University of Minnesota - Gopher Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

Page 28 text:

end of the country to the other to advise various groups on their problems with War research in the fields of agriculture and forestry. And the dean was not just a theoretical farmer, either. One of his prides was the Schmitz plot of ground in the lot given to faculty victory gardeners last year. So im- patient was he to begin his gardening that he began reading up on Minnesota crops at Christmas time this year-to brush up on the breeds of hardy perennials. One of the Dean's biggest worries was done away with this year when the Forester-engineer feud died out-last year Dean Schmitz had a little trouble getting to his office past the snow-plow which had been placed on the steps of the Forestry building. r fx! 0 s X N x 'Q S ,,...... ..-.f --3 4,91 -M 5 Ag Awards In keeping with the war, then, the Little Red Oil Can parachuted down from the top of the stage to Jeanne Vollbrecht at the Ag Christmas assembly held in the auditorium of the Ag administration building on December 8. Because of wartime shortages, the Little Red Oil Can was empty this year, but its original presenta- tion to Dean E. M. Freeman in 1916 was made to help him keep his Model T Ford running through the winter. After that it became an honor awarded the most active student, faculty member, or organi- zation on the Ag campus. Describing Jeanne merely as active,' is an un- derstatement for she was president of the Home Economics Association, vice-president of Phi Up- silon Omicron, secretary of the Ag student council, chairman of freshman week on the Ag campus, a member of the honor case commission of the college and a member of Mortar Board. The ball and chainv awarded the most recently engaged couple went to senior Allie Hurley and Eu- gene Coyner who was an instructor in organic chem- 26 istry. They followed it up by getting married on Christmas day. Dr. A. C. Caldwell, assistant professor of soils, was awarded the rattle for the most recent faculty father. War Work Offered this year for the first time in the division of Ag engineering was the rural builders course- for the purpose of training young men to help farm- ers with their building problems. It was felt that postwar rural construction would boom and that there would be a definite need for teachers and ar- chitects who know how to plan farm buildings effi- ciently and intelligently. The men who were trained in this course would be able to help farmers in the capacities of both builders and contractors, they could, perhaps, set themselves up in rural commu- nities as independent contractors. Bfost important in Ag campus war work were the experiments with the penicillin drug which were started this year. Under a contract awarded March 3 by the War Production board, the plant pathol- ogy department began its work immediately. The WPB, working in cooperation with the army in trying to facilitate production of the drug, gave the 375,000 research project to the University be- cause of the Ag campus record in doing research on plant materials. Dr. Clyde Christiansen, who inves- tigated penicillin for some time before, was put in charge of the work. Most of the resources of the de- partment were put to work on the research, which continued until the end of the year. The project was divided into two parts: that of finding better strains for the fungus from which the drug was obtained, and that of finding some other fungus to produce the drug. A former assistant professor of forestry and an ex- tension- forester, Parker G. Anderson, carried on work in connection with government research for quinine. Mr. Anderson was sent to Ecuador with a government mission by the Bureau of Economic Welfare to locate new supplies of the tree and to work with Latin American governments in shipping the bark of the trees to the United States for proc- essing. In the Ag union, student war work was encour- aged by the setting up of a bandage rolling unit similar to the one on the main campus. Allocated to Ag AWS by SWECC, the unit was started Novem- ber 16, and set up a schedule of four hours a week to meet its quota of one hour a week for each stu- dent and faculty member on the Ag campus.

Page 27 text:

and dinner, plus the cauldron ceremony which was usually held only in the spring, and the June gradu- ates had all of the traditional events: the Cap and Gown luncheon for the girls, graduation dinner, etc. In the fall, a senior class cabinet was chosen- students from each college were appointed by the deans, and members at large were picked by the council. In lieu of the usual senior class president, Bob Carlson, business manager of The Daily, was elected by the cabinet as its chairman, with Laura Mae Peterson as vice chairman, Donna Caldwell, secretary and Dan O'Connell, treasurer. The cabinet met every Tuesday night, and some of its meetings were rather uunsettledf' Especially the ones at which the discussion was concerned with the Senior Prom-formal or informal, name band or not, and so on far into a restless night, with Dan O,Connell shouting at all-too-frequent intervals, Remember the expense! The prom committee-Roger Pinky Williams, Carol Gibson, Phyllis Kremer, Helen Rachie, and Hubert Solberg-was picked at the beginning of winter quarter, with three members from the cabi- net and two at large. They set about immediately to plan bigger and better things, but Remember the expensei' was against them. Even though the name band never did arrive, the dance-at the Nicollet, February Q5 -was one every senior remembered. The old and famous what the hell -attitude of the year before was not evident in the Class of 1944. Those who remained on campus Were here to work, they wanted to finish their educations as soon as possible so as to be able to get out and do some- thingf, Although the ranks of seniors were sadly de- pleted, the spirit of the school was higher than ever before, for all students had but one aim in mind- to prepare themselves well for their part in Winning the war and in the much-hoped-for postwar World. Forestry and Home Economics College of Agriculture, Dean Schmitz, what were foresters?,, Maybe it wasnit that bad, but the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics was concentrating heavily on the latter course this year. With all but six foresters and a few ag males left, the campus be- gan to look extremely feminine. The lack of men didn't mean lack of ideas, how- ever. On February 2, students and faculty got to- gether in a four-hour Gripe Sessioni' which resulted in a new and revolutionary innovation on the farm campus. In the Gripe Session, it was proved that a lot of problems could be cleared up when students and faculty let down their hair and brought troubles out in the open, so an Ag campus intermediary board was set up, later in the year. The board, composed of faculty and students elected at large, became the place where discussions of curriculum planning, faculty advisory problems, and other matters directly concerning the students were discussed. The whole plan was a part of the general University trend toward greater democracy in student leadership and government which was evident this year. Dean Henry Schmitz Dean Henry Schmitz was appointed to his posi- tion as head of the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Home Economics last year, formerly, he was head of the forestry department. A member of several national forestry organiza- tions, Dean Schmitz was re-elected this year to the presidency of the Society of American Foresters for the 19441-45 term, the organization is a professional group of technically trained foresters. With a daughter attending the University, Dean Schmitz was kept close to the students, especially as he and his wife served as chaperones at almost every party given on the Ag campus this year. Dean Schmitz claimed he spent more time on trains this year than at his desk. He went from one 25

