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

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%. T£a id tfc altey To whom it may concern: So many members of the class of 1952 have asked me to write them so many different letters of recommendation that I have decided to write a blanket letter which can be mimeographed, multigraphed, photostated, or produced in any way whatsoever by any member of the class of 1952 seeking graduate instruction, advanced degrees, professional employ- ment, and that mundane thing known as a paying job. I have known this class for four years and have helped nurse them through freshman fever, junior jitters, and senior syndrome. I can testify that they are able to digest a meat sandwich as well as absorb learning. That they are able to smoke a kymograph drum, pith a frog, play it cozy, and at the same time be ganz megillah. Some of these aptitudes will help them in life, others are somewhat specialized. Their spirit of cooperation is good. Witness the meat sandwich megil- lahs that were turned out last exam time for the freshmen. (How about a few copies for me too, boys, after all I give the course.) This was but one example of team work out of many. I can testify that most of them will make good life insurance risks. They understand the law of conservation of energy. This is one thing that they learned from that great-heart Professor Farwell, more popularly known as the student ' s friend and the grand old man of physics. He gave them a drastic course. (Professional joke.) Some of them will make good blue book and red book editors. They can tell you the name of every product on the market, the name of every manufacturer, and where the factory is located. (What do they make over in Belleville, New Jersey?) Some will make good public relations men, detail men, and salesmen. They have learned their way around such cities as Newark, Baltimore, Cin- cinnati, Washington, Indianapolis, and Chicago. By the end of the sum- mer some of them will know their way around New York. (Advt. — See A.Z.O. Convention News.) Some of them will also be good in the writing of professional litera- ture. They have learned to avoid the positive statement and play it cozy. Where they learned that I wouldn ' t know. Some will make good masters of ceremonies. They can give vent to

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English ; and afterwards: I didn ' t come to argue for points, I only want clarification. Am I up to 80 yet? I knew the answer, but I didn ' t under- stand the question ; I deserve an A in this course ; Am I up to a C- yet? I couldn ' t study for this exam, I drove a cab all night ; We dis- cussed this in lecture? Lecturing in room 50 was sometimes a trying experience. In the era B.P.A. (before the public address system) there was a rush to the front seats by those who were interested in hearing the lecture, for various rea- sons, and a rush for back seats by those who were behind in copying notes. The public address system brought a new geographic distribution of the class. There were the same people rushing to the front seats, but a new group emerged, those who sat in the back near the loudspeaker. Here one could catch the choicer morsels of the lecture while copying notes . . . and Scherman sat in between in order to receive the adulation of both groups. In all, the character of the class of ' 52 might be described as some- times cynical, sometimes rebellious, sometimes disinterested, but gener- ally gratifyingly sincere and warm-hearted. Each commencement is a time of reflection for most faculty mem- bers; usually a time for pride in the curricular accomplishments of the graduating class; always a time for sincere hopes for the success and hap- piness of each new alumnus . . . and so it is with me. IZofant SdanfaU This seems to be an era of words. Perhaps it will some day be so characterized. Daniel Webster once said that knowledge does not com- prise all that is contained in the large term education. The amount of respect and confidence you will command will depend largely on how well you deal with the many problems that will surely confront you during your practice of Pharmacy. From the manner in which you have handled the various crises that have arisen at school, I am sure you can cope with the g reater problems that are still to present themselves, and be worthy of the title Pharmacist.

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puns that are unexcelled for iodine number, and rancidity and I especially recommend one of my brothers, Frater Newman, when I make this state- ment. I am willing and glad to recommend them for anything, anywhere, and the farther away the better. Let ' s have quiet wit hin these halls and peace at any price. I have heard more vociferous gatherings such as gull rookeries, and the primate house at the zoo at feeding time. You know that they are around. P.S. There are even a few students among them. ttutcatee 4. Kelf When you, the class of ' 52, entered C.U.C.P. you were merely a mass of strange faces. When we met in Botany lab you became individuals; when you finished Pharmacognosy we were well acquainted! By the time we had struggled through collenchyma and sclerenchyma, through bark and cork, through ovate and obovate leaves, through drupes and cremocarps you became more than row and seat numbers. As we travelled on through receptacles and slippery conceptacles of Fucus, saw the flash of ignited Lycopodium spores, examined the sori of ferns, the winged pollen of pine, the microsporophylls (stamens) and the megasporo- phylls (pistils) of the angiosperms you became personalities. Some of you seemed interested in the course matter; some of you appeared to want to see how little work you could do — and still pass! Our acquaintanceship was renewed with Pharmacognosy in your Jun- ior year — or should it be called Organic Chemistry year? Your knowl- edge of botany became necessary for a study of the drug plants. Terms which may have been merely terms that had to be learned in Botany in- creased in meaning. Pharmacognosy itself became much more than the title of a course. The study of the crude drugs themselves and of their active constituents, a practical application of botany and chemistry, seemed to appeal to you and many realized the value of knowing these aspects of drugs worked with in other courses or dispensed across the counter. I hope and trust that the knowledge retained, even if relatively slight, of Botany and Pharmacognosy will help you all to be better pharmacists and, perhaps of greater importance, to appreciate the important role of plants and plant products in the world about you. The class apparently (in