University of Massachusetts Amherst - Index Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

Page 12 text:

ouJde Yes, our faithful faculty has had double trouble this year in complying with the army program of instruction in addition to teaching our diminished student body. Whether or not engaged in actively teaching aviation students, all the faculty has shown enthusiasm and pride in doing its best to aid the war effort. Many have been burdened with increased hours of classes, inadequate classroom and laboratory facilities, and the strangeness of the courses they were assigned to present in routine army fashion. Indeed, there are many instances in which instructors have adjusted them- selves and their modes of teaching to fields of study far removed from their realm. Unusual arrangements have be- come usual and common as language pro- fessors instruct in ])hysics, psychologists explain math, and land-arch professors teach geography. The success of our double-trouble pro- fessors is measured by the number of men who have profited by their instruction to the extent of obtaining their goal in avia- tion. This success in turn is indicative of the eagerness and conscientiousness with which our faculty accepted this strenuous program of adjustment and hard work. All is not work, however, for many have found in the new adventure, oppor- tunities for using creative ingenuity. One physics professor found it cumbersome to carry storage batteries from one end of campus to the other as his schedule led him from Physics 25 lecture to the air- student labs. As a time and trouble saver, he devised a rear compartment on his bicycle to hold the cells. Many such contraptions have resulted for expediting the profs ' daily work. It has seemed strange to professors during the past few months to have rows of khaki-clad men before them in the classroom in place of the civilian men and women of a year ago. But their presence was in keeping with the many changes wrought on our campus by the war. Soon, the air students grew to be an integral part of our campus life, showing interest and willingness to cooperate with students. Because the air students realize the great job ahead of them, they accept their work and assignments seriously, and are in most cases a credit to their instructors. In turn, the instructors find pleasure in teaching men who are so interested and at times really humorous. In a certain professor ' s class one morning, there was a very sleepy soldier. Bill. Bill had studied the material for the day and knew every rule and formula verbatum, but was so tired, he just couldn ' t stay awake in class. His buddy tried to keep him from dozing, but found it hopeless. Suddenly the professor called on Bill to state the rule under discussion. In his sleep but in a clear tone, Bill quoted the rule, verbatum, to the astonishment of the entire class. The professor let him sleep. As air students march out, and coeds saunter in to take their places, the pro- fessor demasks his scientific being in preparation for a forty-minute English lecture. Such inner transfigurations occur many times throughout each day as our wartime professor gives his all for the education of students. voidJde

Page 11 text:

Wdk you Who. lie. Adeefi, With Class of 193-t United States Navy With Class of 1945 United States Army Air Forces Class of 1941 United States Army Air Forces Class of 1936 United States Coast Guard Reserve Class of 1939 United States Army Air Forces A ' ith Class of 1943 British Army With Class of 1944 United States Army Air Forces Class of 1936 United States Naval Reserve Class of 1935 Army of the United States Class of 1913 Army of the United States With Class of 1939 Royal Canadian Air Forces With Class of 1941 United States Army Air Forces Class of 1941 United States Marine Corps Reserve Class of 1937 United States Army Air Forces With Class of 1943 United States Naval Reserve

Page 13 text:

Old Chapel, the vivid symbol of our college and number one memory of Massachusetts State Col- lege ' s men and women, holds, as do the following few pages, many of the treasured remembrances of the khaki-clad cadets of the 58th College Train- ing Detachment as well as of the graduating Class of 1944, underclassmen, and faculty members.