Cornell University - Cornellian Yearbook (Ithaca, NY)

Page 33 text:

f aaifdwag. 'ZWWWJ 4 f' 0- W I Veterinarians were enabled by an accelerated program to graduate in two and two-thirds years. Students in Architecture were offered new courses in planning and industrial design. The accelerated plan adopted by the Engineering College Faculty went into effecton June first. By taking three continuous terms a year, four-year students could graduate in three years. Olin Hall, new Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, was dedicated in October. Academic standards became stricter than ever, since the Engineering College was undertaking to train not only undergraduates but also defense workers from cities in New York State, Army Ordnance Inspectors, Naval officers, civilian pilots, and Curtiss-Wright cadettes. Everyone contributed sooner or later to the student-organized Cornell for Victory Committee. Victory Wardens sold war savings stamps and collected scrap. The Cornell Victory Chest, whose largest beneficiary was the USO, went way over its quota. War stamp corsages were the order for dances. Willing victims were stabbed in one arm by a Red Cross Blood Donor Unit and in the other by an Army Influenza Commission. The Faculty permitted houseparties for the gala Victory Week-end at the end of the first term. Proceeds of the Victory Show, written and produced by students, went for war bonds. In 1942-43 Cornellians looked about them at their changing campus and wondered what it would be like next year, if they were there next year.

Page 32 text:

HIE UNIVZRSITY AND NIL' Cornellians returning this fall found that the grim necessities of war had changed their c f are ree life. Gone were the convertibles of former years, and lucky was the Carnellifm man who owned a rattle-trap. For once it was safe to cross Thurston Avenue in front of Risley. A few bicycles appeared. Even Louie finally ran out of gas. For the first time there was a compulsory Freshman Week At f , oot- ball games half of the crescent was empty. Houseparties were banned and then furiously debated, Bothj. P. 's and the .Yun refused to function on Mondays. The Straight kept running out of cokes. Lou Boochever was no more. Saturday night busses were crowded to overflowing and many a co-ed got minutes for being late. Naval officers marched from the S. S. Sage to their mess hall while co-eds from neighboring cottages trouped in to the Sage dining room. Men students had to spend one or two afternoons a week boxing or rowing and another scrambling under and over the obstacles on the new commando course. Cutting classes was Verboten. Despite the war, fraternities, committees, the Dutch, and Sebela continued. But in general blue jeans were slowly becoming supplanted by uniforms, and collecting shingles was less important than collecting grades. Every week brought new departures and enlistments, engagements and marriages. Instructors were drafted along with students. The President and some of the Faculty commuted between Ithaca and Washington. The various colleges had to make the best o t e needs of a country at war. By attending summer sessions students were able to step up the speed of college education. Enlistment in the Reserve Corps made it possible for men to continue their studies for a while longer. ln the College of Arts and Sciences wartime pressures placed new emphasis on courses leading to war and post-war work. New opportunities ranged from map making and stenog- raphy to' an intensined course in Russian. On the campus of the Agricultural College work was going on in farm training, rubber research, and camouflage instruction. To meet the country's increasing need for trained dieticians and researchists the College of Home Economics went on a compulsory three-term plan. The Hotel Colle ' ' ' ' ge gave courses in military personnel and war-time food problems. of their depleted faculties and adapt themselves t h

Page 34 text:

RE.S'fRVf 0FFlL'ER5' Military Science and Tactics-''Drill -received vigorous interest at Cornell this year. To some 450 students in the advanced courses, it became their most important subject. With induction into the armed forces drawing near, they realized that a good R.O.T.C. record would be invaluable if they wished to receive commissions. Competition for entrance into the advanced courses increased and the standards for satisfactory marks be- came more rigid. In the basic courses, too, interest in- creased, for many more underclassmen were Working for admittance to the advanced courses. The attitude of the students toward their work in the military de- partment became more serious. There was a great deal to be learned before they could hope for admittance to Officers' Candidate Schools. Instead of attending summer training camp between their junior and senior years and receiving Reserve Commissions on completion of two years of basic training and two years of advanced, the students now had to qualify for recommendations to Officers' Can- didate Schools. There they would have to take inten- sive training for three months before they' could be commissioned. At these schools they are competing with men who have served in the regular army, with men who have far more military experience than they. Everything they could learn at Cornell would be ex- tremely valuable, everything they missed would handicap them. They realized that they must work hard and learn thoroughly if they were to succeed in obtaining commissions. Realizing this, the Department of Military Science and Tactics directed their eEorts to two main ends. First, they gave the students instruction in the sub- jects that they would have to master at Officers' Can- didate Schools. Whenever possible they covered the same ground covered in the Candidate Schools. The instructors learned where former R.O.T.C. students had been weak and emphasized those subjects. Second, the Department tried to develop the individual leader- ship qualities in the students. Many hours Were