The Jaysee Echo (Rochester, Minnesota), Volume 1, Number 1

              Your Community College
1915    -    1952
NEWS
ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA, THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 1952
NUMBER  1
]o& £cuL  fyndetfoed,  ^-ace-Jll^Una PnoceU
.iJ-*"      fiSkV s-
i Aid
ice the summer of 1949, the
(ester Junior College faculty
leen working on the problem
Ivaluating the College pro-
I to ascertain how well it is
fving the objectives set by the
fas aims of the school.
|»of several means of examine success of the program
Ned was the use of a ques-
jnire to former students. Al-
l would be relatively easy
permine how successful it has
preparing   students   for
Cnation of formal education,
"Id be much more difficult
^what influence the College
1 students in such things as
f"ing education out of uni-
ss< participation in communities, attitudes and philos-
lt was decided that the
solution was to enlist the
°f former students. As a
»a four-page questionnaire
Spared, to be sent to a
1 °f former students. Con-
so that it could be an-
mainly by a series of
p Ihe inquiry was prepared
*" ^ might show whether ac-
developed during t h e
1 Years are continued after
f*r college years, what de-
"taued on page 2, col. 3)
Keep, Idp WiiU ^im&i
Do you remember the college club rooms on the fourth floor of
Coffman Hall—the old piano on which you pounded out your favorite
tunes; the comfortable old chairs and the coke machine; the worn
books and tattered magazines; the blackboard covered with the creations of some young Van Gogh or an aspiring Ding Darling; the incessant click of the ping-pong balls all through the long afternoons;
the days and last hours spent in feverish cramming; the parties in the
evening, the Rajester and Gamma Rho get-togethers? It wasn't an
elegant place, but still the source of many happy memories.
Or before the club rooms, some
of you will recall the Little Theater, where you could find Miss
McGhee at almost any time of
the day to consult her about your
lines for the class play or just
to chat with her. Do you remember the plays, the football and
basketball pep meetings, with
Charley or Jim holding forth, the
Penny Carnivals with Ozzie St.
George's side shows? If that old
room could only talk. . . .
And then later the shabby
room blossomed forth as a huge
carnival tent, with a bright ceiling canopy of green, pink, and
white. The blackboards were removed, the partitions between the
ping-pong room and the club
rooms were knocked out, and the
walls were given a fresh coat of
paint. Venetian blinds at the big
windows softened the light and
added an air of luxury. Here
you could gather between classes
(Continued on page 2, col. 4)
RriaUt £ifkU,  Penned Olden,
Replace  Qloamy,  GoH^odian
Former students who have not visited the halls of R. J. C. in recent years would find that many improvements have been made in
the science laboratories, the most recent and probably the most striking of which will be observed in the biology laboratory.
Until the fall of 1949 darkness, crowding and discomfort prevailed in the old "zoo lab." Six lamps dangled on three-foot chains
to cast inadequate light upon the earthworm and the frog. So feeble
was their candle power that students were obliged to take their dissections into the greenhouse in order to see the finer details, and on
cloudy days it was practically impossible to use the microscope.
Although the room was too
dark for efficient laboratory work,
it was not dark enough for movie
or slide projection, since there
were no dark curtains. After a
number of years of fruitless struggle against adverse conditions,
the instructor, discouraged, abandoned the practice of showing
movies.
The laboratory desks were massive, dark wooden affairs of ancient  design   inherited   from  the
sewing   department   of  the   high
school and never intended for use
in   biology.     Of  two  sizes  and
heights,  they were  crowded  together at the rear of the room
in  order to  make space at the.
front for an assortment of thirty-
odd   arm   chairs  for  use  during
lecture periods.   Stools were provided  for the  discomfort of the
students at the tables.   Along two
walls,   taking   up   needed   floor
space and adding to the cluttered
appearance  of the  room, stood
two   museum    cases   with    glass
doors  revealing  a  crowded display   of   specimens    in    various
stages of disintegration.    On top
of one case were placed microscope cabinets which could not be
stored in the desks, and on the
other a collection of stuffed birds
and    mammals   was   arrayed  in
menacing  poses.    A preparation
table laden with dissecting pans
and jars of specimens stood in the
corner by   the   instructor's   desk.
Here also was located   one   old
sink of  poor   design,   lacking   a
splash back and providing a magnificent bottle neck at closing time
when    thirty    or    forty    students
crowded around it to dispose of
specimens and wash up.
(Continued on page 2, col. 4)
Bo&ld off   OfUUtiGMAU
JlonoM. Jbl.. SUeafid
At a meeting of the American
Board of Opticianry in New York
during the Christmas holidays, Dr.
Charles Sheard, professor and director emeritus of biophysics of
the Mayo Clinic and Foundation
and professor in charge of the
Ophthalmic Optics course in the
Rochester Junior College, was
awarded the Beverly Meyers
Achievement Award for his outstanding contribution in the field
of optics. In accepting the award,
Dr. Sheard stipulated that the
honorarium be turned over to the
Education Foundation of the
American Board of Opticianry, a
(Continued on page 2, col. 2)
*1Ue  2>e&Ha\  G&lMek	
Because the Community or Junior College is one of the newer developments in American education, questions about its nature and purpose are frequently asked. How successful are our
graduates at the University and other colleges? What is our
vocational program? How well do we train our students for
community service and family duties? These questions and
others will be reviewed and clarified in these publications.
Since its organizations in 1915 the Rochester Junior College, the oldest junior college in Minnesota, has developed an
outstanding program, including two years of standard university
or college education and up-to-date vocational courses, as well
as an adult education program. Over 9,000 students have been
registered in these courses.
These reports are designed to give you, the public, a better understanding of how this program is organized to give the
community the greatest service, not only in the training of well-
qualified workers, but in the development of balanced and responsible citizens. They also give us the opportunity to renew
our ties with you alumni and to review the pleasant events of
the past, an opportunity which we warmly welcome. We hope
that you will be as pleased to receive our news letter as we are
to send it.