Harvard School of Public Health - Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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It Is Commencement—The Beginning of a New Em for All of Us PRESIDENTIAL MESSAGE » By GEORGE ADEYEMI ADEMOLA T HURSDAY, 17th June 1965, is scheduled to see the disintegration of a unique phenomenon. In September, 1964, a strange conglomeration of human types gathered in the Shattuck Street build¬ ing. Caucasian and Negro, Arab and Jew; nuclear physicist and sociologist, surgeon and engineer, astronaut and veterinarian, government adminis¬ trator and Pe ace Corps volunteer; from Chile and Canada, New Zealand and Korea, Norway and ination post-mortems, each of us helping another to keep his head above stream in the surging flood of required study. The wide choice of courses pro¬ vided several cross-mixtures, stirred and differently settled on exploratory field trips. Further blends were made possible by the various committees. With interests always changing but always shared, in a constantly shifting pattern of exchange, we learned to know each other and to make full use of School facilities and our combined experiences. Thailand, Haiti and Pakistan and every region of the U.S.A. Within months, by some strange al¬ chemy of proximity and interest, this combination of discrete elements has become a single entity— The Class of ’65. Perhaps the strongest single welding influence has been shared work—in class periods and even¬ ing discussions, sessions for questions and exam¬ Highlighted in retrospect are social activities: picnics bright with the flaming leaves of autumn or the sparkle of winter snow; games of squash and table tennis; the warmth of Thanksgiving; the joys of Christmas; the excitement of Nigeria night; the delicacies of Oriental cooking; musical evenings at home or with the Boston Symphony; informal coffee hours and outside lectures; con¬ genial visits in Faculty homes or student apart¬ ments. We have all had our share of personal prob¬ lems—disappointing grades or malevolent viruses, mental conflicts or physical accidents. These have served to illuminate the permeating characteristics of School and House—a deep caring for the needs of the individual and a readiness to consult the interests of all. The Dean ' s world tour of investi¬ gation; the formation of the Curriculum Commit¬ tee; the private tutorials; Class meetings and House meetings; the observant awareness of the House Director; arrangements for domestic help; messages, gifts and visits to the sick; scholarships awarded for continued study—in so many ways has this depth of feeling been manifested, a valid expression of the comprehensive significance of 6

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THE STERLING-WINTHROP RESEARCH INSTITUTE, RENSSELAER, N. Y., research Center for Sterling Drug Inc. and its domestic and foreign divisions and subsidiaries, including Winthrop Laboratories. more useful in treating what remains as the world’s most widespread disease. A still more ef¬ fective agent, Plaquenil, has since been discovered. Curiously, in one of medical science’s recurring re¬ search phenomena, Plaquenil has been found to be valuable also in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and related collagen diseases. Forward strides are being made at the Sterling- Winthrop Research Institute in developing chemo¬ therapeutic weapons to treat more effectively other world-wide diseases. One such, schistosomiasis— or bilharziasis—ranks next to malaria as the world’s most prevalent affliction. Winthrop is also an active participa nt in the pharmaceutical industry’s intensive research pro¬ gram to perfect vaccines in the fight against mea¬ sles, influenza and other viral diseases. Towards that end, the company has vastly expanded its research facilities and staff of scientists at Rens- slaer, N. Y. Thanks to Winthrop’s antibacterial skin cleans¬ ing agent, pHisoHex, much progress has been made in coping with the difficult problem of bac¬ terial cross-infection in U. S. hospitals. First adopted by operating-room personnel as a soap re¬ placement, the compound is now widely used on surgical patients, in nurseries and by mothers of newborn infants to bathe their babies. Although not yet available to the medical pro¬ fession, a new Winthrop compound has exciting possibilities in the field of public health. Fve years of study have shown it to be a non-addicting anal¬ gesic in the morphine range of potency that is safe for physicians to prescribe. Talwin, as the new drug is called, holds out high hopes in society’s war against narcotic addiction. 5

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v. BY SOME STRANGE ALCHEMY ... A SINGLE ENTITY” Class members, relatives, and guests, at the Christmas party. Public Health. This of course is the philosopher’s stone that has worked our transformation. We are involved in a field that most fully exemplifies the integra¬ tion of mind, body and spirit. No human activity lies outside our interest. Thus we can appreciate the privilege of having spent this momentous year in the U.S.A. The Presidential elections; action in Vietnam; payment at the UN; relations with Eu¬ rope; the Congo airlift; Medicare; the Anti-Pov¬ erty programme; Civil Rights—what better prac¬ tical study could we have had of the problems facing a modern democracy? What better example of the interaction of physical, mental and spiritual influences ? In a short time now, we shall take leave of one another and return to our various sectors on—or above—the earth’s surface. Yet June 17th, which marks our leavetaking, is not an end. It is Com¬ mencement—the beginning of a new era for all of us, in which we shall apply to our several tasks in our various countries the broader perspectives and deeper understanding that will be our lasting memorial of the Class of ’65. May we persevere in working as a team for the welfare of the world’s people. NO HUMAN ACTIVITY LIES OUTSIDE OUR IN¬ TEREST” — Class members and wives inspect Health Center in Puerto Rico.