1985
The Forty-niners won Superbowl XIX. The British pound sank to a record low of $1.05 against
the dollar. Gorbachev became General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist
Party. A film about Mozart,
Amadeus
, and its star, F. Murray Abraham, won Oscars. Coca-
Cola announced a change in formula to give the drink a new taste. Boris Becker, 17, became
the youngest tennis player ever to win singles at Wimbledon. US and French explorers found
the wreck of the Titanic liner sunk off Canada. Pete Rose's hit #4,192 broke the baseball record
of Ty Cobb set in 1928. GE bought RCA Corporation for $6.3 billion. Rock Hudson died of
AIDS. Members of the PLO hijacked the tourist liner,
Achille Lauro
. Boston Pops celebrated its
100th anniversary. Postage rose from 20 to 22 cents. Rock-Aid, the largest one-day event in
rock history, raised over $100 million for world famine relief. Over 60 World-Cup soccer fans
died in a panic-urged rush to leave Wembley Stadium. A triple-jump record was set at 58'5";
pole vault at 19'8.5"; the mile in 3:46.31.
• Plane Retired
•
Peterson's Guide
• Clark's Inauguration
• WCKN Flooded
• Biology Chair
• Yuppie vs Yippie
• 20,000th Graduate
• CAI
• Tuition Increase
• AIAA on Campus
• Ski Team Victories
• Hockey
• The Fountain
• Dave Fretz: All-American
• Lady Knight's Basketball
• Pep Band Sweaters
• STC Scholarships
• Ride Board
• "Eagle's Nest"
• Voice Synthesizer
• CAMP
• Commencement
• Vice President
• Plane Endowed Chair
• Friendly Wager
Plane Retired.
President since 1974, Robert Plane retired at the end of the academic 1984-85
year, ending the second-longest presidency in Clarkson's history. After he assumed the post in
1974, Clarkson grew from 2,700 to 3,900 students, including over 800 women. New buildings
erected during his tenure included the Andrew S. Schuler Educational Resources Center, and
the Schuler Recreational Building which contains a field house and a 25-meter swimming pool,
the Townhouse apartment complex, and the Rowley Engineering Laboratory building. Several
buildings were renovated including Holcroft, Old Main, and Walker Arena. The University also
obtained Clarkson Seven Springs, a skiing facility in Parishville.
At the end of his first year, Plane initiated a $12 million capital campaign, The Clarkson
Plan, which was brought to a successful conclusion four years later, and provided funding for
both the ERC and the Recreational Building. In 1982, Plan II was begun and raised $15 million.
Alumni support increased from $200,000 to over $600,000 per year, and the endowment grew
from $5.5 million to over $19 million; research support increased from $41.1 million in 1974 to
$43.7 million in 1982-83.
New academic programs begun during his presidency included technical
communications, biology, computer science, industrial hygiene and environmental toxicology,
