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Image provided by: SUNY Maritime College
Page 6 ************ k*********** PORTHOLE The beginning of a school year is inevitably a time of hardwork, dedication, and concern with our individual status within the con- text of our college. However, the fall of 1964 is an unusually ap- propriate time to pause for a moment and consider the Mari- tiJile College as an institution, and the point it has reached in its evolution as a dynamic en- vironment. Last year was ll period of pro- nounced, if protracted, chailges that were connected with the oc- cupation of the new dormitories. And while the new dormitories have caused considerable change, they are characteristic of a trend that will be shaping the future of the Maritime College. It would be strange indeed if such a tang- ible change of our environment did not cause some alterations in the attitudes and feelings that determine the true nature of any educational institution. After a year in the new college, I feel that we are in a position to evaluate the nature of some of these changes, and perhaps to elaborate on any pattern that might appear. Only two of the four classes now at the college have lived on board the TSES IV for an academic year. To describe the experience objectively would be an unpleasant task. Since the first year at any school is invariably the one that shapes a students attitudes towards his college, and since the sum of the attitudes of the student body ultimately determines the worth of any college, it might be as- sumed that if the ship had any effect at all on the · cadet corps it would certainly not be a salu- tary one. Life on board the training ship during the academic year was anything but easy. Themugclass lived in the hold and in the ad- jacent troop mess. They slept, studied; and played there. Above all, they played, studied, and slept as a group. In this environment a new entity was forged on the anvil of common experience. A class was not just a collection of diverse individuals, rather it was a structure of concrete, with men as aggragate, and shared de- sire, fear, and laughter as cement. The fears and anxieties of the military system can loom large indeed in the eyes of he who stands alone. However, if a true class exists, they impringe on the class instead of the indivi- dual. No one can break the sticks as long as they remain in a bundle. The wonderful property of a class such as this, is that all ex- perience, whether good or bad, tends to strengthen it. The strong class is an immensely valuable asset to the cadet, and consequently to the college, and it is my contention that the en- vironment of the ship was an in- strumental factor, perhaps even a vital one, in the process of its growth. To the extent to which the fore- going argument is valid or mean- ingful, the newer cadets have been deprived of one of their greatest assets in coping with the viccissitudes of life at the Mari- time Co llege, is a serious matter in itself. The dormitories are indicative of another long term trend in the evolution of the college that lfeel would intensify the problem. The Maritime College is growing both physically and academically. The new gym will be in use by the end of the semester; a science and engineering building, and a student activities center are in the planning stage. The graduate of the future will not think of his Alma Mater in the compact, solid and clear cut terms of our rather austere ship and fort. Rather, he will know a vastly more complex, more inscrutable and more indefinable institution. This enlargement and diversification of the physical plant is closely interrelated with, and effectually symbolic of, basic changes in the nature of the college. As is invariably the case , these (Continued on PaRe 8) 16 OCTOBER 1964 ************ ************ ************
