THURSDAY, 'SEPTEMBER 4, 1941 College Prepares 20,000 For Technical EDT Classes Given Throughout State With the nation's defense pro gram growing daily, the College, through its extension services, has had an increasingly important • part in the vital phase of train ing thousands of •men for defense jobs in industry. Already nearly 20,000 men and women have been trained or are now taking courses giyen by the College under the sponsorship of the U. S. Office of Education. _Fifty class centers have been established for the Engineering Defense Training program, and 98 for a special introdUctory en gineering subjects program in which 3,200 recent high' school graduates are enrolled. When the full impact of, Amer ica's huge 'defense effort was felt Laboratory On - Wheels- Two "autolabs" are being used last winter, the government called by the College extension services to show experiments in physics and upon collegei throughout the na- chemistry -to students taking courses under ,the emergency defense tion to train men for technical educationprogram Shown above is the physics laboratory truck .jobs industry. Penn State's ex- • • • which carries equipment for•more than three doien experiments. It tension services under J. 0. Kel- • ler, assistant to the president in is traveling to 98: towns and cities in Pennsylvania to permit lecture •charge of , extension •has available demonstration's to be given to the public and 3,2000 recent high school 'instructors,, materials, classroms, graduates taking introductory engineering subjects. In front of the .laboratories, and equipment. truck, left to right, are Dr. Harold K. Schilling, assistant professor of As a result, the College was as- physics and lecturer on the tour; Lyle" Bedrup, of Franklin Institute, signed the largest single quota of and Fred Tracy, of the College physics department, assistants to the :trainees under the federal-financ- lecturers;• and Dr. Harry L. Van Velzer, assistant professor of physics, ,ed plan. Within a short time, lecturer. .more than 8,800. men were enroll- • ed in nighttime classes in 3 dustrial Centers of the state. Campus Activities metallurgical Center Eventually, this number grew to workers, operations inspectors, and 10,000 men trained in more than similar jobs. Again -Penn State Around Student Union 400 different classes. They met was called upon—this time for the The hub of all extra-curricular three hours a night, three nights job of urging' high school gradu a week, for 24 weeks. Still later, ates back to school for 10 weeks activities at Penn State—that's . in February, classes_ in pre-fore- to receive elementary engineering Student Union. ; - manship for production supervi- training. Student Union' was founded on :sion- were offered on a 16-week About this same time, the Col= the campus in 1930. Since thit basis to more than 1,000 men in lege enrolled 4,000 men in indus time it has proved .to be invalu -32 ceriters..„,‘! Jfl t try for a similar night Program in For, the first part of the pro- the Pittsburgh area. These were able as a coordinating agency for ;gram, the College had to hire ~ap- not high school but men and worn- activities. 'proximately 400 part-time instruc- en who wanted to' take special The agency works by means of •tors plus an administrator for work designed to equip them for recommendations, has no legisla each center. This .program was better jobs in defense industries. tive power, and is not supervisory. ',about one-third• as great as the. Today, more than 2,000 of the Representatives from each of the :,combined program of the 98 other total of nearly 20,000 persons have major activities comprise the Stu participating colleges and univer- been put to work in defense in- dent Union Board. sities in the country but it' was dustries and• more are being plat- Student Union is managed by still not the. complete contribu- ed daily, according to Dr. Joseph George L. Donovan. In addition 'don. W. Bird, in. charge of placement. to coordinating activities, it serves There came word of a shortage Over 600 are on - Civil-Service lists, as an information desk, maintains of other types of technically- he said, adding that many of these a lOst and found service, sells trained workers. Men were need- have gotten jobs in arsenals, at tickets for social activities, and 'ed to fit themselves for positions airports, and in similar govern- performs innumerable other funs. ,such as tool designers, engineer- ment agencies.. EN3=gl ;4`;'