January 10, 2012 - 1:58am
This Week in History: Engineering dean responds to editorial
BY PETER SHAHIN
100 years ago this week (January 11, 1912): Following a scathing editorial by the University’s Engineering News, Mortimer Cooley, former dean of the College of Engineering, responded to accusations that degree titles at his school were misleading.
“It does not follow that because a man is awarded the degree of Master of Engineering, for instance, that he is a literal master of that subject,” Cooley told The Daily.
Cooley added that he “deplored” a variety of different degrees titles and would have simply preferred to write “engineer” after the name of each graduate. He told the Daily that he blamed any confusion on the Latin roots of the degrees and the tradition handed down by the University.
60 years ago this week (January 12, 1952): After a report on University buildings, state inspectors told The Daily that five landmark buildings on Central Campus should be demolished after being deemed as potential fire hazards.
The five buildings were built near the turn of the century and were in varying states of repair since their wood constructions posed serious risks to students and surrounding structures. One served as a repository for dangerous and flammable chemicals, The Daily reported.
According to the Bentley Historical Library website, most of the buildings were soon demolished, but the preserved Economics building caught fire on Christmas Eve, 1981. The building housed the Leo Scharfman library, which was completely destroyed by the flames.
30 years ago this week (January 12, 1982): Sponsored by the Latin Solidarity Committee, about 85 students protested on the Diag against the training of Salvadoran troops in the United States.
The students marched in “sub-zero temperatures” to the ROTC headquarters in North Hall to protest the training of the troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. A spokesman for the LASC said the military of El Salvador was responsible for a “genocide” of their people.
