The_Rambler_1967-04-14

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Welcome To Farmingdale
Fmm the Students From the President
Daffodils! Daffodils! Daffo-dils!
Yes, the first signs of
spring are flashing now and
with them our 48th Annual
Open House. Those of you who
know our campus know that the
past few years have been busy
ones. A time of new beginnings,
of new curriculums, of great-ly
increased student enroll-ment,
a time of new build-ings,
so much so that we are
in grave danger of becoming
one vast construction site.
It has been a time of great
change; startling change if
you measure the sleepy agri-cultural
college we were 48
years ago with the sleek edu-cational
complex we are to-day.
Indeed we have come a
long way, the changes have
been as great and as breath
taking as the momentum of the
twentieth century itself, and
understandably we are all
quite proud.
Perhaps through the ex-hibits
we have labored over
so painstakingly, we can com-municate
some of the excite-ment
we feel about the future.
Perhaps we can even dazzle
some of you into zooming
along with us. Come then,
catch hold of a comet, the
future beckons irresistably.
f f f
Farmingdale College of the
State University of New York
has long served the Long Is-land
community's higher edu-cation
needs. Its greatest
strength has been an ability
to adapt to the rapidly chang-ing
needs of this dynamic
area of N.Y. State.
Originally based on the
agricultural character of the
Long Island economy, Farm-ingdale's
educational program
encompassed solely the cul-ture
of soil for food or orna-mental
crops and related farm
business matters. Since these
areas today still are signifi-cant
in the Island' and State
economy, Farmingdale con-tinues
to provide excellent
education in Agriculture and
Horticulture.
From the s^ood soil of our
Island to the far reaches of
outer space, and from 1912
to 1967, there is a great ex-panse
of space and time. Yet,
this college has had the adap-tability,
the spirit of enter-prise,
and the desire to serve
over these vast expanses.
Today, at this college a
highly prepared faculty, the
finest equipped buildings, and
a fully accredited spectrum of
two-year programs are avail-able
to our youth just gradu-ating
from high school, or
adults seeking educational en-richment
after a day of full
employment.
The score of technical
specialties housed at Farm-ingdale
extend from the care
of exotic plant life to the
(Continued on page 2)
Campus Map
and Schedule
See Center Fold
Go Forth Little Paper and Reaffirm the Living, Wake the Deod
"From Touchdown
To Takeoff"
10:30 2:30 8:30
Roosevelt Hall
Volume 38 No. 4 PUBLISHED BY THE STUDENTS AT THE STATE UNIVERSITY FARMINGDALE, NEW YORK April 14, 1967
Pack Presidents Meeting : $11ATC Stifdillt AchiSVSS
Safety ^Calendar ^Food^ Mud
Over three hundred students squeezed into Whit-i
an Hall, Room 150, for President Laffin's
monthlymeeting with the students. The students had
come either to air their grievances, to hear the
President for the first time, or to commiserate
with their fellow students.
Draft Poll Upholds
Status Quo
93% of 100 students polled said
that they thought the United States
was : jus5tlfied in drafting its citi-zens
uito military service, 6%
said no.
64% said that their choice was
to have the draft maintained in
times other than national emer-gencies
declared by congress;
35% said that this method was
wrong.
When the question about draft
systems was answered, the re-sults
revealed that 57% feel that
the draft system should be main-tained
just as it is now. On de-ferments
they felt that student
deferments should come first,
then deferments for critical
skills and occupations, then mar-ried
men and after that married
men with children. 33% favored
a draft where all able-bodied
men must serve with no defer-ments.
Only 8% favored a lot-tery
system with no deferments.
Where students were asked about
service In the Peace Corps rather
than the draft 77% said yes 22%
said no.
The last two questions dealt
with conscientious objector
status. 24% said that men should
be given a I-CO status for a
philosophical or social basis not
religious; 76% said no. 14% said
men should be given a I-CO status
if they are opposed to a war for
which they are drafted; 86% said
no.
The main complaint raised was
the revision of the 1967 academic
calendar. Several students ques-tioned
the extension of the calen-dar
one week after the normal
end of the Spring Semester.
President Laffin explained that in
the switch over from tri-mester
to two semester, they have had
to run a very tight calendar.
"We started with one day short,
then we had two days off on ac-count
of bad weather", explained
Dr. Laffin. "In order to main-tain
our accreditation, we have
to make up those three lost days."
The President had met with rep-resentatives
of the StudentSenate
and I.D,C. earlier in the week,
and they decided on a week ad-dition
at the end of the semester
in addition to giving the students
an extra day at Easter. This
would allow for Open House and
one extra day for bad weather.
Nelson Trombley, of Student
Senate, asked that the Spring
first - semester students have
their summer vacation extended
after May 26th. The President
replied that he would make a
study of the calendar to see tf
this could be done.
Robert Rohde, of the Rambler,
asked why no traffic lights or
street lighting on the south side
of Melville Road was planned.
"The police say that light would
not deter accidents, but if they
were needed, the Administration
would take action," (See letter
to Dennison, page 3)
Vincent Micucci, the R.A. from
Mott House, then pointed out
(Continued on page 2)
Cinematographic Success
Tom Taffel, a Photographic Technology student, has accomplished in eight
months, and with the concerted aid of several professors, what many a com-mercial
firm often strives to achieve; he has passionately produced in his
spare hours a 15 minute, 16 mm black and white motion picture film which
has been purchased by Pan American Airways and that may well win the
National Student Film Festival this fall.
The film entitled, FROM
TOUCHDOWN TO TAKEOFF,,
shows the postflight inspection
and the preflight prepaiation of
a modern jetliner - - a Boeing
707 Clipper. Most films of this
type are made from the passen-ger's
point of view — but Tom
decided on a new twist. "Few
people know the vital behind-the
scenes preparation for a flight",
Tom says.
What made Tom Initiate such
an undertaking? He has always
been thrilled by the big birds
and has also had a very keen in-terest
in photography.
Witli no previous experience
in cinema he approached his pro-fessor,
Mr. Raymond Bowman,
for ad^ce and assistance. "Pro-fessor
Bowman has been
quite magnanimous in his aid —
he started by having me candidly
film the expressions of spec-tators
at a local basketball
game." Tom»s first attempt was
a failure when the film became
entangled inside the camera. The
developed film was completely
black, on his next try. The
third attempt was successful.
This hopeless beginning was the
prelude to his later success.
On November 13, 1966, he sent
the first letter in a series of
correspondence between himself
and several airlines, requesting
spare film on Boeing 707 take
off and landing sequences and
certain shooting privileges.
There was no reply from East-ern,
but American sent him two
Captain Swenson ( l e f t ) gives Tom Taffle a few pointers on
the Boeing 707 Clipper before Tom starts his final shootingo
reels of film. "By far, Pan
American was the most coopera-tive,
giving me use of their
film files, 200 feet of film and
permitting me to shoot footage
on a 707 training flight, some-thing
they rarely do." Tom ad-mits
that without their con-siderate
help, the fUm might
not have been made.
Like any true craftsman, the
passion for your creation con-sumes
your every bit of energy;
it has few bounds. So was the
case with Tom Taffel. Meals,
were skipped to edit a few more
feet of film, dates were broken
to revise the narration, and sleep
was procrastinated to meet one
of his many deadlines. Lost va-cations,
school work that had to
be put off — all become common.
"The trouble with Farmingdale
is that you are put in this eighteen
credit race, leaving you little
time to branch out and develop
a special Interest or to create
an active social dialogue,"
(Continued on page 12)