1931
Jane Addams shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Nicholas Murray Butler, former president of
Columbia University. The Depression worsened; the number of jobless reached four million. In
September, 305 more banks closed, and in October, another 522. The field of literature saw
Kaufman and Ryskind's political satire, Of Thee I Sing, O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra,
and Pearl Buck's The Good Earth. Wiley Post and Harold Gattyflew around the world in eight
days and 16 hours. Herendon and Pangborn made the first non-stop flight across the Pacific
(4,860 miles) in 41 hours and 13 minutes. Dr. Harold Urey discovered "heavy hydrogen " (an
isotope of hydrogen with an atomic weight of two instead of one). Knoll and Ruska in Berlin
built the first electron microscope. The bridge connecting New York and New Jersey was
named the George Washington Memorial Bridge. Malcolm Campbell set world land speed
record of 245 mph at Daytona Beach. The Star Spangled Banner officially became the National
Anthem. With 86 floors of office space topped by a mooring mast for passenger dirigibles, the
Empire State Building became the world's tallest building at 1,245 feet above Fifth Avenue.
• Freshmen Traditions • Ice Carnival
• New Ice Rink • AIChE
• Clarkson Skaters • Prof. Russell Retired
• Michel Died • Honorary Degrees
• Drama Club • Fall Enrollment
• Employment Prospects • New Course
• Student Deaths • Train Schedules
• Industrial Engineering • Freshman Handbook
• Sports Insignia • Licensing Engineers
• Athletic Director
Freshmen Traditions.
"You follow de rules. Von mischtep und you are in unnecessary
trouble." With those ominous words uttered in his thick German accent, Dr. Carl Michel
greeted the Class of 1931 on its arrival in Potsdam in September 1927. Shortly thereafter, these
eager young men were summoned by the members of '29 to a meeting to organize the class. At
that time, they were instructed how best to meet the sophomores in the upcoming
confrontations of the tank rush, the tug-of-war, and other activities designed to instill school
spirit.
Two days later, they saw behind old Number 8 Schoolhouse [where Clarkson Hall now
stands] that a tank open at the top had been installed with a hose filling it. For the next 48 hours
that hose not only filled the tank with chilly water, but overflowed and transformed the ground
around it into a sea of mud. By the time the tank rush began, only 13 freshmen could be found
to defend the tank. Arguing whether they could defend it best from inside or outside, they were
surprised suddenly by the onslaught of sophomores racing onto the scene from the other side of
Number 8. In the next five minutes, those poor freshmen got enough baths to last them for the
next four years.
The next day they found out why they had lost so badly. The rest of the freshmen either
had been locked up or taken into the countryside, and had to limp the 10 miles back to town
