intersection of Market and Main where the circle was repeated. After a few more cheers, and
the singing of the Alma Mater, the first pep rally of the year ended.
Who's Who.
Such a singular honor as being chosen for inclusion in the country-wide
Who's
Who Among American Universities and Colleges
was bestowed on 12 Clarkson men: David
McHenry, Wallace Bryan, John J. Smith, Thomas Nicholson, Edward Greenan, James Sheetz,
Richard Wright, Lester White, Harold Wurzer, and Robert Gildersleeve.
This publication was created to serve as an incentive for students to get the most out of
their college careers; as a means of compensation to students for what they already have done;
as a recommendation to the business world; and as a standard of measurement for students.
Football.
Suffering a rather dismal season, the Clarkson team won only two of its games,
defeating Watertown 26-0 and Brooklyn 14-12; it lost to Syracuse 58-6, to Cortland 20-0, to
Williams 52-0, to St. Lawrence 13-6, and to Massachusetts State 13-9.
Naval Reserve.
A national conference of university and college presidents on higher education
and the war adopted some resolutions on the uniformity of nationwide calendar changes and
credits, acceleration of high school and college courses, shortening the college course, inclusion
of certain courses to fit men for training as naval officers, and the suspension of voluntary
enlistment of college undergraduates.
President Ross explained these new resolutions at a convocation. Some students could
enlist as cadets in the naval reserve V-7 classification which was created to fill the nation's need
for 14,000 deck and engineering officers. Undergraduates would enlist immediately, take
certain required courses, and upon graduation, would enter 30 days training as apprentice
seamen. Then, upon completion of a rigorous three-month course as midshipmen, would take a
test to qualify for commissions as naval reserve ensigns. One of the strong points of this
program was that students would be allowed to complete their schooling.
CAA Program.
Over the Christmas holidays of 1941-42, all of Tech's private pilots received
letters from the Federal government urging them to join the Air Corps of one branch of the
services, either Army, Navy, or Marine. The percentage of washouts in the services among
private pilots was one-third less than among men with no prior experience.
When Clarkson's men signed up for the Civil Aeronautics Administration course, they
signed a pledge to apply for further training when and if they were ever needed. During these
early days of World War II, the government was calling on the men to make good on their
pledge. Clarkson had completed four programs by the time this Federal call came. The first
began in October 1940, and the last one finished just before Christmas.
Tech pilots also were given the real chance of actively serving the civilian population. A
general assembly of all airmen in the Massena and Malone vicinity was called to organize these
pilots into a local Civil Air Patrol. Over 50 men agreed to serve in that organization operating
out of the Massena airport.
Enrollment.
In September, 595 students were registered at Clarkson. By the start of the
second semester in January, that number had decreased by more than 80. Over 50 of these men
withdrew to enlist in the armed forces. The rest of the 80 were asked to leave because they had
