Western Michigan University - Brown and Gold Yearbook (Kalamazoo, MI)

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Classes in cooperation with the Division of Field Service are given for the benefit of paper industry personnel in Kalamazoo and neighboring cities. The Department of Industrial Technology has two basic functions. First to train people for tech- nical positions in industry and second to train people for teaching positions in schools and indus- try. The product of this department should be able to engage in work that requires some of the know- ledge and skills of both the professional engineer, and skilled tradesman. He is required to know basic theories and to be able to apply them. The tech- nician usually specializes in one aspect of engineer- ing. He might for example, work as a draftsman, a detailed designer, a cost estimator, a production supervisor, or a research assistant. Cabinet making, an important part of a high school program, is taught in a future industrial arts teacher. Mr. Lawrence Brink puts his printing elass to work on school publications. Few students realize that the shops of the Indus- trial Arts Department contain well over $175,000 worth of equipment. One of the shops is exclusively for printing. There the college paper is printed to- gether with everything from posters, stationery and college catalogs. Next to this shop is the wood- working unit where such skills as cabinetmaking. patternmaking, and upholstering are learned. An- other very important shop is the machine shop where students receive direct training in the use of lathes, shapers, and all the other metal working tools. In addition to training teachers and offering a general degree for students, the department acts as a service department for occupational therapists, pre-engineers, and elementary teachers, who take such courses as descriptive geometry, leather and plastic handicrafts, and auto or power mechanics. 25

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Overhauling a motor is supervised by Mr. Robert King. In many occupational fields only one or two years preparation beyond the high school will be needed. For those who would seek top level positions in technical, engineering or education fields, four or more years of college preparatory will be necessary. The Department of Paper Technology trains men for one of America ' s fastest growing and major industries. There is close cooperation between mem- bers of the departmental staff and men from the pulp and paper industry, in that they serve jointly on committees regarding the Department ' s activities. Steady growth in activities and enrollment made it necessary to have five instructors on the depart- ment ' s staff. The students have their choice of three options in developing themselves for the paper industry: namely; Option I which trains men for technical work and production; Option II which trains men in allied industries to service the paper industry; and Option III which trains men in sales for the paper industry. Mr. Elmer Brime explains the intracacies of machine to a student. 24

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him to supervise or work with all types of mentally or physically ill children or adults. The number of practising therapists today numbers less than 5,000 while there are 8,000 vacancies in the field. The school has grown from two students in 1922 to the present enrollment of 152, with graduates scattered throughout the United States and Canada. The Home Economics offers four years of pro- fessional preparation and a Bachelor of Science degree for Homemaking Teachers, Dietitions, and Home Economics in Business, and in addition offers a two year Homemaking certified course. A future occupational therapist learns the methods of rug-making from Miss Marion Spear. The Department of Occupational Therapy of Western Michigan University is one of the oldest and largest of the thirty such schools approved by the American Occupational Therapy Association and accredited by the Council on Medical Educa- tion and hospitals of the American Medical Asso- ciation. The degree course may be completed in seven semester hours on campus and nine months of clinical experience in four different types of hos- pitals throughout the United States. Upon com- pletion of the course the student must successfully pass a comprehensive examination which qualifies More future O.T s work on stuffed animals, under the guidanee of Miss Rosalia Kiss. 26