a 4.. M honors «our»... r» hhfigiflfilfi‘l‘ lhhilb QRQP$ MEAN hfil‘l Thillhr—YEAR TERM President Healol announced last week that there would be no shift- ing of the engineering department to a quarter system, as had been considered, which would have eli» minated summer vacation, and de- veloped a three-year course in- stead of the present four year one. Other engineering schools had also considered the idea, and have evidently come to the same con— clusion. This was explained by Dr. Harvey N. Davis, president of Stevens Institute, as he spoke at the Midwest Power Conference last week, on the growing short- age of engineers in industry. Would Lower Standards The schools, he said, “are almost unanimously convinced that it is not practicable. In the first place neither students nor stall” could stand the gall without serious lowering of standards.” He cited experiments; in that line which showed the impossibility of stu- dents to retain high quality levels in their work, and mentioned that “all the spare energy the teachers have is more urgently needed for intensive emergency work.” No Gain in Time “Furthermore,“ he continued, “the gain in time would be more apparent than real. These under- classmen need the experience in industry that an overwhelming majority of them get during sum mer vacations. If they don‘t get this experience before they gratis uate, they will have to get it after they graduate.” Lewis fibers Club Home Lecture by Elector Von Alto Dr. Van Atta of the Department of Labor delivered a lecture on industrial poisonings at a meeting of the Lewis Chemical Society on April 10. He put much stress up on lead poisoning which is quite prevalent in battery factories and which is becoming a problem in the modern leaded gasoline in dustry. Dr. Van Atta pointed out the susceptibility of chemists to such poisoning, saying, “The chimi‘t thinks that he is immune to poi soning.” Most poisons enter the system through inhalation, and 1.5 milligrams of lead or more is enough to be toxic. He also discussed chromium poisoning, a disease that has manifestations similar to cancer, which is found in electroplating plants. Some of the things Van Atta pointed out as being extremely toxic most people never realize are poisonous at all. Benzine and related com- pounds, carbon tetracloride am- ines, phenols, and halogenated ali- phatics were some of those that were discussed. Spring Seminar The chemical society has plan- ned a full program for the spring seminar. Mr. Chester Himmel from the University of Illinois will give a lecture on free radicals at a meeting to be held in the near future. Mr. Himmel has been do- ing research for several years in this field. Ralph Pearson, who received his BS. from Lewis and who is now doing graduate work at Northwestern University, will talk later in the quarter. Five new men were admitted to membership in the Society at a recent business meeting. The new members are Richard Hei~ dorm, Emanuel Green, Kenneth Valhoun, Weldon McElroy, and Howard Raiser. TECZHN 0105”! NEWS We: SC! ENCE ANALYZES HORROR lir. Boiler assisted by Michael Cogcn moon“! the reaction of Alan Kairls on pneumonogmph, and the reaction of Edward Collondur on tho mmlloiacomclcr, at horror show. «lune Goblet and Robert Meyer are caught reacting to thriller. ’l‘hm-rv l‘lmm Clarita $tresses Education Shiil “Shifting Emphasis in Educa- tion“ was the title of the speech given by Dean C. L. Clarke at a luncheon session of the Illinois Commercial Education Associa- tion in Rockford, lliinois, on March 23. The main points of his speech are found in these key sentences: “it seems certain that, for the reassess, we are in, the midst of a very important shift from the emphasis on merely extended edu- cation with its accent on diplomas, degrees, and other trademarks of institutional regularity, to more and more emphasis upon types and kinds of education which def. inilely promote higher and higher stages of adult competency. It seems apparent that there will be unprecedented popularity of edu— cation for occupational competw ency. We are entering a new era tor vocational education.“ United gluten lioness Mop Only A Memory New With Duke Hayne supplying the music, Lewis, Wright Junior, and the nursing schools of St. Luke’s and Michael Reese’s Hospital pro riding the girls, and Mother Or~ cull chaperoning, the Recess Hop got under way last Wednes- day evening in the Student Union auditorium. Quite a few ot‘ the ongineem were lured to come to trip the light fantastic by the “Ad walling" Sign that was posted on the bulletin board. The Ar- mour paclt was out in full force to he sure that the evening was; made a howling success. Some of the features of the oc. casion were vocal renditions by the Amnour Anemic Five, Doc Darcy. and Gravelthroat Chuck Fails, Armour's answer to Gene Autry. Also on the varied pro- gram were such features as novel- ty dances and door prizes. aniline {Zommiaaion Kites Need For ”grained Engineers Employment opportunities for graduates of engineering colleges are opening up rapidly in the maritime industry and informa- tion about jobs may be obtained upon application to the United States Maritime Conunissiun at Washington. Available jobs fall into two categories, ship operation and ship design. The greater number of jobs are in ship operation in which the graduate engineer can become a ship’s officer traveling to the ports of the world. A na- tional competitive examination will be held early in June for qualified men who apply to the Commission before May 10, 1941. Appointments will be made from this list as engineer cadets in the merchant marine. After three month’s service the cadet may take an examination for third assistant engineer. With his license obtained, the engineer can be appointed cadet officer, and now many cadet officers are being appointed to licensed officer posi- tions after only one voyage. The Maritime Commission also has provided training for grad- uates of accredited engineering schools to enter the field of ship operation. Three month’s service as an engineer cadet at sea aboard a steam vessel qualifies engineer— ing school graduates to take exam’ inations before the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation for a position paying from $160 to $210 per month, Promotion will then be made to second assistant engineer of those qualifying at a salary of $180 to $220 a month, and from that rank to chief engineer at a salary of more than $300 per month. The path has been short— ened under existing regulations so that the engineering school graduate may quickly step into a well paying position