sunny 8:20 a.m. That return delay had been caused by the presence on the single track of the
work train and its crew repairing the track for the party train's return trip. Ruth Wallawender,
dean of women at Potsdam State, naturally was upset when the 4:30 permissions she had
granted to the Potsdam State women turned out not to be adequate. Rushing from the train,
some of the men had to get cleaned up for ROTC commissioning at 10:00 a.m.; all had to be
ready for graduation rehearsal at 2:00 p.m.
In a letter of explanation to the Clarkson senior class, an official of the St. Lawrence
Region of Canadian National wrote that because the trip was to be made over a seldom used
section of the railroad, and the track and rail bed were not in the best of condition, the
Operations officials considered the necessary speed restrictions and the length of the scheduled
event before deciding that the track was adequate. Unbeknown to them, however, the track had
developed a severe "sun kink," (or, in other words, some of the railroad ties shifted from intense
heat) and heavy rain on the previous day had added further erosion to the rail bed.
A second letter to the class advisor, Prof. Broughton, from the Canadian National
Railway Company included a partial rebate of the $4,062.20 paid to it for the train trip. This
refund to the class of one-third of the cost- a check for $1,400 - was a tangible apology for
depriving the seniors of one-third of the time scheduled for their Senior Ball. That check was
put to good use by being deposited into Clarkson's Quick Loan Fund used by undergraduates to
borrow up to $25 for emergency cash. (See 1966)
Senior Job Offers
. Leading the College with the highest offers was the chemical engineering
department whose seniors average starting salary offer was $9,368; second was physics with
$9,290; then mechanical engineering with $9,141; accounting was the lowest with $8,070.
Master of science candidates received offers averaging $10,213.
Fifteen-year Comparison
. A comparison of statistics from 15 years earlier revealed increases
in the number of students and their SAT scores. In 1954-55 Clarkson enrolled 927
undergraduates and four graduate students. By 1968-69, the number of undergraduate students
had grown to 2,379 and graduate students to 220. SAT scores for entering freshmen in 1954
were 423 verbal and 535 math. By 1968 that average had risen to 541 verbal and 646 math.
Correspondingly, the faculty had grown, too: in 1954, the faculty numbered 76, only
17% of whom held a doctorate, but by 1968, the faculty had grown to 156 with 56% holding
doctorates.
Chess Champions
. Ron Lohrman, Clarkson Chess champion, won the United States Amateur
Chess Championship in Philadelphia on May 27-30, coming in first in a field of 222 players
from all over the country. He played to a draw in one game and had no losses to win this title.
Denis Strenzwilk became the New York State Amateur Chess Champion at a
tournament in Auburn later in the summer.
"Amateur" in chess is defined as a player with the rank of expert or below according to
the United States Chess Federation. Starting at the bottom, these ratings are Class C, B, A,
Expert, Master, Senior Master.
Annual Fund Record
. By spending 33 nights in various cities across the state - Buffalo,
Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Binghamton, Albany, New York City, and Potsdam - talking to
alumni over the telephone, volunteer fund raisers achieved the highest amount in alumni
