The first has come true, he said, but the second is more elusive because final success depends
upon the durability and longevity of his accomplishments in teaching, creative work, and
professional activities.
Because of his deep interest in colloid chemistry, he then demonstrated how he had
made colloids fascinating to over 15,000 Clarkson students over the years. "Smoke is a
colloid," he said, and then to the delight of students in the audience who remembered well his
aversion to tobacco, he lit a cigarette. Then, proceeding through a line of beakers on the
demonstration desk in front of him, he poured milk, mixed paint in water, and finally poured a
can of beer which he characterized as "the most common colloid on the Clarkson campus."
Remarking that human life is very short and leaving a discernible trace distinguishes
human beings from all other animals, Matijevic went on to say that he had no regrets as he was
concluding his last lecture, and that he would relive his life in essentially the same way. He may
never know, he said, if his second dream was fulfilled, but if some 20 or 30 years in the future
some scientist says, "There was a fellow with an unpronounceable name last century who got
an answer to that question," he believes he will have succeeded.
Estrin concluded the series by "enrolling" his audience as students in the chemical
engineering course, Design 481, spring 1994. Explaining that he always had demonstrated a
tendency to philosophize in the classroom, Estrin remarked on the need for professors to be
involved in research beyond the boundaries of the campus. "A faculty member who neglects
this aspect of an academic career will become intellectually dead," he declared.
The rest of his lecture demonstrated this philosophy. It was a class in which the lesson
being taught concerned entropy, the second law of thermodynamics which accounts for the
inefficient use of energy, a subject which had become intelligible after generations of scientific
research. He went on to point out the major shift that had occurred in the roles of engineers and
pure scientists by 1994: they had joined ranks with the humanists and others in order to
minimize uncertainty. Clarkson students, he assured this class, "are particularly well suited for
their new roles." As a concluding gesture (much to the relief of those "students" who realized
they weren't quite prepared for a 400-level course), Professor Estrin cancelled the final exam
for this "course."
Fraternity Fire.
Between 4 and 4:30 on Saturday morning, September 3, 1977, a fire broke out
on the third floor of Delta Sigma Phi, 20 Pleasant Street. None of the 17 students in the house at
the time were injured.
Resulting from a cigarette being discarded in a trash can, the fire completely destroyed
the third floor, and severely damaged the rest of the house. Students living in the house at the
time were assigned living accommodations in Riverside and Main Street apartments. Repairs on
the house were completed in time for the students to move back in before Christmas vacation.
This was the second fraternity house to catch fire within two years. On December 20, 1975, the
Alpha Chi Rho house on Elm Street burned to the ground.
Administrative Reorganization.
President Plane restructured the Clarkson administration.
Under the new plan, all administrative departments would fall under either Vice President
Robert J. (Rip) Haley or Provost Herman Shulman. John Chapple became vice provost and
reported to the provost. The deans of the three schools, Herman Shulman, engineering; Brian
Pethica, science; and Ross Goble, management; as well as the chairman of the Faculty Senate,
Gordon Youngquist; and the chairman of the Student Senate, Robert Ziek, reported directly to
