Haverford College - Record Yearbook (Haverford, PA)

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ROBERT H. BUTMAN No performance of a play is ever alive ' unless the direction has been enthusiastic and invigo- ratinpr. Time and apain college productions go flat because there exists no driving, encouraging force behind them to lend pace and clarity. The same is true for the classroom: learning is a lead- ing forth of knowledge, but first there must exist the inspiration and desire to learn. This is only created, in the classroom, when one feels that the professor him- self is motivated by a profound desire to understand and to help others to understand. There are few professors who take the trouble to broaden a student ' s mind as Bob does. It is for this that sreat teachers are remem- What does it mean to gamble? With money as the symbol, the flip of a coin in Humanities class has shown us more about Dos- toievsky ' s story than three hours of lecture time. Similarly, a sim- ple stage direction. You sound like you ' re making love to your- self instead of to her. ' has proved the most effective remedy for a common situation on the Haver- ford boards. There is at least one place on this campus of keys which is never locked. As students we have walk- ed into his apartment at anv hour and been made welcome, which is something some of us can do no- where else. He is necessarv. he is there, and he is appreciated. Yes, there have been quarrels, and some of us dislike him. To some he has come too close, to others not close enough. But that is part of the gamble — when each of us makes some attempt to reach out and sense the other, we are betting on the fulfillment of ourselves as human beings, and hoping, sometimes against hope, that we will win. He is respected for the amount and the frequency with which he stakes: criticized for his losses and loved for his victories, but always respected. That ' s as it should be. There are too few gamblers left.

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LOUIS C GREEN I ' m very well acquainted too with mntfers mathematical, I understand equations, both the simple and quadratieal. About bivomial theorem I ' m teeming vith a lot o ' news — • With many cheerful facts about the square of the hypotenuse. The Major General ' s wnrrls can serve as an excellent introduction to the well-known figure who is head and sole memher of the Haverford Department of Astron- omy. Dr. Louis Green. His know- ledge extends far beyond equa- tions, both the simple and quad- ratieal . extending into such re- latively unastronomic fields as philosophv and English literature. He is able to speak of Aquinas with almost as much authority as he can of the quantum theory. He does not allow science in gen- eral and astronomy in particular to remain an isolated discipline in the students mind but relates it to the whole field of human experience. If a person has ever stood in the hall outside of Chase 8 he perhaps might wonder at the laughter which he hears inside. The applause which follows would be even more mystif ing. H this person were told that the class in session was an astronomy class his curiosity would probably grow to amazement. In most minds as- tronomy is certainly not supposed to be a discipline capable of in- citing laughter in anyone. Astron- omy is supposed to be a sober discipline. There is certainly noth- ing humorous in its elegance: if anything it is cold and distant. This, of course, is true to a de- gree: for viewing the moon through a telescope is certainly a different experience frf)ni reading Shelley. The one fact that makes all llie difference in this case is that this is Dr. Green ' s version of astronomy. Not to imply that the universe that he speaks of is dif- ferent from that studied by other astronomers, but rather that it is more ital than most version- a person is liable to encounter. In this lies the clue to the laughter. Dr. Green himself is a rather tall and severe man. suggesting more a Presbyterian minister w itli a strict Calvinisf background than an astronomer. A first glance affords one no indication of the latent humor of the man. Yet it is the whimsical humor with which he liberally lards his erudi- tion that permits him to excel in the class-room. His spontaneous acting ability permits him to imi- tate with equal facilitv a diatomic molecule or the hypothetical uni- verse in angular motion. While the educators are work- ing on methods to make the learn- ing of science painless. Dr. Green has developed his own relatively painless method. Most students at Haverford enroll in the astronomy course as a means of hedging the science requirement and have lit- tle initial interest in the content of the course. Much to the sur- prise of many students they dis- cover that they enjoy the course, and cannot remain indifferent, at least not to Dr. Green. He is able to expound such complex theories as that of re- lativity to students with a minimal scientific background, and to do it successfully. It is Dr. Green ' s accurate and sympathetic feeling for the students and his desire to teach them, rather than just to teach, that permits him to convey to them his feeling of enthusiasm for astronomy. Page 11

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ERNEST PRUDENTE It ' s pretty hard to get through Haverford without meeting Ernie Prudente. You can do it. although Ernie probably has as many peo- ple in his courses as any other professor. You can do it: hut you miss something. You may sign up with Ernie simply because of athletic require- ments, or because you have the sinking feeling that a few weeks of grinding or loafing have left you miserably out of shape. So you sign up for sports instruc- tion, body-building. Softball, base- ball or basketball: and vou dis- cover, if Vou didn ' t know it al- ready, that there ' s an unusual man at the heart of the program. He knows what he ' s doing and he does it well: and if vou came til learn something, you ' ll learn. Of course, if you don ' t want to learn. Ernie won ' t force vou; if you want to goof off, you can get away with it. You won ' t fool Ernie: but he won ' t get tough with you either. If you want to put ourself in shajje. he ' ll help, shouting words of encouragement to his sweating disciples. Let ' s keep those weights hot! he ' ll b :iow. And build up those necks and get those arms strong and those stomachs tight. Easy? Take it from Ernie. This is a gut course. When ou ' re sure nu can ' t lift five pounds more, hell grunt for ou so vou don ' t waste your energv: or he ' ll get you laughing so vou have to start over again. Usually the result is that vou make it next time: and that you find keeping vourself in shape great fun. Ernie may be serious about it. but be still makes it fun. Perhaps that ' s why vou like him — and there ' s no one who doesn ' t. When you come down to the gym. you don ' t stop being a stu- dent. Ernie believes that everv part of you needs to be toughened and exercised and brought into harmony, mind and body. Keep those arms going so vou won ' t get tired t ping. he ' ll roar. Ernie doesn ' t begrudge you the time ou have to spend stud ing. He knows you ' re here to get an edu- cation. That ' s part of Ernie ' s job: and ()u like the wav he does it. Page 13