Elms College - Elmata Yearbook (Chicopee, MA)

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(Bioioqjf MARY D. WRIGHT, B.S. An unfamiliar sound to the name, but a familiar brightness in the smile. Mrs. Wright has been a home-loving professor for almost a year now, but upper-class and faculty tongues still connect a more identi- fiably Irish name with wavy garnet hair and faintly sprinkled freckles. Initiator of the mysteries of freshman science (such as formaldehyde frogs), in- structor in senior laboratory ventures into bacteriology and botany, patience is her virtue, hand-in-hand with interest and an earnest way with explanations. Definitely a person you like to say Hi to, as she surries through the halls, heels clicking, casual camel coat open, keeping pace with a busy schedule. A Freshman in a Biology lab has a beginner ' s fear of the unknown — in this case, of amoebas and frogs. But after first-hand experience with the scientific joys of dissection, her views ch ange considerably until even the dissecting scissors and probe fit familiarly between her fingers. Under Mrs. Wright ' s patient direction, the real marvels of zoology become meaningful and distinct from the cloudy smell of formaldehyde. 25

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ROBERT I. O ' HERRON, M.A. Among the many scientific endeavors that absorb a greater part of this pro- fessor ' s time are the lectures of scientific significance he gives at the Elms. Last to arrive for 4:30 afternoon sessions he couples his formal notes with rather original chalk designs and chemical equations that are a common source of amusement and speculation to his students. An accom- plished scholar with a rich background of research and lab experience he brings an uncommon blend of knowledge and prac- tical experience to satisfy inquisitive science students. (phijAiccd QhswuAtAy Blackboard murals of figures and formulas, to be explained, analyzed and finally erased only after they have been permanently etched on the mind . . . these are the important tongue and memory-twisting pre- liminaries to the more rewarding experimental evidence of Physical Chemistry. Mr. O ' Herron traces with chalk the fundamentals of science; out- lining the struggle for understanding that lies behind the portrait of the test-tube scientist in the unruffled white coat. 24

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(phyAicA Out of sheer curiosity two inquisi- tive students came to examine the peculiar apparati in the physics lab. Meanwhile, Sister Oswald spotted them and proceeded to do a little explaining. Very obviously what they viewing was a grating spectograph which is used in the analysis of unknowns for their metallic constituents. Slightly vague but impressed with Sister s demonstra- tion the students left with minds half submerged in a scientific maze. were QouAnali m The search for the new, the discovery of the spark, — these characterize the journalists. In their ingenuity — challenging positions as staff members of the school newspaper and magazine — they keep their horn rims well polished to recognize the new approach to an old theme, the new and striking twist of words and phrases, the sparks of feeling, understanding, and wit. They are alert and they are eager. Never satisfied with the preceding issue, they aim always for something better, some bigger story, some better feature, some more lasting word. They are familiar because they are always scouting for talent and opinion, and What do you do in the . . . ? , In your opinion, what is ... ? are frequent conversation quotes from them. Besides recording student voices, journalists are wide-eyed on world affairs. Thus, class time is time for a surveyal of the contemporary, a time for exercising the mind ' s criti- cal faculties and a time for develop- ing an ability to weigh and to judge.