Manhattan College - Manhattanite Yearbook (Riverdale, NY)

Page 200 text:

Society of American Military Engineers ' ' HE Society of American Military Engi- - - neers is the grandfather of them all, dat- ing back to the days when military engineers did the work now generally left to the civils. There is still an area left to military engi- neers but on the campus, this society operates in close conjunction with the American So- ciety of Civil Engineers. Nowadays, military engineers are apt to be confronted with dnerse schemes of tem- porary construction, road and airport build- ing, and almost anything that the War De- partment deems -within the scope of its command. Movies, lantern slides, and lectures, usu- ally by members of the Corps of Engineers, were given during the activity periods on Wednesday afternoon. 1%

Page 199 text:

rHE Manhattan College Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers, like the other engineering student chapters men- tioned in this book, is to acquaint the student with the commercial, the every-day, the actual aspects of the professional held they ha e chosen. The acquaintance is mostly academic as one might suspect. Movies are shown, and visiting lecturers expound tried and true methods of design and construction. The society, in the collegiate aspect, serves as a funnel, channeling the personnel into the proper organization which befits their field. On the campus, this group has been heard referred to as the civils, a phrase used lightly by the Electrical Department. It is the Civil Engineers who change the face of the earth most drastically. Witness the Manhattan skyline, with the Empire AS.CE. State at the center of focus. True enough, without electric lights, elevators, and venti- lation a skyscraper would be useless. But everything is held up by steel and concrete, meticulously designed, no doubt, by a mem- ber of the American Society of Civil Engi- neers. 191

Page 201 text:

Institute of Radio Engineers ' y HE Student Chapter of the Institute of Radio Engineers, now enjoying fine, post- war health, capped its schedule of activities with a visit to the parent organization ' s con- vention in Grand Central Palace. The institute has assumed the task of sta- bilizing the position of radio engineers, or more correctly, electrical engineers working in radio and allied fields. In this sense, the institute is a curious blend of the old guild and a parental lover, taking a stand as it does, for professional licensing. Other groups, less wise but just as sincere, clamor for unionization as the solution to the gen- eral engineers ' problem. Individuals of professional stature decry unionization for themseh ' es and their fol- lowers, and the student chapters of these societies are an important link chain tying together the entire structure of leaders and students. The heritage of these young engineers be- fore us has not been so complete as to in- clude a perfect professional organization, but it might be, for their children. 197