The_Rambler_1954-02-18

              THE RAMBLER
LONG ISLAND AGRICULTURAL AND TECHNICAL INSTITUTE
FARMINGDALE, L. L, N. Y.
Vol. XXIV, No. 6 February 18, 1954
S T A i e UNlVtrtbliV
COLLEGE 01= TEGHHOLOFIT
FARMINGDALE
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. . . . . AND TOMORROW
Proposed Auditorium and Gym
THE FUTURE LIATI
by John Birkentall
As you have all noticed, Long
Island is a growing community.
It is the second fastest growing
area in population in the United
States. To cope with the influx
of residents, Long Island A & T is
undergoing a change: more build-ings
are being erected, at the rate
of thi'ee every two years. We now
have, on campus, three of these
buildings which are a part of a
series yet to be completed. The
number to be built will be kept
in proportion to the expansion of
Long Island and the needs of
A & T's wid'ir service area which
includes New York City and the
Hudson Valley.
Buildings on the schedule in-clude
a new men's dormitory hous-ing
200, a women's dormitory for
100 residents, a new gymnasium
and auditorium, a library, more
technical buildings and classrooms
for the General Education Depart-ment,
and an addition to Knapp
Hall. It is hoped to have some of
these buildings within three years
and all within ten years. You
will be interested in knowing that
Dorm 5 and Campus Village will
be taken down.
There will be more courses of-fered
by A & T to cope with the
interests and demands of the popu-lace.
Amonj? these will be more
extensive technical training courses
for women. More students will
THE COUNTRY LIFE-OPEN
HOUSE PROGRAM
work, sleep, and enjoy recreation
on the campus for the convenience
of all. The horticultural and agri-cultural
departments will still have
use of the present buildings. In
fact, some are to be added, includ-ing
a frozen foods laboratory build-ing
and better faoilities for the
program in Dairy Industry Tech-nology.
It is expected that ten years
from now the school will be able
to accomodate 3,000 day and ap-proximately
15,000 night students.
This is quite a jump from the
present enrollment. Night school
students may, in the future, come
to school ddrectly from work, with-out
first going home to eat. Knapp
Hall will be extended to form a
rectangle with an open area or
patio in the center. The evening
students will be able to eat in
the new cafeteria or the new snack
bar and a larger number of day
students can be fed. For evening
club meetings there will be special
rooms in the Hall for just that
purpose.
Cornelius White, the present S'.ate
Architect, is the designer of the
project. He is associated with the
New York State Department of
Public Works, which is in charge
of all building construction at state
institutions and agencies. It is esti-mated
that $10,000,000 will be need-ed
for this school of the future.
It is a disappointment for us, how-ever,
that we will not be here to
attend classers in these new, modern
structures.
This is the thirty-fifth year of
the Country Life-Open House Pro-gram.
It began as an exhibit and
demonstration of farm tractors and
machinery, conducted mostly by
the Agricultural Engineering De-partment.
In the early years, live-stock
and farm machinery were on
exhibit in a tent near the Dairy
Barn. The season was late spring.
Farm tractors were just coming
into u&e in those days, and practi-cal
demonstrations were given in
the fields beyond the Poultry Plant.
Other departments joined in as
the years went by, with exhibits
and demonstrations by students
and faculty, showing improved
practices in Agriculture and Horti-culture.
The Industrial - Technical
exhibits have reinforced the pro-gram
since 1946. A few outside
agencies such as the Conservation
Service or Brookhaven Laborator-ies
have been invited to take part
from time to time. The present
Program includes over 100 exhibits
and demonstrations.
Attendance has increased from
a few hundred to many thousands.
A record high of over 33,000 was
reached in 1952 (with the assist-ance
of good weather and Washing-ton's
Birthday). Last year's at-tendance
was over 24,000.
Among our visitors are the re-presentatives
of some 200 com-munity,
educational and agricultural
organizations. There are over 2,0C0
farm and horticultural people, and,
of course, thousands more who
have advocational interests in these
areas. Representatives and em-ployees
of local industry and busi-ness
make up a large segment of
the attendance.
All these folks are our friends
and neighbors. Many of them re-turn
year after year. Their interest
and friendship have been helpful
to the development of the Institute
through the years. There have been
loans or gifts of machinery and
livestock, for example, and con-tacts
leading to successful employ-ment
of Institute graduates. Stu-dents
now in attendance benefit
in many ways by the good will
which has been developed by the
efforts of those who have preceded
them. The program this year is
expected to help along in the
good work.
Those who take part in prepar-ing
exhibits and in putting on
demonstrations have an unusual
opportunity to improve and refine
their own understanding and skill.
Educators generally agree that the
man who would teach or show
others must himself be well in-formed.
The experience of develop-ing
an effective exhibit and demon-strating
or explaining to others
gives many students an opportunity
for self-development which ought
not to be underestimated.
(Continued on Page 2)
Court Between Auditorium and Gym