University of Miami - Ibis Yearbook (Coral Gables, FL)

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DEPARTMENT 0E A jRCH JTECTXJ RE aTIIF. DEPARTMENT OI- ARCHITECTURE WAS organized in the autumn of 1927. At the Commencement exercises in June this year, five of the students who were enrolled in architecture as freshmen four years ago will receive the degree of Bachelor of Architecture. This is the first graduating class in Architecture at the University of Miami. During the past four years the Department has been gradually built up until it now offers a complete course in Architecture. As the Department has grown it has been necessary, not only to enlarge its scope and the number of courses offered, but also to obtain qualified instructors in the various branches of art and engineering which go to make up the training of the Architect. There are, at present, some thirty students of Architecture enrolled, many of whom have had exceptionally good records in scholarship and some of whom have won honors for themselves and their school in competitions held in New York under the auspices of the Beaux Arts Institute of Design. These New York competitions are entered by all the important architectural schools in the country and it speaks well for the students of the University of Miami that they have been able to gain recognition in competition with such worthy opponents. The faculty of the Department of Architecture is headed by Mr. John Skinner who, before coming to Miami was in charge of the School of Architecture, at Georgia Tech. Mr. Skinner is most ably assisted by Mr. Robert Smith, whose talent, ability and fine personality have made him a most valuable asset to the Department. The courses in architecture, engineering or building construction, are second only in importance to the work in architectural design. These courses are thoroughly and ably taught by Mr. Gilbert Schreffier, a practising Structural Engineer in the Miami district. Mr. Denman Fink, whose work is known nationally, instructs in the courses in Freehand Drawing. Mr. Morris Connell, for years a practising Mechanical Engineer in the greater Miami district, instructs the Senior Class in a course called the Mechanical Plant, which has to do with the mechanical engineering problems encountered by the architect. With such a faculty, high hopes for future success are held for the Department of Architecture. Those student to receive the degree in Architecture in June are: Edward Baxter. Clinton Gamble, Walter Haring, A. J. Laing, Robert Smith, Ray Weakley.

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DEPARTMENT OE SUN RAT RESEARCH THE JOSEPH H. ADAMS FOUNDATION FOR Sun Ray Research has established an observatory on Belle Island in Biscayne Bay, equipping it with the most modern and accurate apparatus. The investigation of the various qualities of Florida sunshine has been conducted as a two year research. Since the observations were started, a Sun Colony has been established on Normandy Isle, for the purpose of observing the results of stimulating application of the sun’s rays upon the human body. The sun observations include the recording, by a Callender Sunshine Recorder, of the total sunshine energy. These records are in the form of charts which are interpreted daily and the results published in local papers. This interpretation is in the form of calculation of sun energy in heat units. The curves on the charts show the gradual increase throughout the day, with the maximum energy generated at noon. After much work in testing the methods, a modification of the process of decomposition of oxalic acid was developed to measure the quantity of ultra-violet energy. For ease of recording, the term ‘sunburn hour’ has been adopted, meaning that there was sufficient ultra-violet during the period of one hour to cause a definite sunburn. Results show that in one group of one hundred-forty six days there were one hundred four days with an average of four sunburn hours, and of these, there were sixty-two showing six hours. An ultra-violet recorder was secured from Westinghouse Electric Co., which by means of a photo-electric cell records the ultra-violet energy every fifteen minutes. By means of a large Zeiss Spectograph mounted in the dome of the observatory, the taking of the spectrum of the sun is possible at any hour of the day. At the Sun Colony there are six children, from the Boston Heart Clinic, suffering from rheumatic heart disease. They arrived, pale and white, veins standing out prominently, weak and lifeless. After twenty weeks careful exposure, with but small change in diet, they are tanned to a rich brown, pepped up and full of vitality. They have gained from twelve to eighteen pounds. As a result of this exposure to air-reflected sunlight one of the children, who had never walked, is now able to take part in all the games of active childhood. Authorities who have examined the results marvel, and all say that it is the result of the ultra-violet rays present in the sunlight of Miami. The findings of the Sun Ray Research Foundation are of utmost importance to the determinations of the therapeutic value of sunlight. Dr. O. J. Sieplein, who is in charge of the work of the Foundation, is co-operating with local and nationally known physicians in this effort. The University also maintains a research department for the determination of deterioration of paints under direct sunlight. This is sponsored by the Rinshed-Mason and Sherwin-Williams paint companies.