Page 29 text:

Although many of the faculty had left for the stein, Vetta Goldstein, Ethel Gorham, Anna Krost, service, those left-both students and faculty- Jane Leichsenring, Wylle McNeal, Ethel Phelps, did their utmost in war research and war education work. Phi Upsilon Gmicron Phi U, the honorary Home Economics sorority, went intellectual this year. At least once a quarter, the girls held forums on postwar reconstruction- the subject that both campuses were quite inter- ested in-and usually they invited speakers from the political science department to lead the discus- sions. lVIany of the most intriguing discussions, though, were those that started spontaneously and kept the girls up far into the night. It surprised the members themselves how much Home Ec majors knew about postwar problems. Led by President Phyllis Sam, Vice President Jeanne Vollbrecht, and Treasurer Aileen Shannon, the sorority decided early in the year to do the most it could for the war effort-and have fun at the same time. So, during fall quarter, they gave a dance and contributed the proceeds to the Campus Chest, and they held a joint open meeting with Omicron Nu at which they discussed war and post- war problems. Besides helping with the Ag Campus Sisters' Tea, the girls did their bit toward helping strangers get acquainted by giving a tea for transfer students at the beginning of fall quarter. Because Phi U was founded at the University of Minnesota, the Founders' Day Banquet-also fall quarter-was a big event, it Was, in fact, one of the few formal affairs that the girls attended this year. And in the spring, Phi U gave a breakfast on Cap and Gown day for Home Ec seniors. Seniors in Phi U this year were Lorraine Blumen- feld, Mary Ellen Carlson, Louise Carter, Ailie Hur- ley Coyner, Margaret Cutler, Ellen-Louise Elsner, Carol Engebretson, Mary E. Erickson, Lila Hinze, Lorene Vetter Holl, Marjorie Jones, Ruth Klonoski, Karolynn Knauf, Carolyn Kuhr, Elizabeth Mark- hus, Doris McCracken, Ellen Powell, Natalie Saari, Phyllis Sam, Betty Thurston Schmidt, Aileen Shan- non, Marie Sterner, Dorothy Timberg, Helen Truog, and Jeanne Vollbrecht. Junior members of the organization were Phyllis Carlson, Mary Engelhart, Carol Gibson, Jeanette Grant, Audrey St. Cyr, Gloria Trantanella, and Kathryn Weesner. On the faculty, members of Phi U were Alice Biester, Clara Brown, Eva Donelson, Harriet Gold- Ella J. Rose, Ruth Segolson, and Lucy Studley. Clovia 0,0 We got brains in our outfit, said the Clovia girls - and they were right, at least as 2 0 far as Jean Morkassel, was concerned. Jean, Q 'l, one of Clovia's brightest according to the girls, won the S300 scholarship offered by WNAX to the sophomore girl most outstanding in scholarship, character, and personality. Another outstanding member was Betty Ann Ole- son whose good work in the designing and making of clothing resulted in her being picked to represent the organization at the National 4-H club congress at Chicago, November Q8 to December 1. But the gals didn't work too hard at being intelli- gent-they gave a few parties this year just to break the monotony. At the Founders' Day ban- quet, October Q6, the spirit was Halloweenish and ghosts and broomsticks abounded. Lucille Fitz- simons, usually a rather literary gal, amazed and astounded her sisters with her display of black magic and witchcraft. In the fall, Clovia sponsored a tea for all campus 4-H women. Held for the first time this year, the event gave the 41-H girls a chance to get acquainted, and they used the chance to further cooperation on other activities. With President Stella Wingert and her officers Betty Ann Oleson, vice president, Lois Dennstedt, secretary, and Margret Cutler, house manager and treasurer, to set the pace, Clovia was one of the live- liest Ag campus groups-as evidenced by the Thanksgiving dinner they gave for servicemen-in- cidentally, they've decided to make it an annual aHair. Seniors in Clovia were Edith Bethke, Louise Car- ter, Eleanor Cutler, Margret Cutler, Ruth Lueh- mann Milstein, Ilene Madison N aley, and Stella Floan Wingert. Junior members this year were Dorothy Arnold, Lois Dennstedt, Betty Dittmer, Irene Haley Dracy, Ruth Ewert, Lucille Fitzsimons, Doris Neldner, Ella Nelson, Marilyn Noper, Elizabeth Norton, Betty Ann Oleson, Margaret Skaar, and Kathryn Weesner. Sophomore members Were Mary Anderson, Pearl Beckman, Evelyn Harne, Jean Morkassel, Julia Pot- ter, Elsie Skaar, VVinifred Starz, and Wilma VViech- mann. Members who were freshmen were Hazel Ankeny, Catharine Dasovich, and Marilyn J. Nelson. 27