Queens College - Silhouette Yearbook (Queens, NY)

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DIVISION OF NATURAL SCIENCES DIVISION OF LANGUAGE, AND THE ARTS ways l'1'ee1Io111 clues 1101 IIICIIII license. I11 l'11II re21Iix:1Lio11 ol' these fuels. the li:11'11I,1y strive L0 lI'CZll lheir SIIIIICIIIS :ls 111?1t11re ZIIICI i11LeIIige11t incli- x'i1h1z1ls, eiLile11s of 21 1Ie111oc'1'?1ey. 'I1hz1L Lhey lose 111111 ol' the :uve they might inspire i11 their CXZIIICCI positions so111eti111es seems l'Cg'l'CIUIDIC 10 1he111. B111 scmiehow we have ll feeling' 1hz11 011 the whole they Iike being IJZITI ol' the 111oh. 111:11 Lhey are 1101 ZIIUJQCIIICI' cIishez11'1e11ecI by their SIICIKICII cIe111oLio11 111 prestige after six weeks of IITCSIIIIILIII hero woiisliip. XVIIZIIVS :uve CUIIIIJZITCII lo 11 11icI411z1111e like 1-X1'CI1ie ? I7

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THE FAC LTY Every freshman class has a revitalizing effect on the Queens College faculty. Come freshman registration day and sloping shoulders are thrown back, chins lifted off the ground, upper lips stiffened, for once more the brow beaten men of letters have someone to impress, some- one to awestrike. But alas, this renewed vigor wears off all too soon. By the end of the six weeks report period a thoroughly wised up fresh- man class joins upperclassmen in referring to Dr. Shaftel as f'Doc, Mr. Kreuzer as James R., Dr. Gayer as Archie, and the Dean as f'Peggy' in their private conversations. The awe has completely worn off and, stripped of their professional dignity, the faculty are once more just part of the mob. But with the loss of their awe appeal they gain a new and decidedly more healthy respect from their students. That covert nickname the Dean gains, that hail-fellow-well-met attitude toward many professors is indicative of a much warmer student-teacher relationship. This re- lationship is made still more cordial by a student personal advisory system, and a tendency toward informal discussion in class. Students and teachers work with each other, not at impressing one another. Thus Queens College hits at a solution to the problem of making the demo- cratic ideal work in the classroom. 1 The democratic ideal at work in a classroom acts in exactly the same way as it does in broader social, political and economic fields. lt requires the utmost in freedom of thought, speech and action. As al- 16 T DIVISION . or soc1AL i SCIENCES

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bemvcrac In Nation! Democracy demands more than a diploma and a transcript of course credits of the college graduate. Merely attending classes and engaging in games of intellectual ping pong do not equip him with those quali- ties so essential in a system of self-government-leadership, fellowship, understanding. Determined by a faith in the will of the governed, these requi- sites were never more sharply defined than now when a conflict of ideolo- gies makes survival itself the stake. Dependent upon application of fact. upon taking learning out of a vacuum, upon profiting by actual experi- ence, Leadership, Fellowship, Understanding grow out of activities not confined to the curriculum. Principles are put into practice when council members organize student activities, when editors meet deadlines, when thespians produce their own dramas, when artists and musicians create their own composi- tions, when home economists run the cafeteria, when cadet teachers tutor the speech and hearing handicapped, when the sociologist volun- teers his services to community welfare agencies, when fraternities, sororities, and clubs become the Inter-Fraternity Council. It is the person who can do, and not the one who can say, who is needed now when our country is at war, and who will be even more necessary when peace is again attained and victory is ours. Someone, many someones, will be needed to bring order out of the chaos, and the college graduate should be one of those someones, he has the back- ground of facts and training which is so essential to the understanding and solving of those problems which confront us. Knowing the grammar rule, the chemistry formula, the mathematical theorem is not enoughg knowing and understanding their application is necessary before they can become anything more than mere words. It is this ability to trans- cribe theory into practice which will determine the citizen who can and will leadg who can and will continue to build toward a fuller democracy. l8