotions, solutions, and ointments, ft was here we learned the useful art of washing dishes. I'm sure that if sope of those preparations were used in dispensing pharmacy, even Doctor Husa couldn't explain what caused the incompatibilities. Due to the fact that the enrollment at the col- lege had risen to such a large number this year, the boys’ room was converted into a classroom. The result- smoking was permitted in the lower halls. This was the beginning of a number of ro- mances during our sophomore year. It w’as a lot easier to stand with a cigarette in hand, talk about the events of the time,.and end up with a date than it would have been to wangle a date during classes. During that year, the girls’ room might just as well have been turned into a classroom also, for one could find all the girls stationed in the lower hall. The weight held by fraternities came to the foreground as class elections were held. The fra- ternities faced each other and in turn the indepen- dents had to face them. Out of all this, Bob Newr- hard emerged as class president. The girls club and sorority showed their power by putting Jeanne Burns in as vice-president. Ann Marie Richardson was given the secretarial duties, and Carolyn Ter- hune (now Mrs. Yollmer) wrote our pages of his- tory for the year book. We again faced quarterlies and finals, and again we had to put our heads to the grind, drag out the notes and books, and burn that lamp ’til the wee hours of the morning. All the time we hoped we w'ould survive to see our junior year. THE JUNIOR YEAR Let’s take a count of how many survived until their junior year. According to the records, we had 102 still struggling to gain access to a sheep- skin.: We were past the half way mark of our col-