Practically Stressed in Organic Sciences

This is the second in a series of articles to appear during the coming weeks discussing the effects of the present war on the departments of concentration, their courses, enrollment, and Faculties.

With organic sciences playing an increasingly important role in the conduct of war, the Department of Chemistry, Mineralogy and Petrography, and Biology must make specialized and detailed adjustments to train men for the crisis.

Chief influence of the current war on these three departments has been the necessity of a broad shifting of emphasis to specific training and practical courses. There is a "heavy demand" now for trained chemists and a parallel move towards the more practical phases of biological study. Mineralogy, both because of its small size and the nature of its material, has been the least affected of this trio.

Number of Courses Changed

Both the Chemistry and Biology departments have found it necessary to adjust the number of courses they offer. Convinced of the need for all chemists to have identical basic training, the Chemistry department has made no changes in the content of its existing courses, but has added Chemistry 2b to its program. This concentrated course in organic chemistry, the only course added by the department since Pearl Harbor, is a full course pressed into one semester to prepare its 15 enrollees for the early opening of medical schools on July 1.

Biology has added two war courses to its list and taken the brackets from Insects in Relation to Human Welfare, 119. The new subjects connected with war studies are The Utilization of Biological Resources, 122. Biology 23, Protozoology and Parasitology, has seen an increased enrollment. Mineralogy and Petrography has had to make no courses adjustments.

Biology Enrollment Steady

While Biology has seen no extraordinary fluctuation from the 750 students taking courses in the department, Mineralogy has lost nine of the 48 students studying in the field. The Chemistry department felt a noticeable increase in registration for middle group courses last fall. These departments all look forward to drastic reductions in enrollment among advanced and graduate students next year.

The number of concentrators in Chemistry has increased considerably, but departmental rules for concentration have not been altered. Chief lever for acceleration remains of course, the summer session. The Biology department has made no special changes in its rules of concentration, and has lost only two Seniors from its 143 concentrators of last fall. For Mineralogy and Petrography, concentration remains solely a divisional matter.

Faculty Not a Problem

Faculty leaves of absence have not been one of the problems with which these three departments have had to cope. The permanent staffs of each have been continuing their teaching while working part time on defense projects. In both Chemistry and Biology there has been a sizeable drain on the younger instructions and an increasing difficulty in obtaining Teaching Fellows. The staff of five in Mineralogy and Petrography remains intact.

Study in these organic sciences has not yet been limited by the war and no such moves from within the departments are foreseen. Hardest hit so far are the advanced students and younger teachers unable to continue their academic activities. For the undergraduate the chief effect has been to increase the demand for trained scientists and to turn the emphasis to the more practical features of the work.