With only 50 seconds left to play in this tied game, Dom Marinaro, Tech back,
intercepted a Champlain pass and raced 37 yards to score. However, the head linesman had
blown a whistle, ruling Champlain offside on the play. Clarkson's captain, Peter Lucas, refused
the penalty, which made the score 19-13, with 15 seconds to play. At this point, the Champlain
coach came onto the field, claiming that the offside penalty should have been called against
Clarkson. After considerable discussion, the referee called for the resumption of play. Refusing
to continue, the Champlain coach withdrew his team from the field as Referee Tom McNally
forfeited the game to Clarkson.
This ruling later was corroborated by E.C. Krieger of Columbus, Ohio, chairman of the
Football Rules Committee of the NCAA, who had been informed of the disputed play by
Clarkson's athletic director, Henry Hodge. Krieger's interpretation ruled that the official score
of the game was 1-0, but the touchdown counted as scored and the 19 to 13 victory should also
appear on the records.
Starting Salaries.
A survey by the American Society for Engineering Education revealed that
engineers' starting annual salaries between 1924 and 1930 ranged from $1,200 to 2,000, and
$1,800 to 3,000 in 1947; 10 years after graduation the median salary between 1924 and 1930
was $3,500, and two years after graduation it was $3,100.
Curriculum.
In the fall, the College returned to a regular two-semester schedule for the 1,757
students enrolled. Of all the students registered on both campuses (Potsdam and Malone), 249
made the Dean's list-14% of the entire student body.
A revised curriculum in engineering added a nine-week summer term after the freshmen
year, and required 154 credit hours (and honor points) for graduation, "in order to allow more
time for fundamental sciences, ... specialized work, and ... liberal studies." Graduate work at the
master's level was resumed, and tuition rose to $500.
Pep Rally.
On Friday evening before the SLU football game, the traditional Pep Rally took
place. After forming in front of Old Main at 7 p.m., and sufficient enthusiasm had been
aroused, the student procession snaked its way to the Sigma Delta house, to Ago, Lambda,
Alpha, and thence to the corner of Market and Elm Streets. From there they wove their way to
the corner of Market and Main, and then on out to the Clarkson estate for the burning of the
traditional bonfire. Caution was urged on all students lest the rivalry get out of hand and sports
contests between the two schools cancelled.
Although SLU had lost its three previous games in the season, and Clarkson had lost
only two, the Larries pushed Tech all over the field, gaining 202 yards rushing while yielding
only three to Tech, and earning 14 first downs to Clarkson's four. The Larries, however,
fumbled eight times, six of them inside Clarkson's 15-yard line. Despite the overwhelming
statistical advantage by the Larries, the match ended in a scoreless tie.
Iron Lung
. Students in both Potsdam colleges organized a campaign the fall of 1947 to raise
$1,650 for a Drinker-Collins Lung for the Potsdam Hospital to be used by Clarkson junior,
Bernard Skolnick, who recently had contracted polio. When this illness was diagnosed, the
students of both schools immediately launched a drive to raise the needed money for an iron
lung. The nearest point from which to obtain this needed device was the National Foundation
for Infantile Paralysis in Albany. It was transported to Rome Army Air Base, from which it was
