School begins 27 August. Gloria will be taking another metal-smithing class that meets in the late afternoon on Tuesday and Thursday. I am currently torn between another history class and a basic astronomy class. Both of these interest me. However, their primary feature is that they both meet in the late afternoon on Tuesday and Thursday; allowing us to double up on transportation and save gasoline expenses over last year.
The history course, The Clinton Presidency, could be interesting. Studying Clinton in the right-wing bastion that is N.E. Tennessee may be very interesting. I’m sure the usual myths about the Clintons and murders will surface, if…if… IF, there is any class participation. The pattern that I’ve encountered in the last three history courses is discouraging. There has been no discussion except between the professors and me. I can tolerate this again, but I’d prefer more interaction. Even right-wingers would be better than no participation.
Astronomy is quite intriguing. I’ve had to request assistance and a waiver of pre-requisites in order to register for the class. The professor has granted the waiver and sounds very welcoming. There is a once a week, night class lab in concert with the Tuesday-Thursday lectures. I could skip the lab but that might not be the wise thing to do. I’m concerned about the lack of higher-level mathematics that I will need if this is actually an “astro-physics” class. I blundered into “astro-physics as an undergraduate. By the time I realized how badly I needed to drop the class and enroll in something else, there was nothing available that I could squeeze into that would keep the draft board happy.
Still, I would like to see if scientific calculators have made the course work any less daunting. During my prior attempt at manned space exploration prep work, slide rules were the calculation tool of choice. We were mostly pretty well skilled in their use, physical science students and engineers had to be. I still have two Pickett slide rules and it would be fun to show up in class with them. I don’t however; feel capable of holding a demonstration on the use of pre-computer tools.
The history books are much less expensive. There is no lab fee for history classes. I am really curious about whether I’ve retained enough ability to study and absorb the material while back filling the mathematics that will be necessary. The less adventurous thing to do is to study more history. The bolder move, to reach for the stars… or at least to look up into the night sky and learn to use the backyard telescope I bought using points earned by filling out Harris Poll surveys.
This photograph, or its digital spawn, arrived yesterday. It was taken to document the Clinical Lab technology students who would begin their clinical rotations in August of 1972 at UMMC, Dept of Pathology.
The class of 17 students – including three young women from the University Of Saigon Med School- was the largest class to study at UMMC. As I recall, there were over 100 students competing for those slots. The demand that the Vietnamese women be included resulted in the loss of one of the official 15 slots. The program required three years of physical and biological science courses as well as the usual arts and sciences curriculum. Due to inter-departmental squabbling, the allied health students were shunted from A&S to Education in order to eliminate a language requirement that should not have been eliminated. As a result, we all wound up having to earn a minor in education – truly wasted time. It left me with a tremendous distaste for “educators” and “theories of education” based upon “self-esteem.”
Once the lucky 14 of us were chosen, we had to go through the official photo process. We were told to report in white shirts for our photos. I did not own one. I was encouraged to have my hair cut after a year’s growth. The suggestion that I shave my mustache went unheeded. The glasses are U.S. Army issue. Courtesy of my older daughter, who now works where I studied, the once and future mad scientist – August 1972
For comparison – Aug 11969
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