University of Pennsylvania Evening School of Accounts and Finance - Closing Entries Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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igma appa Phi Honor Fraternity Many students attending the Evening School of Accounts and Finance lose close conf tact with each other upon graduation and thus fail to derive the full beneit of their assof ciations. Frequently friendships established in the School are not as firm as those existing among the day students. It was for these reasons that undergraduates enrolled in the Honors Seminar courses between 1927 and 1929, founded the Honor Fraternity, Sigma Kappa Phi. Still a requirement for membership in this fraternity is enrollment in the Honors Seminar, that branch of the Evening School open to students chosen by the School authorities on the basis of distinguished scholastic accomplishment. To encourage students to higher attainments, the fraternity awards a trophy annually to the outstanding member of the Freshman and Junior Class. Another trophy is awarded to that member of the fraternity who has contributied in an exceptional manner to the fraternity and to his Alma Mater. Through honored recognition of scholastic ability, a keen competitive interest is developed in economic research which contributes measurably to the general fund of knowledge. The Honor Fraternity is sincere in its hope that members of the Class of 1948 will successfully apply the knowledge they have acquired. President .......................................................................... EDWARD DE1ss VicefPresident ...... ...... N ATHANIEL A. MOYER Secretary ........... . ............... PAUL L. DALE Treasurer ..... ...................................................... D OMINIC A. DISANTI NEW MEMBERS OF THE 1948 CLASS Walter M. Bowen Leonard Jacobson David Shanholtz Frank Crawford Carl E. Lind Edward I. Wilhelm Ioseph I. Dooling Herman H. Maurer William L. Williamson David Engle Hans Neumann Allan K. Worrell james C. Saylor Tzvcnty-foui'

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SALUTATCRY It seems to me that the great need today is to increase the supply of goods available for market' ing, without increasing production costs out of proportion. There are several ways of increasing production and having costs per unit remain the same, but the end result of any method would be to reduce prices by increasing supplies of goods available. One answer might be to work longer hours without disproportionate added labor ex' pense. As an alternative, administrative costs could be reduced and waste decreased. There are several other possibilities such as increased ma' chine efficiency, less spoilage, and improved product design. According to theoretical economists, one way to increase production, with costs per unit remaining constant, is to have the workers work longer hours at no increase in pay. This would mean a break' down of our eightfhour day and the adoption of a standard day of, let us say hypothetically, ten hours. Labor organizations have struggled for years to secure an eightfhour day for their mem' bers and would probably feel that, by the adoption of a workfday of longer than eight hours, these years of work would come to naught. Is it not possible, however, that the end result of this change would be to the benefit of labor, in the reduction of prices which labor would have to pay for the items entering into living costs? Another contributing factor would be curtailf ment of administrative expense. If a way could be found to simplify overfcomplicated systems, costs would be materially reduced and more goods could be made for the same per unit cost, even though it were necessary to pay overtime rates to the men performing the actual tasks of manufacf ture. Increased efficiency of the machinery used in the actual making of the goods would also result in savings. There are many companies using machinery that should have been replaced years ago. The clothing industry is an example, where a great number of the establishments are small and rent, rather than buy, their equipment. The vast majority of this machinery is secondfhand and, of course, one would not expect it to produce efliciently. By lower spoilage in the processes of manufacf turing, untold savings could be effected. To ac' complish this would probably mean the purchase of automatic machines with less dependence on the human element, as well as closer supervision. Titian ty-six WALTER M. BOWEN The engineering section of any manufacturing concern is one of the most important departments of the entire organization. It is this group that is responsible for designing and re-designing, in order to reduce costs and improve the product. Undoubtedly there are a great many items being made today that, with a slight change in design, could be more economically produced. Quality of product, however, need not be sacrificed in order to accomplish economies. Actually, a more economical design will sometimes also mean a better and more satisfactory product. If these suggestions were to be put into practice, the results would not be immediately felt. Prices would not come down tomorrow. Neither would the adoption of any one of them have a tremendous effect. Collectively, however, their eventual inf fluence on prices would be inevitable. I am convinced that increased production, coupled with lower administrative costs, greater machine efficiency, less spoilage, and improved design, would aid materially in halting the dizzy upward spiral of prices such as we are witnessing today. Our economy cannot be on a sound basis until prices come down and inflation is checked. Is it not, then, the duty of all of us to see to it that equilibrium is again established?