Nebraska Wesleyan University - Plainsman Yearbook (Lincoln, NE)

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IXdIK.AMC I IIE-MIS ' I i MitIi- MMhr. assistMii S ;iTis( n, I ' .ry;int Ni In .general laboratory lerle j lahr, a Crescent, tortures the students on two days of the week. He says he doesn ' t have any hobby either except wanting to be a doctor, and that ' s no hobby, that ' s a job. His partner in crime is Bob Gottschalli of Benkel- man, a pre-med too, and a Delta Omega Phi. He has a holjby, and she ' s a nice kid. This year Xeil Davis, a senior barb from Lincoln, is handling all four or- ganic labs, and also is trying to go to three quantitative labs a week; then the teachers wonder why he says he ' s busv. His hobbv is football and bas- ketball. The assistants are chosen from the chemistry students who make the best (23;) O l,.V15. In front of lab t:ible. loft to right— Lloj- t, Kiirl Brown. Beriiice Anderson. Behind table- i]i-y, Wnrron Neweonib. showings, and who care for the work. We think it is a real system because it gives them an opportunity for self- help, and it gives them valuable ex- perience in chemistry. General Idea This is a general idea of our chem- istry department here at Wesleyan. If there be just a few of you who read this who feel the call and excitement living in chemistry, which is now the frontier of advancement in civiliza- tion, then we ' ll be satisfied. Today chemists are in great demand, and be- cause of their growing importance to all types of industrial and research businesses the field is just in its in- fancy. Wesleyan is a good place to enter that field for in the last 20 years, 26 major students have been d Frederick, Bob Twinem, —Lois Rnsmussen, Marion placed for graduate assistantships. Last year two major students received assistantships totaling $1,400. Wes- leyan ' s continued success in placing its graduate students indicates that these students give the graduate schools good results. CU£ V T 7

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r DK. W. S. GII.I.AM By NEIL DAVIS Chemistry is being recognized and proved to be the center of all branches of science. It made possible the Kronz? age, the Iron age, and the Machine age. This subject is important in gen- eral education in that it acquaints the student with the scientific method which has so greatly modified our civi- lization. Chemistry is closely related to the study and progress of electrons and protons in unit, and in their ag- gregate form in which they compose the ninety-two known elements. Here at Wesleyan the central figure in this central science, chemistry, is W. S. Gillam, A. B., M. Sc, Ph.D. Dr. Gillam is new this year, but al- ready he has proven two important NEII. D.WIS at the wator stiU. Chemistry facts to us. First, he is qualified to have a Ph. D. The amount of chem- istry that guy knows I And second, that he was recently enough a student himself to remember the problems of college life. And the ease with which he explains problems, that to us chem- istry students looked pretty tough! Perhaps you know that organic chem- istry was recently voted the most dif- ficult course of a college curriculum, and here a good lecturer certainly helps, for even if it is the most diffi- cult it probably remains the most fascinating when properly explained. Dr. Gillam taught at the University of Nebraska for three years before coming to Wesleyan as head of the chemistry department in 1938. He re- ceived his A. B. degree from DePauw university in 1930, getting his l. Sc. , in 1933. and Ph.D. in 1938 from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Gillam is a member of Sigma Xi, Phi Lambda Upsilon, Gamma Sigma Delta, Phi Mu . lpha, . merican Chemical So- ciety, and Soil Science Society of . merica. Four Assistants From 1935 to 1938, Professor Gillam was in charge of a state soil survev ' crew which mapped Cass and Lan caster counties. He hopes to give a course in soils in connection with the chemistry department next year. Dr. (;illam has published a work on soil . ' Ike Foi-Diathm of Lime Concretions ill the Moody and Crojton Series, and has at press, The Geographical Dis- tribution of Soil Black Pigment. Soil Survey Besides Dr. Gillam, we have in our three laboratories four assistants and two storerootii men. This year we have Homer Hix, a Phi Kappa Tau, in the storeroom, who, when he isn ' t juggling j the chemicals around, whirls the baton i for the Wesleyan band. His fellow sufferer in the storeroom is Harold Pickering. He says he doesn ' t ha -e g time for a hobby, but it ' s fellows like 1 Pickering that keep the chemistry de- partment among the Phi Kappa Phi ' s. The chemistry department had two of the six Phi Kappxi Phi ' s in the school last ' ear. (22)

