seminar for three hours. The remainder of the 128 hours needed for graduation were filled with
free electives.
Snell Auditorium.
Through a generous gift from Mr. and Mrs. Bertrand Snell, the auditorium
in Snell Hall was completely refurbished to hold 640 people. Its acoustical system included
suspended light panels from the ceiling, acoustical tile along the side walls, slanted wooden
panels on the stage, and a sloped auditorium floor.
Computer.
Clarkson purchased an IBM 1620 digital computer capable of storing 20,000 digits.
Along with a card-punch reader, these two main pieces of equipment took up no more space
than the average kitchen range and refrigerator. The Fortran system was used to punch cards
which were fed into one unit of the computer. This simplified the work of the operator when
setting up a problem by interpreting his symbols into the complicated relays of the computer.
Woody Herman.
The famous big-band leader, Woody Herman and The Herd, played at the
Junior Prom's "Weekend in Vegas" in the Clarkson gym on November 18 from 10:00 p.m. to
2:00 a.m., following the 11-2 Golden Knight victory in the hockey game against Laval
University, Quebec.
Rocket Society.
Formed by 36 eager members, the Clarkson Rocket Society named its testing
site on the hill after Hiram H. Hall, superintendent of the College plant, for his material
assistance. Planning its undertakings during the 1961-62 academic year, the organizers of the
Rocket Society announced that they expected to launch two solid-fuel rockets from a second
launch site affectionately known as "Cape Carnival" on the St. Lawrence River near Cape
Vincent, adjacent to Lake Ontario.
One of the rockets was dubbed KNIGHT; the other, a smaller one, SQUIRE, later was
renamed VALIANT. KNIGHT was designed to reach an altitude of approximately three miles,
and achieve a speed bordering the speed of sound, 750 mph. To launch these rockets
successfully, the society formed four groups, each dealing with a phase of the operation:
parachutes and recovery systems, mechanical construction, propellants and ignition, and
telemetry and instrumentation. With a trajectory out over Lake Ontario, KNIGHT carried a
radio oscillator tracking device, and a parachute to slow its descent into the water. A buoyant
nose cone attached to the body of the rocket by a nylon line served as a marker float for the
recovery team of skin divers.
Before KNIGHT could be launched in mid-April, however, phase one of the two-stage
1,050 pound thrust rocket exploded while it was being assembled in the Cape Vincent Central
School. Reassembling the rocket after removing over a foot of its six-foot length, the crew
again placed the rocket on the launch pad, and began the countdown.
When "Blast-off" was called by Tom Fitzgerald, Society president and Cape Vincent
native, nothing happened. The rocket's fuel and one of its electronic components failed to
function properly, and the motionless rocket just belched smoke into its launching chute, while
thousands of disappointed viewers waited in vain.
Sports 1961-62.
The Golden Knights hockey team posted a 19-1-1 overall record, and a 13-1-1
in ECAC competition. They were invited to participate in the first ECAC Holiday Hockey
