Lehigh University - Epitome Yearbook (Bethlehem, PA)

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. EPITOME t - Just before the Christmas holidays of that year, Admissions Director E. Kenneth tJ- Smiley shocked the interfraternity council with the statement that the war might mean q the end of fraternity life at Lehigh and in fact at all American colleges since the gov- i— I ernment was planning a large educational program for Army and Navy personnel at colleges that would require the use of all fraternity houses as well as dormitories for barracks. It had been known for a long time that the Navy planned to use colleges for their V programs, but this was the first inkling of a similar Army-sponsored plan. And so the boys went home to what for many of them was to be their last wartime Christmas in civilian clothes. Welding research The following men will report to Fort Meade, Maryland — . (SHORTLY AFTER the opening of the spring semester, 28 members of the ERC, - mostly arts and business men, were called to active duty. For a day or so, engi- neers began to wonder if perhaps the Army wasn ' t going to keep them in school after all because of their curriculum. Such hopes were shortlived, however, as just four days later, on February 9, the axe fell and 95 more reservists got their or- ders. The biggest, most ' suspenseful drama in Lehigh history had ended. That week- end Kinney ' s, the ' Chor, the Tally-Ho and many other similar establishments were the scenes of numerous farewell parties given by various living groups in honor of the departing heroes, most of whom were freshmen. Almost simultaneously came an announcement from Washington that Lehigh had been selected as an Army school and would be used in the newly-conceived Army Specialized Training Program. This came to somewhat of a shock to a num- ber of amateur crystal-gazers who considered the Navy diesel and flying programs here an indication that Lehigh would be used for one of the V setups. [22]

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THE WAR Pac ard Laboratory Williams Hall What? They ' ve stopped enlistments again! FTER ARMY enlistments had been stopped and then re-opened the previous T- J month, an order from Washington closed them permanently just one year after Pearl Harbor. This action indicated to almost everyone that the ERC did not have much remaining time in civilian life. A great many men began to feel the same way Pavlov ' s dog must have felt when, after becoming accustomed to the ringing of a bell as a signal for mealtime, he received an electric shock after the sounding of the same bell. They felt that they had been deceived. Perhaps someone did deceive them or perhaps they had even deceived themselves. At any rate, the word shaft not being used in connection with monoliths was heard quite frequently during thoes days. On December 18 the Army officially announced that the days of the ERC were numbered but would only reveal that the extent of the numbers depended on the date on which the college in question ended its current semester. Directives poured in stating that each countermanded all previous orders. Campus wags said that the ERC would be called on the first full moon preceding St. Patrick ' s Day if the college ' s semester ended on an even numbered day and the president ' s name contained more than five letters. Even though the announcements did create some confusion concerning the exact date on which the reservists would be called up, they did end the long period of tense confusion that had been fostered by the question of whether or not they would be called at all. Everyone felt tremendously relieved — not particularly gay — but relieved. [21]

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THE WAR • This announcement, of course, set the stage for another welter of speculation. This | time the topics of discussion were the date of the Army ' s arrival, the number of men to be stationed here, if they would take regular civilian courses, if they would be al- lowed to play football, etc. As usual, rumors flew thick and fast. r As their roommates and lab partners were being called to the colors, Lehigh men 3 had occasion to mourn the death of a man who had done a great deal for football £ } on the South Mountain. George Hoban, ' 15, had piloted Lehigh through a brief period of gridiron prominence. His passing was almost simultaneous with the passing of the period during which football reigned as one of the major factors in college life. Football got another setback when it was announced that the Army trainees would not be allowed to participate in intercollegiate sports, although men in the Navy programs were under no such restrictions. Lehigh faced the prospect of meeting rivals such as Muhlenberg with only civilians. The bulk of the successful 1942 eleven was made up of juniors in advanced ROTC and hence without draft worries, but there were persistent rumors to the effect that they were due for activation. Meanwhile the Air Corps reserves got their notices to report and 244 men in V-l received orders to report to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology if they were engineers, or to Swarthmore if they weren ' t, on July 1 to start training. Inci- dentally, the M.I.T. humor magazine, the Voodoo, had a great time last summer rib- bing the daylights out of the Lehigh boys for the transfer to M.I.T., arch-rival in the engineering field. By March, all the necessary machinery had been set up and the University set- tled back to await the arrival of the ASTP. The dormitory students were to be the first to be dispossessed and campus fraternities would be added to the list of barracks as the unit grew. Lamberton Hall was to be used as the mess hall, a fate the Army hardly deserved according to a few discontented student patrons. The courses were all prepared; all that was lacking was the soldier students. Lehigh waited. Finally after the usual flock of rumors setting the date of arrival at dates ranging from the next day until next Christmas an official date of April 6 was set. April 6 came and de- parted. Still no ASTP. Lehigh waited. And Waited. But Lehigh did more than wait. Men were working, working for victory. The great complexities of modern war had reduced the war to the point of being some- what a conflict between the engineers and scientists of the contending nations. The ability to design new weapons, to improve the methods of producing them, to build superior planes, tanks and ships, and to build them faster and more efficiently than the Axis was one of the most potent weapons in the hands of the United Nations. One of the most war-vital projects carried on at Lehigh was recently completed in the metallurgy department under the direction of Professor Gilbert E. Doan. It concerned welding research that had been carried on at Lehigh in one form or another for about 12 years. The problem facing the Lehigh metallurgists was that certain low-alloy and high carbon steels that were otherwise suited for certain types of constructions could not be used when the welding process was employed, because they became brittle and cracks developed near the junction. A number of special welding techniques were known that could be used to preserve ductility but since every method was not appli- [23]