St. Lawrence, two against Potsdam State, one against Alfred, and participated in the McGill
Invitational in Montreal.
Expenditures above the initial expenses required to start these teams, but necessary to
compete in intercollegiate meets, were covered by a gift from the Welt Family Projects, a fund
maintained at Clarkson by Martin A. Welt '54, his wife, Ruth, and Martin's parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Harold Welt.
Russian Hockey Team.
In an exciting match on January 2, a Russian hockey team, called
Torpedo Gorkey, defeated Clarkson 6-3 in the first ever meeting between a Soviet team and a
Clarkson team.
The Russians scored first, but Clarkson tied the game near the end of the first period
when Colin Patterson fired a wrist shot from 20 feet out to beat the Soviet goaltender. After
only 1:21, the Russians scored the only goal of the second period. In the third period, however,
they stormed back with three unanswered goals after Clarkson's Mike Harvey tucked the puck
under the pads of the Russian goalie to tie the game. Jim O'Meare halted the Russian charge by
scoring Clarkson's third goal to make the score 5-3. The final goal by the Russians, with four
minutes left, put the game out of reach for the Golden Knights.
Earlier in the week, this same Russian team had played in the Battle Creek World
Games 2 international tournament where they were defeated by Team USA in the
championship round 3-2. Clarkson graduate Jim Armstrong '81 was captain of that American
team.
Student Drowned.
James Fasset of Cherry Valley drowned at Sugar Island dam south of the
Village of Potsdam early in September. He dove into the spillway, was caught in the undertow,
and never resurfaced. His body was recovered by underwater rescue teams from Hannawa
Falls. Earlier in the week, a number of students had been arrested for trespassing at the same
location, a favorite, though illegal, swimming hole.
Beer Blast Ban.
On September 19, the Village Board asked Village Attorney Stephen Easter to
draft a law banning beer blasts. Among other restrictions, his draft banned gatherings of more
than 40 people outdoors where music was played, and alcoholic beverages either were given
away or sold. This action was stimulated by remarks by Police Chief Clinton Matott that these
blasts were just too big. Despite the good intentions of the fraternities, the large crowds they
drew made it almost impossible to control problems at a level acceptable to everyone.
An Inter-Greek Council had been formed in September 1982 to deal with these
problems. Its membership included representatives from fraternities and sororities, both
Clarkson and State student governments, and the Village Board. That group corrected many of
the problems, including changing the hours when blasts could be held from evening hours with
no limit on pouring time to afternoons with beer being poured only for the first three hours, and
a security force of 100 to enforce correct behavior.
Complaints of excessive noise and trespassing following an Alpha Chi Rho blast on
September 3 prompted the Village Board to begin the process leading to a ban. Again, the
Village Board voted down the proposed ban.
In August 1981, a State Supreme Court justice overturned the law enacted in October
1980 because proper procedures to hold public hearings had not been followed. That Justice
