1984 - Special Collections - Virginia Tech

Positive Attitude
Engineering goes for the "right stUff"
~t PlacflOilhe RI,ht Stuff hat waS
the ntptto On I CoI!IFlle of Enlllltii'e~n, post.
'!t lIped to I door In t~ En~neerin,
~n't; office in n1 No~ To be tH e;Rl&ht
Stu I", Tech'S !!:IflonlMy acclaimed 0,.
elneeii'nll coUelle, a·fresh..,.n had to be"ln
the top 10 pen:ent of his hiit' KhoOl senior
class and SCOre an averail~ 0112 10 on the
Scholastic Aplltude TesL ~
The Collelle of En,lnee.,... !leI(! enrol!·
menl frozen OIl 0;000 undefioo ... tes and
8CXl,raduales with a Ie ... Sf":Ices~, trans·
leml\f: students. Women, 'flo c~sed
one-quarter of the college C011 tlnued ...
ha ve an impact On the collelle. 85 the f!"'\.
dents 01 Tau Beta Pi Ian all·Eng'neerfn,
Iralernltyl and th e Student Enilineers
Council were botn "",men.
Some freshmen who weren't accepted
into the el\f:lneerfnll currlculum Opted to
transle. late, on In their rollelle careers. In
order to do that, they had to take the math
and science sequences required of a ll en·
lIineenn, students. Also, they had to have
the "besl'" OCA, accordlnll to Dcan !';oul E.
Torllersen. Th is "best" OCA varied by departme
nts, but the aver3ile ""'S 15 out 01
4.0.
Dcan T""ersen .said that the mOSt Important
pi reached by the En,lneerin,
college was the "tran51U0n Into instrucUon
on the personal computer." To achieve this
110;11, Ihe University Installed th.ee labs
with "30" personal rompule", In each lab.
However, the Coiie,e 01 En,ineenn, had
Its share of ..... ron, stuff:' too. The "",,,,t
aspect by far 01 the Enilineerin, eo\le,e,
acrord!n, to Dr. TO'llersen. was "crowded
rondlUonsl" Mov!n, part 01 the rolle'le to
!';onon Hall helped to resol .... thIs problem
somewhat.
Students and faculty ... ere the best
asp ects of the colle,e, s a id Dean
TO'llersen. "1 am rather pleased 'o\I'Ilh the
morale 01 students and laculty !>«.au ... of
their attitude that the educational process
Is ""'rth dolnll. I believe that what we have
here Is a ""~ I'I>!ili .... thlnl."
_____ ~WIi;I"t~ Milltt' _____ _
Dr. Baird enjoys a professor's freedom
up-to-date" was Important. so "resean:h Is
vital to maintain a certain level of educa·
lion," he .saId.
Finally, the "freedom to be sell·
motivated and to dedicate some time to
me" ""'. Important to Baird. AI;. a Chemical
Enilineerfnil professor, he was constantly
offered lobs In Industry, but Ba,rd relused
them !>«.ause he did nOt "",nt to lose the
freedom of chooslnll hi. own leachln,
methods, consuilln, "arlous firms, and
holdlnll seminars.
When Professor Baird ... asn't e~erdslnll
his mental capabilities, he exen:lsed his
body runnlnll Or pta.yln, tennis. However.
Baird said most of his fre" Ume wa. de·
voted to his wile and two smatl boys.
"Klds are prelly brillnt," Baird .saId of
Tech students. "Usually they're failinll be·
ca use they',e not trylnll hard enou,h."
W~iI".~ Millt,
". A former student 01 Professor 631 rd' • .sa Id
that Baird ""'s a "down·to-earth·· teache.,
He has a llood sense of humor, whlcn Is
neces.sary to teach his students "heavy
material," .saId Baird. "1 don't ... ant to Kare
them off,"
Baird "njoyed his lob for three main
reaSOnS, First, "lnleractln8 with students
offers different challenges. Some Sludents
a,e very enthu.lastic about learn In, ... hile
others a.e wonderinl why I'm leachln,
them thl. stuff." Baird's p nllosophy to
"",ndenn8 students, "Compta.!n or leam:'
""othe. reason Baird li ked teachlng,...,s
because ··It lorces you to roneentrate on
leamlng." Keeplnillectures "pollshed and
-.
o.. IIoIo-d •• """"" 01 CI."",iGot ~_ ...
""""100 ..,.·N....,""li>o ""kK to M. _pi> Holt
Thlo pooIO', _ 1ft !he Collet< 0/ ~"H'ri ..
0..0', _ , to .>