the greatest poise, tact, cooperation, insight, self-expression, and confidence during his four
years here. Over the next few years, it was restricted to members' majors either in electrical or
mechanical engineering, and alternated between departments.
Ross on the War.
President Ross addressed the entire student body at a convocation on
Thursday, December 11, about their status in the war efforts. Four days after the attack on Pearl
Harbor, he urged the men to continue their studies until such time when their presence on the
front would be more valuable than their potential value as tomorrow's engineers. He said that it
would be rash for them to enlist at this crucial time when the country needed them far more in
their trained capacities.
He revealed that he had offered the services of the College to the federal government,
but had not yet received a response. Major F. X. Purcell, ROTC commander, had no new
information to offer about the war's impact on the ROTC program at Clarkson. He added,
however, that the local store of rifles and supplies were being guarded to prevent any possible
coup by a "fifth column."
AIChE Contest Winners.
Two Clarkson men, E. Bruce Powell and Weller Pierce, became the
first students from the same institution to win first and second prizes in the American Institute
of Chemical Engineers annual national contest. The problem they were to solve focussed on the
design of a distillation unit for the preparation of iso- and normal-butane from a mixture of
hydrocarbons. It had to be completed in 24 days, and it required those 24 full days of work.
Such dedication deserved the honor of the prizes. Powell won first prize of $100; Pierce, second
prize of $50. In previous years, two Clarkson students had won lesser prizes: Donald Graham
won fifth place in 1938 and LeRoy Chellis third place in 1940.
