Columbia University College of Pharmacy - Apothekan Yearbook (New York, NY)

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UNIVERSITY COURSES The sole excuse for grouping the following courses together is the fact that each one helped to strengthen the link between the College of Pharmacy and the rest of Columbia University. One of the first battles encountered in this section was a course called Survey of Mathematics. Whether the instructor was Dr. Levi or Mr. Supnick didn ' t matter. Both assumed that their students had a firm groundwork in Arithmetic— their first mistake. Problem: if John earns 15? and Mary earns 10?, should they get married and file a joint income tax return? ' The chief difference between the English courses of Drs. de Groot and Harlan was that the latter was delivered with a Texas drawl. We were taught to never split our infinitives to use coreck speling punkchuashun and good english. We think our teachurs wud be proud of our presint ackomplishmints. The course in History was called C.C., but we were all wrong, it meant Contemporary Civilization. We couldn ' t imagine why, as it was neither contemporary nor civilized; nevertheless Dr. Luthin did his utmost to bring light and learning to the innermost recesses of our souls. Herr Ingenhuett tried to teach us German. While learning the language, we also learned to treat the sore throats that came with the course. Although we may have forgotten Physics, we ' ll never forget Farwell. He still haunts our dreams, pushing buttons, plotting curves, and making life generally miserable for his pet peeve— the Pharmacy group. One of the rewards for all of the aforementioned courses was the oppor- tunity to see and be a part of the University itself; if for no other reason than that, we are thankful for having had these classes. 20

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phrases, macerate with expression and percolate till exhausted. The so-called practical aspect of phar- macy was taught by Dr. Brown. Although the C.U.C.P. alumnus had never been called upon to make urethral suppositories, it was comlorting to know how to do so. Lucky thing, he learned Latin too! How else would he know what Tinctura or Syrupus meant? He recalls that third year of Pharmacy quite vividly. Before that the class had been content to mix ingredients and watch re- sults, but that year Prof. Carter had burst the bubble of fascination by asking why to everything. Not only did the class have to mix the ingredients, but they had to know the reason for the use of each one. The percolator became a familiar piece of equipment — and not for making coffee either! The lab procedures were broken on Friday mornings by the formal orations the students delivered on their chosen Pharma- ceutical topics. One person became so en- grossed in his speech that he continued raving for 20 minutes after the end of the period, before realizing that he was ad- dressing an empty room. Ah, those were the good old days! Mr. Blank ' s course, too, came back quite clearly. He used to say, Learn the law, and don ' t argue, but the love of a good argument was inherent in that class, and the instructor ' s patience was sorely tried on many occasions. The senior dispensing course was highly instructive. That phrase dentur in duplo took on a new significance and Dr. Brown had wondered how his class could make ten prescriptions, including pills and suppositories, in half the allotted time. Mr. Chavkin must have had his suspicions, but he never voiced them. These prescrip- tions were turned out with more dispatch than neatness or accuracy. By the end of that semester the fellows had a fine collec- tion of pills in their desks and ceased mak- ing them afresh. Yes, that senior year had really kept them busy. Professor Carter ' s Survey course had kept them on their toes. That file-card system system vras pretty good for learning the USP and NF, but it was those weekly quiz- zes that provided the stimulus for studying. On looking back over those Pharmacy courses, the pharmacist realizes that amid all that mass of philosophy and theory, there was still a wealth of pharmaceutical knowledge to be gained.

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ADMINISTRATION Although the administrative staff of the Columbia College of Pharmacy has seen many changes in the past several years, there is one thing that has not changed: the cheerful and cooperative attitude of the people in the office. Miss Eleanor Kerker, the ex-registrar and Miss Gertrude Hallinan, her successor, have both shown these traits. Who is not familiar with the amiable smile that Miss Anne Silverman, the Bursar, flashes upon us when we come in to pay our fees? We suspect that she learned her technique by watching the pharmaceutical process of extraction on the 5th floor. Catherine Miani has only two faults: she won ' t give out grades in advance, and she refuses to accept our help in mimeographing the exams; otherwise we think that she ' s just about tops. Mrs. Alice Almond, guardian of the switchboard and sundry other duties, has completely charmed us with her Boston- ian accent. Rounding out the office staff is Miss Mildred Ackerman whose pleasant dis- position fits into the general scheme of things. Mrs. Florence Wodicka, who presides over the library, has always been helpful and patient with us, especially when the more exuberent members of the class would raise a rumpus within the sacred confines of the library. We wish to express our thanks and ap- preciation to the staff for the many ways in which they have helped us throughout the years that we have spent at C.U.C.P. 21