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DK. KUSE U. ( ' LAKK By C. SHARP Mainspring of Wesleyan ' s depart- ment of geography and geology is Rose B. Clark, who holds from the Univer- sity of Nebraska an A.B., A.M., and Ph.D. luch of the work for the two higher degrees was done at the Uni- versity of Chicago and at New York with the American Geo graphical So- ciety under direction of Dr. Isaiah Bowman, who is now president of Johns Hopkins. Dr. Clark is listed in American Men of Science, Who ' s Wlio in America, Wfio ' s Who Among Am- erican Women, Leading Women of America, and Who ' s Who Among North American Authors. In 1932 Dr. Clark succeeded Pro- fessor W. G. Bishop, founder and head of the department of geography. Dr. Clark has been head of the depart- ment of geography at Peru state teach- ers college, and has taught as guest lecturer in summer sessions at the University of Nebraska, at Western Reserve in Cleveland, and at liami University, a state university at Ox- ford, Ohio. Author Dr. Clark is author of the books. Geography In the Grades, Geography of Nebraska, Unit Studies in Geogra- phy, which was listed by the A. L. A. as one of the 60 best books in Educa- tion of the year, and Geography In the Schools of Europe. These books have been written into the courses of study of most modern public schools of America. Geography-Geology When Rose B. Clark left a super- ising project in the W ' esleyan Train- ing schools to become head of Wes- leyan ' s department of geography and geology, she brought a teaching tech- nique that has resulted in the securing of state and nationwide recognition for her graduates. Harvey Thompkins, ' 36, after graduate study at the Uni- versity of Nebraska, is a Junior Soil Technologist at Blair, Nebraska. Dr. Walter Hansen is professor of geog- raphy at North Texas State Teachers College. One of the highest honors brought to Wesleyan was bestowed this year when Ralph Olson, 35, re- ceived an American Field Service fel- lowship from the Institute of Inter- national Education, which entitled him to a year of European study. He is writing his doctoral dissertation on the political geography of Luxem- bourg. Facts are stupid things until they arc brought into connection with some general law. — Louis Agassiz. TITLE PACE FROM ONE OF DR. CLARK ' S BOOKS: REPORT OF THE COMMISSIO.V ON THE SOCIAL STUDIES GEOGRAPHY IN RELATION TO THE SOCIAL SCIENCES Isaiah Bowman iilOGRAPHV IN THE SCHOOLS OF EUROPE BY Rose B C lark CHARLES SCRIBNERS SONS ) OR L; CRICiGO N f K ANCISCO ■OSTOS ATLANTA DALLAS In the yellow hills of India at a town named Cherrapunji. four hun- dred inches of rain fall in one year. In the Libyan erg, a temperature of 150° Fahrenheit sometimes occurs, and a man must not touch the barrel of the rifle he carries. Why so much rain? and what is an erg, and who cares? Eighteen weeks of Human Geography under the skilful question- ing of Dr. Clark will unfold and inte- grate a living story that will not only answer such questions but will con- tain principles by which the great phenomena of the world can be inter- preted. Field Tour When students see the state ' s largest cement plant in action, visit rock quar- ries and brick kilns in operation, and are shown conservation projects where the long hills are laid out in great contoured patterns, they know that modern college geography is concerned with far more than the location of dots on a map. It is not implied that maps have a minor place in the de- partment. Maps are studied, made and interpreted, maps that show drain- age systems and patterns, that show how mountains form the backbone of a continent, how soil types are dis- tributed over a continent, and the way ores and minerals are distributed among nations. don ' t want a broken string of beads. — Dr. Clark. Human Geography and Physical Geology, with their illuminating prin- ciples, are the bases for courses in economic geography, for regional studies and conservation courses which show why the cities of the world are where they are, why the trade routes follow the paths they do, and why some nations have not the vital re- sources that would have made them great. Facts learned in the study of geog- raphy are assimilated by the writing of units which cover a related set of learnings. Writing a unit is a painful process, but it teaches the assembly, selection, and organization of facts as no other way of learning can do, and it largely alleviates the pain of ex- aminations. (2«)