with stability of tenure and promotion assured. Candidates for cadet training who are placed on the eligibility list will be assigned to one of three schools, either at New York, New Orleans or San Francisco. Preemedicohs To Toke Aptitude Exams May For Medical aptitude tests will be given on May 1 to the pro-medical students who expect to apply for entrance to medical school by the fall of 1942. This test is a re- quirement for admission to medi- cal school and May 1 will be the only time the tests are to be given this year. Application which should be made in the r >gistrar's office must be accompanied by a fee oi? one dollar. A practice sheet will be given to the applicant upon regis- tration which will admit him to the examination but which must be returned to the proctor before the regular tests sheets are hand- ed out. Dr. Leslie I—Iecirick, head of the biology department will preside at the examination, which is to be given in Room 535 from 3:005:00 on May 1. Any further information may be obtained either from Dr. Hedriclt or the registrar. Power flonlerenccwa (continued from page one) University of Wisconsin, Purdue University, University of Michi- gan, University of Illinois and Michigan State College. Record Attendance Over one thousand experts, twice the number accommodated in former years, were present to attend the discussion of power problems by twenty men of na- tional and international reputa» tion in engineering and economic fields. The afternoon sessions of the conference were divided into two sections with the first at 2:00 o‘clock devoted to a discussion of Central Station Practice. M. P. Cleghorn, representative from Iowa State College was chairman of the session, and speakers in cluded: F. H. Roscncrants, vice— president of Combustion Engi- neering Company, Inc, New York City; C. C. Franck, Engineer in Charge of Central Station Tur- bines, Westinghouse Electric, Phil- odelphia; and G. V. Edmonson, American Blower Corporation, Chicago, The second afternoon session was devoted to Hydro Power with B. 0. Elliot, representative from Wisconsin as chairman. Speakers for this session included R. B. McWhorter, chief engineer, Fed- eral Power Commission, Washing- ton, D. 0.; S. M. Woodward, chief water control planning engineer TVA, Knoxville; and W. J. Rhein- gana, test engineer (working on TVA) Allis-Chalmers Company, Milwaukee. Cunningham MLC. at Dinner The “All Engineers” dinner be— gan at 6:45 o’clock in the evening. James D. Cunningham, chairman of the Board of Illinois Tech and president of Republic Flow Meters Company, Chicago, was toastmas- ter. Dr. Harvey M. Davis, Presi~ dent, Stevens Institute of Techno- logy, Hoboken, New Jersey, was the featured speaker and he ad- dressed the guests on “Priorities in Men.” The purpose of the power con- ference as set forth by its found- ers, is to provide an opportunity for all persons interested in power production, transmission and con- sumption to meet together an» nually for the study of mutual problems free from the restric- tions of required membership in technical or social organizations. Academic sponsorship, such as is affected by the co-sponsorship by the eight midwestern colleges and universities, provides a freer dis- cussion ranging through the tech- nical and into the economic and social aspect of power. APREE: 3.5, £9411 WWW . WWW we» lilihllb’li‘it bl. lilhlfili lhhhllihllh billilllhlib it'll“ NEWER Milli? With “Priorities in Men” as his subject, Dr. Harvey N. Davis, eminent educator and president, of Stevens Institute of ’l‘cchno— logy, presented an address at the “AllEngineors” dinner of vital in- terest to every young engineer or about-to-be engineer. The occasion was the annual “All~Engineet‘s" dinner held last Wednesday, April 9, at. the Palmer House in conned tion with the Midwest Power Con- ference. llon‘t l'limi‘t Engineers The theme of his talk was one (amplified when he told the as— sembled delegates and their wives that, "My own belief is that, at least for the present, no engineer- ing trained man, no matter how young or inexperienced he may be, should be drafted from in- dustry.” He added though, that he was speaking only for the present since no one can see what the situation six months or a year from now will be. As things are now, however, the needs of defense industries should be given absolute priority over combat training. Dr. Davis spoke of the current fear that there would be a shorb age of vital war materials and pointed out that these fears are, for the most part, merely a re. flection ot' the excitement oi? the times, of overanxiousness on the part Of munitlon makers to pro- tect themselves against” possible future difficulties. “But even so", the speaker continued, “everyone agrees that the way to meet the situation is to establish a system of priorities which will ensure that the available supplies of these raw materials will go where they will do the most good." The United States government has wisely made such a move and anxious citizens need have no fear regarding our supply of the si- news of war. Dr. Davis pointed out, however, that we are already facing acute shortage of certain kinds of trained man—power, and here there is no question but what the shortages are real, and not merely psychological. Shortage of Engineers The most pressing of these shortages is that of young engi- neers. Last (lctober nine engi~ peering colleges conducted a joint survey to investigate the person~ nel needs of the defense indus~ tries in the New York area. The gist of their findings was that, at the very least, the needs of the defense industry in that area would be twenty-live per cent greater than the engineering schools would be able to supply. Dr. Davis estimated that the en- gineering schools of this country will graduate not more than twelve thousand students this summer and that one-third of these would go directly into the technical services of the Army and Navy. The remaining eight thousand will only begin to fill the needs of private industry. Thus does the nation also have need for a system of priorities in men. “As a first step toward establish- ing such a system of priorities in men, the general public must real- ize that, at least at present, pro duction is far more important to national defense than is combat training." This is the reason that Dr. Davis gives for exempting all engineering trained men. The as- sembled production men. and en- gineering executives were told that they should ask deferment for any of their engineering per~ sonnel in order to pool and con» serve the meagre supply of such talent available